Holding the people accountable

The Concourse

By Soney Antai

     Holding the people accountable

Followers of this column would have by now noticed that most of its entries have been on public political and economic issues. These pieces have also been largely critical of our public affairs’ lead players for their avowed selfcentredness and steadfast disregard for the basic interests of the hoi polloi: health, security, food and basic infrastructure. We have done these in the discharge of the mandate the nation’s 1999 Constitution has given to the Press to “hold government accountable to the people.”

To be proficient enough to discharge such onerous charge, the Press must be morally, professionally and emotionally equipped. It must have, and display, the courage to convey its convictions in the interest of the larger society that has neither the platform nor the broad opportunities to engage others, especially those in charge of the cockpit of our common flight of destiny.

But beyond the need for courage to engage government and big capital over issues of the common good, the press must stay within the confines of truth, justice and equity: Truth to its audience, justice to all parties involved in some disputations bordering on self-preservation; and equity for foes and friends; the weak and powerful; as well as the poor and wealthy.

But truth be told: We, the people, have a role to play in governance if we must get the best from those occupying the commanding echelons of our public offices. This is more compelling in a representative government we are struggling to imitate. After all, whatever the power elites do are done in the name of the people, which is why French philosopher Joseph de Maistre would say,
“We get the government we deserve”, a postulation that clothes itself in controversy, which is better left as a story for another day.

Part of the people’s responsibility is to constantly engage their representatives, whoever they may be. For one, we should, among others, use the liberalised and mobile social media space to demand accountability from these representatives. Some of them have lost touch with the reality of their offices. Imagine a journalist reaching out to media aides to the president, governors, ministers, commissioners, among others, to get official information, but they don’t take their calls and do not return them. Folks send messages of enquiry about public issues to these aides, but they don’t reply to them. By this crass and sickening irresponsibility, they show themselves as not representing their principals and having no idea of their responsibilities to the public. But sadly, they are still in office, but just for prebendary reasons.

On the other hand, it is distressing that even amid public outcries for more amenities from government, some of us the people are defacing or destroying the few amenities on ground. Samplers: School classroom roofs have been de-roofed by criminals in many of our schools, traffic lights have been stolen, electricity transformers vandalised in virtually every part of our state and country. If these are not acts of economic sabotage that should attract the full measures of the law, then someone should tell me what else are.

For many weeks now, parts of Uyo have faced blackouts because transformers feeding them have been vandalised. Some of these vandals even climb high tension electricity poles to cut down the wires at great risk to their lives and people around the scenes of criminality, not to mention the harm to the asset and the disruption of businesses and inconveniences to homes without electricity. The net wire lines separating the lane dividers along Idongesit Nkanga and Clement Isong Roads, Uyo, have been vandalised at many points, barely a year after they were emplaced.

We throw plastic materials into drains without bothering about their effects on the environment and our health. We dispose wastes indiscriminately as if that is the right thing to do. Go to our offices and see how servants of the service (read civil servants) have morphed into servants of their throats with panache, and you wonder where we are heading as a people.

Just why would people do these things? Sad as they are, it is even sadder that they don’t seem to matter to the generality of the people, except when they, or those close to them, suffer directly there from. This ought not to be so. While we have the right to hold government accountable for its actions, we also have to hold ourselves accountable to ourselves as a community of rational beings.
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