The concept of social justice is what governance is about. It presupposes that equal rights and opportunities exist for all within a space. It is also about improvement in livelihood for the citizenry. For three days now, I have had course 
to interact with other young people from the continent at the Intergenerational Dialogue of the Pan-Africa Parliament of the African Union in Midrand. Unlike last year, when I met the same set, I was not on the defensive this time. That was the time when government’s ineptitude about the #BringBackOurGirls campaign was the headline pouring out from the country. Today, news about the wind of change which blew calmly across the sub-Saharan space following Nigeria’s presidential election was the preferred subject of conversation. Thanks to the pervasive and ubiquitous nature of social media, some of them had followed the election closely. Even though the girls are sadly not back, there seems to be an understanding that it will take some sincere political will to get the girls to return and this in part will be one of the tasks Nigeria’s president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari will have to take on quickly and bring to a close.
Less than five days from now, the baton of leadership will change officially. The problems that belittle the country will be inherited by the new leadership. The successes the country also managed to put in place will be willed to the duo of Buhari and his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. By 2019, the verdict will be out on whether the new government ran in the interest of the people or simply ran their programmes without inputs from Nigerians; both at home and abroad.
In October, 2014, I had written a piece titled – Do Mr. President and our Governors listen. Therein I had explained that – ‘The Nigerian government, then under Olusegun Obasanjo, understood participatory communication when it set up Service Compact (Servicom) in 2004 following the knowledge that Nigerians have for too long been feeling short changed by the quality of public service. The Ministries, Departments and Agencies, critical organs for the execution of government policies were the target here. Today, it is in doubt if Servicom has not fallen into the pit of the same problem it was set up to achieve. Social media is the new Servicom in Nigeria and a number of countries across the world today. It is like the biblical tower of babel where there is a cacophony of voices in different languages. Some individuals manage to hit at the issue, others curse the government in power, others offer solution, a number of them also praise some occasional efforts while others simply read on and form opinion about the government. Since punchng.com, like a number of other traditional news media, became accessible to the public freely and also provided means through which the public could react to the news. The Nigerian audience has never failed to impress on who cares that they know the issues and are always willing to engage with the government through this online channel. In any case, it will take grit and determination on the ordinary Nigeria’s part to seek an appointment with a governor of the president of the country to express concern about an issue. This is largely due to the colossal red-tapism in our political leadership system. Gone with the wind are those moments when government could claim ignorance of issues of public concerns. If it does, it is because it chose to be ignorant. Nigerians, like their other African counterparts, are a talking people.’
‘Government need to find a way around filtering and putting in order comments freely available from the people they lead. There are not enough journalists to cover the stretch of the country and report all issues but citizens in their role as citizens’ journalists seem to be doing this more these days. Blogs, status updates, comments loaded through discus are putting the information out there. Government, especially at the federal and state level need to find a way to organise these comments in a way that can become actionable. Since government seems to be far away from the people and most policies seem to be crafted without a consideration of how it will affect the poor then new media technology gives a space through which government can clearly get feedback from the people before making decisions on their behalf.’
The issues are still the same. Nigerians wanted change and will continue to want change even when some levels of successes are recorded. It will however become sustainable if the voice of the people count. Buhari has made his first appointment and it is no surprise that it is in the communications department. It will be an error not to have a desk that aggregates and responds to thoughts on the new media space. It will count if the new government’s voice is clear and loud in this space. Nigeria is no longer that dark space where a president can be all-knowing. Young people especially those who are blogger and update their status with socio-political consciousness will shape the destiny of this government. Failure to listen to them will be a grave error. ‘We the people’ initiative in the United States is a model can be served to the Nigerian people. The quality of governance will be enhanced if public institutions are accessible. It will be desirable that an ordinary citizen can send an email to the presidency. It will also be a defining moment for our polity if under the Buhari administration policies citizens have massive input in decision making through an organised channel. A look at #FuelScarcity and #AintGotNoFuelForThat for example will give any interested party an insight into how badly Nigerians have been affected by the scarcity of fuel.
Governments will likely fall and rise based on these technological tools that because silence is no longer golden and accountability now has a place. Listening is a skill that the Buhari administration will have to learn and internalise given the evolution of the political space on the continent and more specifically in the country.
@SolaFagro
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‘Sola Fagorusi is a social entrepreneur and a prized freelance writer with a bias for youth and rural development. He started off as a youth staff with Action Health Incorporated in 2001. The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife alumnus currently manages the programmes ofOneLife Initiative, Nigeria. ‘Sola is a DESPLAY Africa (Africa’s foremost and most consistent annual youth democracy academy) fellow and has been on its faculty since 2011. Keenly interested in governance and pan-Africanism, he volunteers as online editor of YouthHub Africa; a cyber-community for young Africans involved in social change. He believes in the efficacy of oratory and writing as tools to drive developmental engagements. As a freelance writer, he spares time to pen thoughts on contemporary societal issues and is a weekly columnist with Nigeria’s most read daily ? Punch Newspaper. His training and capacity cuts across democracy and governance, leadership, micro-enterprise, ICT4D, SRH, value chains, development communication and policy issues. He tweets @SolaFagro and blogs at www.kadunaboy.com
