THE adage that one can take the man out of the slum, but cannot take the slum out of the man may sound derogatory, but basically denotes the role behavior plays in the living standards. Good character and governance are inseparable as fundamental hallmarks of performance effectiveness. Behavior might essentially outline how public servants engage themselves, their people, and their responsibilities to better serve their constituents. Thus, to the public servant, integrity as the seal of the moral intellect remains a vital trait in sustaining organizational success. Unfortunately and most ironically, these values of moral maturity have been totally ignored in the very public service cultures where they are most needed.
Recently in the Nigerian Senate, the activities of public affairs have been drenched in a bitter feud between two supposedly honorable members of the All Progressive Congress, Senators Oluremi Tinubu, (Lagos Central) and Dino Melaye (Kogi West). In the past weeks, both lawmakers have fought tangibly in the most violent manner, and at some point engaged in verbal cruelty of each other. They further took their bouts to the streets among hired tugs and rented hungry protesters; and to make it worse, engaged various media houses in their conflicts.
It is shameful that the Senate is engulfed in such brawl in a country currently sliding into economic disaster. Just last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) signaled a warning about Nigeria’s path to economic recession. Inflation has hit an 11-year high of 16.5 percent in June with the prices of food and energy jumping off the roof. The international humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger has requested an immediate intervention of activities in parts of the country where intense terrorism conflicts have left refugees totally cut off from humanitarian assistance. In fact, the Nigerian Government has called for nutrition emergency, prompting the United Nations and aid agencies to propose rapid needs assessments to reach families suffering without shelter, food, water, or emergency health and nutrition assistance.
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Yet Tinubu and Melaye had spent the past weeks fighting one another with disgraceful allegations, and fabricating contemptible lies to undo each other. For instance, Tinubu, had written the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and seeking protection from Melaye. She had equally petitioned Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, demanding sanctions against Melaye for threats and harassment.
Melaye took to the media, accusing Tinubu, of paying women activists to protest against him. There was actually a protest. Some women in Lagos, Tinubu’s home state, had taken to the streets to protest what they called a “verbal attack on Senator Remi Tinubu” by Melaye. Malaye however responded in a social media posting, writing in part, “Women were killed in Kano and Abuja and Mrs. Tinubu is the chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs. She did not organise protest over these killings. Mrs. Tinubu has not protested against the skyrocketed price of tomatoes in the market. In the same vein, kerosene is now over N200 per litre and she didn’t organized any protest to that effect. “Instead, she has taken advantage of the prevailing poverty in the land to hire hungry women in the land to partake in an unproductive protest against Dino Melaye,”
These horrible events underscore the caliber of leaders that represents some constituencies in Nigeria. Both Tinubu and Melaye are not new to controversies. About four months ago, an anti-corruption coalition group, The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe Senator Melaye, citing a flamboyant lifestyle apparently sustained with public funds.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu on her own part is not as angelic as she might look. Besides being the wife of a former Lagos State governor prior to her current position, Tinubu has no concrete public service record; yet she has remained an embarrassment in the Upper House; displaying an extended cord of gutter attitudes. She has made her case as an undomesticated bully.
Melaye had initially presented himself as an anti-graft campaigner whereas his lifestyle and activities of the public reflects the opposite. He might also be familiar with issues of women abuse. For example, Melaye’s ex-wife of 10 years, Tokunbo was said to have filed for divorce with shocking claims that he beat her up and pointed a gun to her head.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu on her own part is not as angelic as she might look. Besides being the wife of a former Lagos State governor, she has no concrete public service record; yet she has remained an embarrassment in the Upper House; displaying an extended cord of gutter attitudes. She has made her case as an undomesticated bully. For instance, her character toward honorable colleagues she does not agree with illustrates her gangster demeanor – a combination of street arrogance and primitivism. In June 2015, Tinubu made the headlines when she snubbed an official greeting of the newly emerged Senate President, Mr. Saraki during the swearing in of some lawmakers. November 2015, Tinubu again made the headlines when she sat on the seat reserved for deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu in a legislative session. She created this ugly scene, and as usual kept media outlets busy with her stupidity.
The Senate is not flea market; it is not an amusement park either. It is a legislative chamber of the parliament accorded with very critical duties and responsibilities of the government. In a country currently on the verge of economic recession borne out of a derail in the political system supervision, the least anybody would expect from lawmakers would be about members brawling over issues that are absolutely unrelated to the affairs of the government. As stated earlier, trawling out a man out of a gutter is one thing, but taking the gutter out of the man remains a near mission impossible. There are many Tinubus and Melayes elected or appointed into the Nigeria’s public service system, and the masses, as usual, would continue to suffer the consequences.
■ Dr. Ogbo, the author of Governance Buhari’s Way is the Publisher of Houston-based International Guardian.
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