A major lacuna in Political Science, Public Administration, and governance scholarship, which we have so often referenced, is the tendency to undertake analysis of social formations, and the workings of their political economy, only at the macro level, to the exclusion of the nuances presented by the sub-national realm. The immediate implication of this marginalisation culture is that the particular is often lost in the treatment of the general. A preponderance of academic inquiry into, as well as the softer levels of discourses of Nigeria, fits within this disturbing mould.
To be certain, Nigeria’s system, by a combination of the state formation process, the character of the state, organisation of its politics, and the structuring of its economy suffers from the lingering challenge of throwing up responsive governments, capable of answering to the yearnings and aspirations of the people – their own ‘revolution of rising expectations,’ as it were.
The central government in Nigeria, without much regard to the theoretical precepts in federalism, under which the federating units and central government are supposed to be ‘coordinated and independent, remains the very locus of power, authority, and influence; animating the other levels of government. The truth, which we have to deal with, is that this governance structure detracts from the possibility of throwing up leaders with the vision and technical capacity requisite for transformationalism. As we have argued elsewhere, it instead has proven itself adept at producing leaders, many of whom are ‘short in capacity, limited in vision, and too compromised, to be the anchor for national unity and development’.
In specific terms, the nature of the compromises that many a political practitioner must make to access power, heavily concentrated in the central government – under the rubric of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) – are such that constrain the prospects of emergence of leaders ‘of such quality and commitment requisite for a fresh berth for the country.’ Small wonder, the outcomes in mediocre performance, often paraded in the Nigerian leadership landscape since independence in 1960.
This, however, does not suggest that the ecosystem of governance in Nigeria is completely bereft of flashes of captivating performance at the sub-national levels – local and State. Yet, under the restrictive analytical framework referenced here, the failure of the Nigerian central government is often projected over the entire country, denying observers the opportunity to engage with quite significant and impressive efforts at transformational leadership at the other levels of governance. The point being made here is that in the wholescale focus on the macro level, and prioritisation of the central government in analysis, the dysfunctionality often associated with that level of government in Nigeria is magnified and projected over the entire social formation, without regard to regional specificities.
For a fuller, truer, and more nuanced sense, it behooves any serious analyst to look beyond the bigger picture and apprehend critical trends at the lower (sub-national) levels, some of which may be significant enough to shape the nature of the analytical narrative, and the conclusion reachable. It is also not impossible to have what constitutes best practices across governance landscapes within a country. Except the details of such possibilities are tracked and interrogated, it becomes difficult to exact the advantages thereto as we keep at the task of reinventing government, to the ends of good governance, conceived by Goran Hyden in his 1992 work on the same subject, as ‘the conscious management of regime structures to enhance the legitimacy of the public realm.
A similar distorted pattern is also generally reflected in the analysis of the African reality out there, whereby the assumption is often made that the continent presents a monolithic outlook; thus, informing ideas of an ‘African state,’ ‘African politics,’ ‘African society,’ ‘Africa rising,’ as if each of these categories is unifocal in outlook, rather than multidimensional.
This is one of the primary reasons why this book by my good friend, Dr. Aderotimi Adelola, Working under the Sunshine: Reminiscences of How a State Government Created Values for the People, deserves the attention of scholars and practitioners of development alike. As the title suggests, the book is a dissection of the patterns of governance of a sub-national unit in Nigeria, over eight years, under a civil democratic dispensation. In the words of the author, it is an effort to elucidate ‘the workings of the people-oriented state government under the transformational leadership of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, and the first Governor of Ondo State to serve an undisrupted two terms in office.’
It was a government piloted by an elected chief executive, who prepared himself for the job; and was driven by a deep social democratic ideological conviction, underpinned, as it were, by the utilitarian principle that the greatest good for the greatest number constitutes the most ethical choice a leader should make. This was within the context of civil democratic governance, which Nigeria says it has been in since May 29, 1999.
It was under this regime type – in place in Ondo State, one of Nigeria’s 36, from 24 February 2009 to 23 February 2017 – that Adelola had his stint, also as the longest-serving Secretary to the State Government (SSG). This book is thus, the account of a central player in that Government, someone who occupied a vantage position; and served, in all practicality, as the secretariat of the Ondo State Government, for the eight years that Mimiko was Governor.
Without a doubt, apart from moving analysis from the conventional – that focuses only on the megatrends – this work gives readers and researchers a new paradigm that helps to locate within the labyrinth of the national political economy, the functionality of its sub-units. Such makes the work also a veritable research material on federalism, which in line with the thoughts of K. C. Wheare, ordinarily speaks to ‘the division of governmental powers between a central government and a set of regional governments, in which each within a sphere is coordinate and independent’.
It lays bare the complexity associated with managing a relatively small state – with an official population of about six million, within the larger Nigerian federation of 200 million people; and by a relatively small political party, Labour Party, that existed in opposition to the dominant party – People’s Democratic Party, running the government at the centre. These realities threw up their forms of complexity within an essentially illiberal national political culture, in which opposition is not very often looked upon with many degrees of kindness. Wading through this book puts the reader in the picture of the careful manner in which the state government, in which Adelola served, using both formal and informal structures, negotiated its survival, recording what thus far is rated as one of the most imaginative and impactful outings by any government in Nigeria – federal, state, and local – since 1999.
It is exciting reading about the careful, deliberate and determined manner in which the bolts and nuts of policies were hammered together in the administration, on which the SSG of necessity played a pivotal role. For students in Political Science, Public Administration and related fields, Working under the Sunshine may not be heavy on the theories of administration, and this certainly was made deliberately so by the author, just so that a wider audience could be reached; but the outlook on hands-on in the policy ecosystem, and the entire value chain of governance, in the book, cannot be lost on any serious reader.
One such lesson that the reader must come away with, reading this, is the often-neglected attention to the sequential nature and scientificity of the public policy process. We live in a clime where those who hold big political offices often operate perfunctorily, based on whims and caprices. It would surprise many to find out how little many critical political office holders – elective and appointed – know about what the offices they hold onto, should be into. With no previous detailed preparation for the job many of them hold, their administration often ends up driven by proposals, submitted by elements, who are mere carpet baggers, always out for the kill. What you have, therefore, is a series of uncoordinated, internally inconsistent projects and programmes implemented with questionable outcomes, but presented as performance.
Most of these operatives are truly not aware that there is a scientific dimension to public policy formulation, outlined in critical steps that the policymakers must navigate before coming to the end of the policy cycle. Whenever any of these elements are marginalized or completely ignored, it is almost certain that the policy will end up in grief. The author calls this tendency, a laid-back orientation, which is the very recipe for ‘time-wasting, and … sub-optimal performance.’ This is the essence of the point made about his job as SSG being about helping his principal, the Governor, ‘to drive policy formulation, harmonisation, implementation, and evaluation’. Thus, his discussion of the nature of ideation, planning, and sequencing that underpinned the policies and programmes of the administration under which the author served, underscores this point on the scientificity of the policy process.
It is also now obvious perusing this book that one of the explanations for the remarkable outing of the Mimiko government, in addition to the rather compelling intellectual and operational capacity of the Governor himself, was the very high quality of his most critical aides, of which Adelola was one. Adelola gives expression here to his very limited outing in, and exposure to the public sector before he was appointed SSG – almost making a jest of himself on this.
It feels good, however, recalling when the SSG appointment was to be made, and how some of us who were privileged to be with Mimiko on this, were juggling the different names, including Adelola’s, for the many senior positions of government. Ironically, the man who would be governor was enamoured of this same limited exposure of Adelola, to the public sector; and penciled same down as the unique experience he needed for whoever was going to be his SSG.
It was a case of res ipsa loquitur, as the impressive credential that Adelola had chalked up fitted perfectly into the type of vision ògá, the incoming governor, wanted for that office. It was not one in which he wanted any former Permanent Secretary, politician, or indeed, anyone with an extensive presence in the public (civil) service. Rather, he looked to having someone coming with some degree of freshness, such as would give no space to fixated ideas and orientation, like: ‘this is how we’ve been doing it’ outlook. This made Adelola fit perfectly, given that but for his few years as a lecturer in a couple of public universities, all his work experience was in the private sector.
There was a second reason that, to the best of my knowledge, made Adelola’s appointment apposite for his principal, the governor. Being himself a consummate politician, Mimiko insisted he needed someone as SSG, who would be intellectually formidable and smart enough to oversee the operations of government any time it became needful for the politicians to file out onto the field for one political enterprise or the other. Thus, the lack of public sector experience, and not being a politician, became ironically the strength of the primary candidate for the office of SSG. This was why it became a bit incongruous when Dr Adelola came under intense pressure from some political operatives, to express a desire to succeed his principal when the latter was wrapping up his second term.
Overall, it is safe to infer that what helped the Governor regarding the critical canons he wanted his SSG to meet, must be what Adelola himself identifies here as diagnostic capability, emotional intelligence, and flexible behavioural repertoire on the Governor’s part – all of which are critical to success in leadership, at all levels. Needless to add, by and large, the decision the Governor took on this was quite impactful in shaping outcomes in Ondo State in the eight years Adelola worked with Governor Mimiko as the latter’s SSG.
There is yet another theme to this work, which makes it such a compelling read and indeed, research material. It is, in this regard, a follow-up on an earlier work by the same author, on his growing up years, and how by sheer determination, he forged a character trait that would seem to have served him well thereafter. It is of the life of a young man who was born into a large family and went through the shock of losing his mother, who also doubled as his close confidant and alter ego, at a relatively young age, when he least expected it.
With the care and undiminished love of a doting father, this young lad kept onto the superhighway of education. By a combination of good fortune, a mind that very early enough allowed itself to be influenced by great ideas, and an appropriately psychologically calibrated attitude to life, the young lad began on a trajectory of life, defined by constant upward swing; climbing from one level to another, on the rungs of life – a process that he still maintains to this day.
Without giving direct expression to it, we could see on these pages how the personality of the author was formed in the crucible of the struggles of life for success and relevance. The basis of his can-do spirit, willingness to take necessary risks – deriving from his strongly held assertion that there were some ‘unnecessary risks,’ which no one was obliged to take – and fixation on success in everything he sets his hands at, to do, have been infinitely helpful to him.
Having been in close association with the author for close to 40 years, we testify to the fact that these character traits keep evolving; making an appearance at the different stages and phases of his life, and always serving him well in the different stations of life in which he found himself. It is no surprise, therefore, that a book of this nature coming from him, crafted in the alluring genre of what he calls, ‘spiritual psychology,’ is a must-read. This is why it is safe to conclude that Working under the Sunshine: Reminiscences of How a State Government Created Values for the People, by Dr. Andrew Aderotimi Adelola, self-recommends.
It self-recommends to the general reader, and students of governance alike; especially those focused on Nigeria, and the workings of governance in a sub-unit of a federal system that it says it is, yet is as centralized as they come – implying serious constraints on the possibilities for excellent outcomes in its public spaces.
Mimiko, PhD, mni, is Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
