Ahead of the 2023 general election, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) has asked candidates running for political office to submit strong governance manifestos rather than the usual undocumented rhetoric.
ICSAN President Taiwo Owokalade, who made the appeal during the institute’s quarterly presidential briefing, said the candidates should brief Nigerians on their plans for the country and how they could move it forward.
He said Nigerians should avoid tribal or religious politicking; rather, the narrative should be about the competence and background of potential leaders.
Owokalade, who spoke about the state of the nation, lamented the prolonged confrontation between the Union of Academic Personnel of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government.
Stating that the interest of students must be taken seriously, he urged ASUU and the Federal Government to go back to the drawing board and find a way out of the logjam they had found themselves in.
Among the many crises facing the nation, he said that the problem of insecurity, which had become a national problem, must end as it was becoming more disorderly and out of control.
To this end, he called for state surveillance, urging states to use their resources to equip themselves.
Discussing a holistic process to address insecurity, he said Nigeria was mature enough to have a police state.
According to him, the Nigerian Police cannot manage the large population geographically.
“They don’t have the security and the numbers to manage the population. Nigeria should be bold enough to have its police architecture. Nigeria preaches federalism but practices the military era of government. We need a new Nigeria in 2023 that can give us hope, confidence and make us raise our hands in the community of nations,” she said.
While reviewing his first year in office and plans for the second year, the ICSAN director said he had raised the institute’s profile higher than he knew it.
He said that he planned to embark on a membership campaign and for the institute to be seen as the main government institute.
He added that the institute had started to change the name of the institute to the Chartered Governance Institute of Nigeria.