By Bashir Bello
KANO — The former Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, has attributed the stalled progress of the nation to the betrayal of public trust by the elected public office holders or officials.
Dr. Usman stated this during the presentation of his new book with the title, “Public Policy and Agent Interests”, in Kano.
He said those elected to serve the people have consistently broken the social contract agreement to work for the people by placing their personal interests above the public interest.
In his words, “I am here today to discuss a book, but this book was not written in the quiet comfort of retirement. It was born from a persistent, and often painful, question that has followed me throughout my career. It is a question that I am sure many of you, in your quiet moments, have asked yourselves: Why is Nigeria, our beloved country, a nation so blessed with human talent and natural resources, still falling so far short of its immense potential?
“And, more personally, why has Kano, a historically global centre of commerce, scholarship, and enterprise, over the last 25 years, been facing critical challenges of development, political paralysis, and a growing sense of disillusionment among our youths? This book, Public Policy and Agent Interests, is my humble attempt, along with a team of brilliant contributors, to provide an honest answer to these questions.
“In the book, we identify the root of our national struggle as something economists call the ‘principal-agent problem’. But let us set aside the academic jargon for a moment. At its heart, this is not an economic theory; it is a human story. It is a story about a broken promise. It is about the betrayal of a sacred trust-what we can call in Hausa, for want of a better term, “rashin rikon amana”.
“The structure of a functioning society is simple. The people are the owners of the nation-they are the Principals. Those in government-from the President to the local government official-are the managers (i.e., the Agents). They are the Agents, hired to work for the people’s (i.e the Principal’s) benefit. The social contract is the agreement that binds them. The agency problem is what happens when the agents forget who they work for. It is what happens when they begin to serve their own interests-their personal, political, or financial interests-instead of the Annexe interests of the people they swore an oath to serve. This, my friends, is the fundamental reason for our nation’s stalled progress,” he said.
He added, “Why do we have over 20 million children out of school in Nigeria, the vast majority in Northern Nigeria? Why do we have sprawling, unplanned urban settlements, with some reports indicating that up to 70 per cent of our great metropolises lack basic infrastructure? Why are critical infrastructure projects that can unlock the potential of our farmers and traders often delayed or poorly executed?. It is because the agents have failed in their most basic duty: to plan for and serve the needs of the principals. This is the direct, tangible cost of the agency problem.
“But the greatest cost of all is the erosion of trust. When our youths see a system that appears to reward political connection over competence, and personal ambition over public welfare, they lose faith. This is the most dangerous outcome of the broken promise, because a society without trust in its institutions cannot build a prosperous and peaceful future. The most serious danger, moreover, is not just that they lose faith, but that they begin to accept that such behaviour is normal, is okay and is inevitable,” the author, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, said.
The former Minister, however, recommended four key solutions to change the narratives and a situation where the people insisted on a new social contract agreement, demand for transparency and openness, encourage and reward persons with integrity and on the other hand, whistleblowing where necessary in order to bring about growth and development of the country.
Earlier, the book reviewer and expert from the Department of Economics in Bayero University Kano, BUK, Prof. Badayi Sani, commended the author for the work, saying the book has a valuable contribution to educating people to say no to illegality or infringement or a policy that is detrimental to society or the community.
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