Market Square Syndrome & Roaming Of Government Appointees.-Japheth Gurgur.

Today is April Fool but we elect not to fool anybody rather to discuss not the roaming of cattle but that of appointees of government and why Nigerian governments find it difficult to achieve success in administering very basic issues as simple as organization of public events or role based governance with quantum resources, human and material at their disposal: ministers, commissioners, and aides In perspective.

To appreciate this issue of idling personnel and failure in planning cum planning to fail, the market square syndrome has been advanced as one of the underlying prototype analogy to demonstrate the failure of government on basic issues under review owing to hypocrisy, eye service and/or sycophancy in government as indices of government failure.

In a market square, every body is the boss: the buyer and the seller, the onlooker and sightseer move freely with each pursuing their independent goals. In the end, the market square closes at dawn and everybody retires with gains and losses or nothing.

A government system without administrative hierarchy, processes and procedures or established structural organogram, where people issued appointment titles without any related cognate experience or knowledge are allowed to operate on the whims and caprices of their common sense almost always result to little success or failure of very basic issues as the sharing of food items or public presentation of materials resulting to distant rumors about actuality of government efforts.

No government or institution can succeed where artisans or people with little or no knowledge, experience or training are mobilized to undermine protocol, processes, and in the simplistic mentality of I can do it, constitute nuisance in the polity. This is why many people rush back to writing JAMB to enroll into undergraduate studies after successfully causing collateral damage upon appointment into government. The unlucky ones get indicted for moneys they never stole but breached simple processes and procedures resulting to procedural ultra vires.

Government is different from market square where every thing goes, including dancing and singing.

In an increasingly knowledge based 21st Century, governance encompasses Management by objectives (MBO), which is a model that aims to improve performance of government by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and employees. This is the very essence of institutional organogram with detailed administrative hierarchy and schedule of duties. Any thing short of this is facsimile of confusion and waste of human and material resources with the tax payer taking the brunt.

There is nothing as employee equality in government institution. There is only hierarchy and channel of communication and command, technically called the 'C Commad' - Coordinating Command, which equally is based on the prism of intellectual capacity and not figurative.

It is disheartening that efficiency and effectiveness are robbed by this very market square syndrome that operates on the basis of anyhow and I can do.

Even in the house, there are those who pound yam, those who iron cloths, those who wash plates, those who open gate, those who go to market, those who talk on issues, those who coordinate aside father and mother to maintain good home and success of family. Government therefore should operate better under prism of division, hierarchy, responsiveness, responsibilities and dignity of labour.

Gurgur Japheth MP is a public policy practitioner with certified proficiency in Management from the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) Chartered.www.gurgurjapheth.com