On Lt. Gen. Agwai’s shoving off from SURE-P, the feelings of this writer are mixed. First, the fact remains, he was the head of an illegal body. SURE-P as a body has no legal backing. But that’s besides the point…
What is the point is that as the head of that body, he was appointed at the pleasure of the President, who in this case happens to be Goodluck Jonathan. Now, his principal, apparently gave an order, which meant that no appointee should attend the birthday party of the former president, Obasanjo, who recently transited into the opposition, whatever that means. Agwai went ahead and disobeyed the directive. That is insubordination, and on that ground alone, he deserved to be shoved out of the door.
Now, the second part of the story is this: what kind of insecure mindset gives such a directive to control the lives of his subordinates?
There is meant to be a defining line between private and public life, and who I associate with in my private time should be my concern. But, and this is important, in the Byzantine nature of Nigerian politics, such distinctions clearly are blurred. This is frightening!
This lack of distinction between private and public is a reason why most Nigerians don’t understand that you can be professional in a job. This lack of professionalism explains why most employers here will rather let an employee go instantly, rather than see out his contract. This lack of professionalism, most importantly, explains why the people around our President/officials, never seem to tell him the truth.
The key to change in Nigerian mindset, is sharpen the blur between private and public lives. This is the lesson we should learn from Agwai.