From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
Kaduna-based governance advocate and active citizen, Yusuf Ishaku Goje, has asserted that Nigeria’s persistent developmental struggles are fundamentally a crisis of values rather than a deficiency in laws, policies, or budgetary provisions.
According to Goje, while the nation’s legal frameworks and development plans are admittedly imperfect, they possess enough substance to transform the country if they were genuinely put into practice.
“If at least 50% of them are strictly implemented, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Goje argued.
Goje observed that Nigeria has never lacked initiative at the administrative level. Over the years, successive governments have routinely ntroduced or updated development blueprints and documents, created, merged, or restructured Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), shuffled institutional leadership and rolled out sweeping reforms, and inaugurated various ad-hoc committees to tackle national emergencies.
Despite this continuous cycle of institutional restructuring, Goje noted that the same systemic bottlenecks persist across all sectors. This recurring pattern, he explained, points to a much deeper human problem.
The activist emphasized that institutions do not fail in a vacuum; they fail because of the deliberate choices made by the individuals managing them.
“Laws and budgets set the framework, but they do not make decisions. People do,” Goje stated, emphasizing that the choice between using public funds for the common good or siphoning them away depends entirely on an individual’s ethical compass, not the text in a policy document.
Goje concluded by urging Nigerians to pivot their advocacy strategy away from demanding more paperwork, committees, or legislative amendments, and toward demanding a complete overhaul of public conduct.
“Let’s engage, ask the right questions, and hold the government accountable,” he urged.
He maintained that sustainable national transformation will only become a reality when societal values—and the consequences for violating them—are fundamentally reformed.
