Give The Ben Murray-Bruce Common Person “Test” (BMBT) To Potential Ministers

In a more general sense, ministers and other higher public officials are usually in alignment with the highly privileged and influential-placed persons in society, especially in Nigeria.

But this is not always the case for the man called Ben Murray-Bruce who, by virtue of his upbringing, may not be a commoner given his educational and corporate background, but what is notable about the man is that he is not preoccupied with the concept of class, and the psychology of class division is something that does not appear to register in his psyche.

Senator Murray-Bruce recently won the ticket for the Bayelsa-East senatorial district in the 8th Senate at the National Assembly. The senator, although he is a registered People's Democratic Party (PDP) affiliate, presents more as an independent politician in words and deeds; a new world view and approach that the current All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration should diligently take note of.

On the basis of pure principles with a new Nigeria ahead of all of us, there is need for the nation to be guided by committed persons in executive leadership, such as ministers, senior executive officials and other higher-up public service leaders.

In this respect, this writer, on principle, drew out what could be called the Ben Murray-Bruce Common Person “Test” (BMBT).

Presently, the Nigerian Government, the Senate especially, now under Senate President Bukola Saraki, could make use of the BMBT as defined in this discourse for the incoming ministers, at least informally, directly and indirectly.

As part of the BMBT outcome, in-coming ministers and other higher ups, should commit in writing and in practice that they will be in the office frequently and work full hours like the average common person in public service. The story of being in meetings all the time will negatively count against them on this test.

In-coming ministers and other higher-up officials should promise in writing and in oath that they will in absolute truth and faith use each of their political powers to treat the average Nigerian as they will treat the wealthy or well-connected Nigerians.

Potential ministers and other higher-up executives should in good faith resign from their positions if the people judge their work to be more favorable to the interests of themselves, their families and upper class friends to the detriment of the their fellow ordinary, common or average Nigerians.

In-coming ministers and other public service higher-up officials should in a voluntary manner periodically declare their assets if they are to continuously enjoy nationwide trust from the people.

The BMBT will help assess in-coming ministers and other higher-up executives in terms of how they hope to go about avoiding acts of exploitation while vigorously pursuing acts of social and economic progress that will result in a sufficient living for the average Nigerian. The days of extravagantly accommodating oneself in hotels will be grounds for self-resignation immediately.

In-coming ministers and other senior executives should, by way of vows and assurances, state that they will make use of our public healthcare system at all times, encourage the use of the public education system and the public transportation system.

The BMBT will help assess in potential ministers and other public service leaders the level of empathy that they have for the ordinary common person by way of specifically requiring that they swear in the name of God or Allah that he or she will work in the interests of all Nigerians and not in the interests of those who have all the wealth and prestige.

The in-coming ministers and other higher-up officials should commit, both in written and in spoken words, that they will represent themselves in a manner that show full blown accountability, judiciousness and transparency on all issues within their official assignments.

In-coming ministers and other senior executives should commit to personally showing up in the media and in public forums instead of sending a representative to speak on their behalf, and be able to tell Nigerians directly that they are tackling government issues and policy matters.

In-coming ministers and other higher-up executives should, by oath and in good faith, as well as in a voluntary manner, engage in tweeting on a daily or weekly basis what they are doing to make their ministries or offices efficient, effective and productive.

In-coming ministers and other higher-up executives must develop a working style marked with full devotion to issues of infrastructure development, reduction of poverty, job creation, technological development and a clean environment.

In-coming ministers and other senior officials, by way of oath, should commit to having diversified office workers without surrounding themselves with persons of the same ethnic, religious or family background.

In-coming ministers and other public executives, by way of oath, should show that ethically and morally they live modestly and, when they travel out of the country, it must be openly known where they are traveling to, when they leave and when they return back to the office.

Ministers and senior executive officials must commit, by oath, not to fly first locally or internationally. In addition, they must personally hold their phones in case a constituent wants to reach them, they should drive their own cars and open their own car doors, except when the person has some form of physical disability.

Senior executive officials like ministers should state in writing that they will carry their own bags, read their own newspapers, carry their own umbrellas during rain or sun, and accept a modest salary. When they are at the airport, they should stay in line to get screened or be stopped for trespassing, and certainly they must walk through the airport like every other passenger or face security-related breach charges.

The BMBT was informally carved out from the nation-building pronouncements and deeds of Ben Murray-Bruce. The BMBT could guide us to identify potential ministers and other public service leaders who are imbued with the spirit of institution and nation building.

Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi is a Florida based Forensic/Clinical Psychologist, a specialist in Police/Prison/National security matters and a former Secretary-General of the Nigeria Psychological Association. [email protected] , drjohneoshodi.com