‘Technoticianism’ as a new political ideology

BY SAMUEL AJAYI

Is politicking about winning elections alone? It is so, if you ask a career politician. But that should not be so because it is about service to the people, a statesman and populist will tell you. But due to the pecuniary nature of Nigeria’s politics, politicking here has been as a means of having access to the proverbial national cake and to feather personal nests and promote cronies and family and friends through granting of unmerited favours.

Who are politicians? This is a question that has not been adequately answered as far as the Nigerian context is concerned. And that is why every election year keeps throwing up same faces, same names and same characters. Characters the people complain of being responsible for the mess in the country. But because they have access to funds, they use this to suppress the people, impoverish them and promote the culture of tokenism during elections to get them to vote for them. The cycle, a vicious one for that matter, goes on every four years.

While these characters superintend over the populace, technocrats and career individuals complain and lament about the state of the nation and the economy. While they toil and rack their brains in the board rooms, career politicians, who hold political powers, can formulate a policy that could make the professional lives of these technocrats go down south.

Shall this continue forever? No, says Dr. Jay Osi-Samuels. He and like-minds are the brains behind a new political group, Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN. It is not just a group. It is a movement of ‘technoticians’, a hybrid of technocrats and politicians where, according to Osi-Samuels, the 80-20 rule governs. It is not about winning power; but changing the mentality of Nigerians, especially the so-called corporate guys who feel they are isolated from the rot and pains on the streets. Those who live in highbrow areas and are more or less ‘governments’ to themselves since they provide all amenities they need in their homes. They provide their own water, electricity and even road.

“Even the money they spent in building treatment plant in their houses was enough for other people to build a whole house,” Dr. Osi-Samuels said during a chance encounter with this write over the weekend. “They have all the resources to do these things but what of the larger society? That is why we should strive to retire and replace these career politicians and make Nigeria work for Nigerians.”

Osi-Samuels said the nation has left politics in the hands of politicians for too long.

“We have left politics in the hands of career politicians for too long while we make noise for nothing. Now is the time to be part of the process as a career people who have made their marks in their chosen fields” Dr. Jay Osi Samuels, a medical entrepreneur of international repute, Harvard scholar said.

Osi-Samuels said the ANN is made up of those he called ‘technoticians’ who are hybrids of technocrats and politicians. But it is more than that. He said they were more of technocrats than politicians; only that you become a politician when you get involved in the political process. And he has this to say about the group:

“We are not politicians neither are we new breed politicians. We are ‘technoticians’. We are a hybrid of technocrats and politicians where the 80/20 rules apply here. In other words, in practice and modus operandi, we are 80% technocrats and just 20% politicians. We are allied to drain the swamp. We were not formed for the sole purpose of winning an election. We are committed to building a party that is bound by an ideology and would stand the test of time. We are allied to engender the Nigeria of our dream where every voice counts and every vote will matter. We are allied to position Nigeria in her rightful place in the comity of nations.”

When one looks at the resume of Osi-Samuels, one will see he is not a man known for frivolities. Born on January 3rd 1968 at Ibadan to both parents from Fugar, Etsako Central Local Government area of Edo State, Jay, as he is fondly called, had his primary school education at the St. Brigid’s Boys Primary School, Mokola, Ibadan after which he proceeded to his hometown for his secondary education at the St. John’s College, Fugar. He had his Advanced Level studies at the Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife, from where he proceeded to the University of Ibadan where he received his medical and surgical training, graduating with the MBBS degree in 1994.

Dr. Osi-Samuels started his professional medical career as an intern at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, ABUTH, in Kaduna. He now moved to the General Hospital, Lagos Island, where he did the mandatory NYSC. A couple of years later, he proceeded to the Harvard School of Public Health, HSPH, for his post-doctoral fellowship in Molecular Epidemiology under an award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2001. In recognition of his exceptional abilities, he was awarded a Fogarty International fellowship award of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an MS in Epidemiology from HSPH in 2005. While recognising opportunities offered by the US President’s Emergency Programme on AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa and in Nigeria in particular, he returned to his native country in 2006 to join the Harvard PEPFAR programme.

Dr. Samuels is also an alumnus of the World Bank Training Institute and the Lagos School of Business. He has over 15 years experience managing and implementing HIV/AIDS program in Nigeria including over 10 years in management roles. He has extensive experience in managing collaborative programs with bilateral donors, Ministries of Health and International NGOS in healthcare delivery. Dr. Samuels focus is on health systems strengthening with particular interest in the design, development and management of clinical laboratories.

Ajayi is based in Lagos