THE title of this piece is not original to me. I picked it from Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai’s book The Accidental Public Servant. Keen observers of the political space know that El-Rufai is a key player in the incoming All Progressive Congress, APC, government, as the governor elect of Kaduna state.

The successor abandonment syndrome (sas) is the penchant for successors to overturn lofty programmes and policies of their predecessors in office, either for personal gains or outright vindictiveness, in the process leaving the people and the country to suffer the consequences. El-Rufai treated the issue extensively in his book and it is only apt that we refer to him now.

President elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had also been in government as head of state and he observed how most of the policies he instituted together with Tunde Idiagbon were overturned by the Ibrahim Babangida led regime. So, he knows how it feels and what it means to have well intentioned policies overturned by successors who are in a hurry to create impressions and to make personal and political gains at the expense of the overall interest of the people.

The APC party is at the verge of taking over governance, a lot has been said about how they won the 2015 elections and made history, how the PDP managed to implode through mismanagement and corruption in the last 16 years of their being in office. How will the APC manage the affairs of this country? Are they going to chart a new path? We wait and see.

Judging from their statements and body language, the tendency is in the direction of change, but, what kind of change are we looking at here? Structural and institutional changes that will outlast several generations or the change of personnel for change sake? For some of us, the problem is not with our personnel as we have capable hands to deliver performance in the country, if given the right leadership and direction, a leadership that will set the right examples for subordinates to follow, free from sentiments of ethnicity and religion, free from corruption and focused on genuine change, that is what the APC has promised us with the Buhari government.

As we go about this change, we must be very careful of the ‘herd mentality’- as my good friend Dan Ekoko will put it – that is, the band wagon effect, we must not be carried away with the hysteria, so that we can successfully separate the baby from the bath water. Governance is serious business and it must not be left to the whims of a few persons who have personal grudges to settle. Thus, the APC must not be in a hurry to engage in the mass sacking of persons who have not been on their side and institutions that have been set up for the public good must be allowed to continue.

The debate on the solution to Nigeria’s problems has been on before the advent of Buhari. So, we can either go for structural and institutional changes driven by focused leadership or a mere change of personnel. In other words, is Nigeria’s problem that of personnel or structures? People expect dramatic things to happen, beginning with the mass weeding of people presumed to be cogs in the wheel of progress or under performers. I will advise that we take our time to study the situation. Buhari should specify clearly the direction he wants his government to take and draw up a framework that will guide the achievement of such goals. Make it clear to all and sundry and demand compliance accordingly, through the instruments of appropriate rewards and punishment. Those who cannot cope will be seen openly and weeded out, this way, transparency of the government is readily visible. We must not put the cart before the horse and people must not be victimised for not supporting politicians in power or for any other purposes.

President Bill Clinton of the United States was talking about shared prosperity on Christian Amanpour’s, CNN programme of Wednesday 6th May, 2015. Clinton believes that the target of every focused government is to give shared prosperity and for there to be shared prosperity there must be inclusiveness of all. We must move away from resentment politics to shared inclusiveness, all parts must come together and be allowed to have their say in government affairs, whether they are in government or the opposition, no victimisation.

The cable online of may 4 carried an headline; “Buhari will overhaul the military, physical planning and urban development”. Overhauling structures and institutions does not mean that existing personnel are sacked. People are can only sack when they do not fit into the picture created for that function. From the days of Murtala/Obasanjo, we have carried out mass retrenchments in the past and the actions did not augur well for the country. Buhari also had his share with Idiagbon and this has gone on with successive regimes. Having spent billions of naira to train our personnel in the military and other institutions, it will be foolhardy to have them retrenched because they are not from a part of the country or did not support a particular candidate. This should not not happen.

In developed democracies, these institutions are independent and separated from the activities of politicians. Buhari must allow our democracy evolve to this standard.

Mr.  Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.