By Nwobodo Chidiebere
“Constructive diplomacy
doesn’t mean relinquishing one’s right. It means engaging with one’s
counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address
shared concerns and achieve shared objectives.”
--Hassan Rouhani
In a democratic system of governance like ours,
strategic diplomacy has been adjudged, tested and trusted as the best approach
to finding lasting remedies to burning issues of governance. Great and age-long
results have been made possible through constructive engagement and dialogue
with relevant stakeholders than by the use of dictatorial methodology.
Gov Ugwuanyi |
The developed democracies of the world like America and Great Britain have elevated potency
of diplomacy cum diplomatic skills in managing public affairs issues to its
rightful place. The advancement of democracy and its culminating effects on the
development of these countries cannot be detached from the values they placed
on diplomacy—which is the sturdy foundation of democratic governance setting
benchmark to our contemporary world.
In fact, America for instance, rate and evaluate its
presidential hopefuls on their diplomatic capacities more than other qualities,
because American President will not run White House alone, but from time to
time dialogue with congressmen and women, business tycoons in Wall Street, ICT
magnates in Silicon Valley and other relevant stakeholders before major
economic or socio-political policies are introduced and allowed to scale
through the congress.
Since the advent of democracy in 1999, Enugu State
has never witnessed a thorough democratic system of governance—where an
incumbent governor will long to consult and interface with genuine stakeholders
and iron-out grey edges before arriving at a consensus, in implementation of
polices of his administration. There is no doubt that His Excellency Governor
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has not only redefined standard of stakeholders and community
engagements in the Coal City via dialogue and diplomacy, but rewritten
political template of Eastern hub; used previously by his predecessors in the
art of governance.
Before now, Enugu
State had executive
governors who operated like demi-gods, called the shots and determined
who-gets-what without consultations with critical stakeholders and opinion
moulders. They never bothered or alluded to overriding interests of Enugu people, provided
they were in absolute control of the state government apparatus. Erstwhile
governors of the state were feared more than respected. They propagated and
enforced political ideology of absoluteness of power—which was averse to
fundamentals of 21st century democracy.