Now, happiness by official commission?

Bhutan believes in the benefits of taking happiness seriously. Ever since the previous King of Bhutan mooted the idea of Gross National Happiness as an alternative index, it has caught on in many places other than the idyllic Himalayan kingdom too. Not only does the UN now bring out a World Happiness Report ranking 155 countries — in 2017, Norway was the happiest and Central African Republic the least happy, with India a morose 122nd — the United Arab Emirates appointed a minister for happiness in 2016, a few years after Venezuela did so.

But none of these happy events caused as much mirth, at least in cyberspace, as the governor of Nigeria’s Imo state appointing his own sister as commissioner for ‘happiness and purpose fulfilment’ this week. Her previous experience as special adviser to her brother on domestic matters presumably primed her for this onerous task but social media was more snarky than joyful.

Though her brief comprises monitoring the implementationof the government’s happiness-creating (read: development) schemes, the nationwide chuckles triggered by her appointment indicates at least a short-term success in happiness creation. Renaming, if not repurposing, government departments has its plus points. Now how about a happier name for our ministry of statistics and programme implementation?