I Think We May Have It All Wrong:
It is the political season, and the entire nation is abuzz with politic and political punditry, however as I survey the landscape, I cannot help but feel like, once again, we may have gotten it all wrong. Beginning from the way our election cycles are set up to the way we select our representatives, it just seems to me that the entire process is doomed to failure regardless.
In the US, the election is divided into two cycles, the main election which includes the presidential, governorship, state and federal houses and some local election and happens every four years. The second cycle is called the mid-term elections of mostly member of the House, Senate and some gubernatorial elections. This cycle does not include the presidency. By contrast, Nigerian elections happen every four-year for all elected positions except for Anambra gubernatorial elections that got off sync due to some snafu caused by the Chris Ngige saga. This is not only a daunting task for INEC to effectively coordinate all these elections throughout the country, but could also be very confusing for the electorate. I do not understand why all of our elections should happen at the same time and if by chance there is a crisis, there may be a scenario whereby we would not have representation of any kind at any level.
In my last two articles, I spoke about how the presidential election and this tribal clamor to occupy Aso Rock, has overshadowed everything. In fact, I am not sure that the average electorate knows who the candidates are for any other elected offices outside of the presidency. All focus today is on the Atiku-late, Emi-Lokan and Obi’dient movements. The dangers that I see with this misplacement of priorities by the electorate is that we could elect the right person for the top job, but miss the mark on everything else.
According to a story recently circulating on social media, Tai Solarin, a passionate critic of the former President Babangida was invited by the president to determine why he was so critical of his administration. Tai, being the consummate dreamer pointed out all that President Babangida could be doing to help the poor. In response, Babangida offered him a role as the head of People’s Bank, a financial institution set up specifically to help the poor access loans for businesses and other endeavors. Tai was excited for his new role and elated that he was able to make some good impression on the president. However, since this financial institution was set up as a “revolving credit” meaning, as the borrowers paid back the loans, other borrowers will have access to more funds. Unfortunately, none of the borrowers paid back their unsecured loans and the bank eventually went bankrupt. This story typifies the Nigerian mentality and the state of our consciousness.
I used this story to illustrate our limited knowledge of how politics and/or governance really work. Often, when things are not going well within our nation, we are quick to blame the folks in government – not that Nigerian politicians do not deserve the blame, but that it is us who keep re-electing these inept individuals. You can talk with me about rigging until you are blue in the face, but it is still up to us the masses to say enough is enough. This lack of understanding is compounded by our penchant to see the world only from our tribal and sectarian prisms. Everything about us is defined that way including what we follow and trending on social media.
I am fearful that this election has seen an over-emphasis on the presidential elections alone, as if that is the only election ongoing in Nigeria. I am perturbed that no one is paying any attention to the down-ballot elections – meaning election for Senators, members of the House even down to our local government elections. Our tribal inclination has so blinded us that our only focus is strictly limited to which tribe wins the presidency. We, sheepishly and at our own peril overlook the fact that these down-ballot elections matter even more than the presidential election because these representatives have more impact on our daily lives than any president would. The president coming from your village will not change your life any. We can continue to elect individuals who want to continue in government because if affords them protection from prosecution or we could “vote all the bums” out and begin anew.
Some people may argue that to begin afresh is the reason for the Obi’dient movement. Not so my friends! Peter Obi as the president of Nigeria can do no more than the legislative branch of government would allow. It happened to Jonathan, who to succeed, had to resort to bribing members of the legislature. The moral of my Tai Solarin story was to draw attention to the fact that most people have a false sense of the ultimate powers of the presidency. Comparatively, yes, the Nigerian president is a very powerful position, but without control of the purse strings, that power is hugely limited. This idea that if we elect a good person as president, then everything will be fine is a fallacy. Without good legislators and a commitment by the electorate to hold these people accountable, you might as well kiss success goodbye. Mind you, it is this blind adoration and support of President Buhari by our Senators that enabled him to consistently borrow fund to support his budget year after year. To be real, your president is as strong as both legislative houses would allow him.
I am confident that Nigerians will be largely disappointed with whomever we elect as president in February. This reason is simple - we do not understand politics to know that the success of a nation is a collective effort and not reserved for the elected officials alone. This coupled with the trending and unreasonable belief that our government has a responsibility to provide for our every need showcases our naivety of governance. Some examples are the flood that ravaged a lot of properties in Nigeria. Mind you, it is not the role of our government to replace our lost homes and properties, we all should have insured our homes and properties against such natural disasters which are bound to happen every once in a while. But we will not - our expectations are so unreasonable that I read in some of our dailies how some people who have lost their homes and properties due to flooding want the federal government to provide them with housing. That is not a function of the government. In most civilized nations, every house, apartment, townhouses, cars, even down to the phones we use are all insured. This insurance ensures that owners are paid, or their property replaced should anything unforeseen should happen. Please tell me, how many Nigerian homes or cars plying our streets today are insured?
We complain of bribery and corruption, however, I dare you to show me that one Nigerian that has not bribed his or her way to something they want – especially the traffic police. We complain about tribalism, however, every behavior that we exhibit stink of tribal and sectarian sentiments. We scream about abuse, but we represent the most abusive people ever be it through tribal sentiments, jungle justice, and even house help. You see it every day on social media. We complain of marginalization, but our lives are full of examples of how we marginalize others, be it through religion, wealth, political affiliations and even to what social organizations we belong. We lack so much empathy and hence the reason one person will buy a $12 million home in the USA using public funds and feel no guilt. Such is the irony of Nigerian! We are the embodiment of everything that we purport to hate. Like someone once said, Nigerians are not mad at corruption, but just mad that someone else is the beneficiary.
For this next election, stop wasting your time on the presidency, focus more on the down-ballot elections such as the governorship, state and federal houses in your state. Make sure that the person you elect as the next local government chairperson is a person of integrity and has a vision for what they plan to do for our local areas. It should no longer be acceptable for folks running for office to tell you they will turn your local area into another Dubai, they cannot! Please ask them how?
February is around the corner, and this is the time to focus our attention on what matters the most, and, for me it is the down-ballots! Think about how much money that the people you elect to represent your local areas embezzle each year and you would see that collectively, your governors, state representatives, senators and state house members and local government chairperson embezzle more money than any President and all his cronies combined. For now, stop this clamor for Aso Rock and focus on your local government areas and as they always say…Charity, just like Beauty, Begins At HOME.
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