Nigeria last Friday marked 21 years of unbroken democratic governance, a rare feat in our political history. May 29, 2020 also marked the first one year of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term of four years in office. The fact that June 12 has been re-branded as Nigeria’s “Democracy Day”, instead of May 29, is only a matter of political tool to achieve political purposes. The unassailable truth is that May 29, remains an effective day in the present democratic dispensation that began in 1999.
In that respect, democracy, undoubtedly, is a vital and enduring experience. Though with its imperfections, among other systems of government, democracy is believed to be the ideal system of governance for actualising the hopes and aspirations of the people. In countries where this system has flourished, it has proved, to a great extent, to have met many of the citizens’ expectations. The question is: why is it that what has worked for other countries, has not worked for Nigerians. This is arguable. Nevertheless, the joke often told about our leaders is that democracy hasn’t delivered the necessary dividends because Nigerian leaders are a handpicked bunch with no talents and no adequate preparations to succeed in that crucial office.
I completely agree with this school of thought. This is why presidential performance has been a major concern for Nigeria and our citizens. It’s so because, when you fail to prepare for a high office, you only become a disaster waiting to happen. Again, this is because the President is not just the symbol of democracy, he’s also the spirit of leadership that inspires the people to meet most of their aspirations. In that case, what the President does, how he governs, and the decisions he makes and how he makes them, all combine to form the perceptions that people have about him, and indeed, the country.
This becomes more real, more revealing when a leader, a President, gets a enough power, when he feels he doesn’t need anybody anymore, then we can begin to see how he always wants to treat people and his country. This is simply what happens: power, as historian Robert A. Caro wrote, always reveals. In other words, what leaders do while they are trying to get power is not necessarily what they do after they have it.
As our country enters 21 years of unbroken democratic governance, it makes sense to look back, look forward, why our democracy is wobbling, why our leaders/presidents are not measuring up on the leadership scale, the nature of power, the complexity of ambition of our politicians, and the role that the greater good can indeed play in the making of a leader. The truth is that Nigeria is in this hole not because we are jinxed, not at all. It’s largely because many of our politicians who aspired to be leaders, or president, very few are leaders or presidential materials in the true sense of the word: using great power for great purposes.
They sought power not to accomplish goals for the country and better the lot of the people. They had no agenda, no vision, but to dominate other men. When they get elected, they began to see the office, to borrow the words of a former student American President Gerald Ford, ‘as a prize to be won, not a duty to do’. For sure, for any President in a democracy, politics ought to be the perfect platform to do one’s best for his country. That’s the essence of the presidency. It’s about learning and knowing what one didn’t know before he got to power. No president remains the same in terms of experience, exposure and understanding of both local and global politics and economy.
It still troubles the mind why our democracy is yet to produce transference leaders. By that, I mean presidents that have enormous ability to connect with the people and shape their aspirations, a leader who transcends ethnic divide, a President who knows how to use power, without overreaching himself. Take for example, with his enormous experience and exposure, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo started well, laid a good foundation in his first tenure(1999-2003), but he began his second term by confusing his own destiny with that of the country. He saw himself as the “messiah” which he was not, but was deceived to believe by some of his party loyalists that he was the only force holding Nigeria together. He ran aground because, among other reasons, he overused power. He didn’t know when to invoke the prestige of the presidency and when to hold it in reserve.
His handpicked successor, Umaru Yar’Adua, was hemmed in by illness. But beside, he behaved like a stranger in the Presidential Villa. He lacked firmness and a sense of timing. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan continued with that imperturbable calm and timidity when urgent action was needed . That was how Boko Haram became a festering security challenge. All of this happened because, first, these men, despite their love for the country, they were really not prepared for the office they suddenly found themselves in. Secondly, success in governance requires diligence and adjusting course when errors are made.
What else do we need to say about the incumbent President that one has not said before? Nonetheless, at a time like this that his administration has rolled out a ledger of achievements in five years, it’s pertinent to ask: Are you better off today with this government than you were five years ago? Buhari presidency, no doubt, is one that comes with a mixed bag. For some, he has done well considering the circumstances before him. To many others, his presidency is a history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. For me, the bright spot in Buhari’s presidency is his war against corruption. In that regard, history will look kindly on him as one leader who responded forcefully against graft in the country.
On the flip side, looked from his two other promises he made during his campaigns for the presidency – economy and security – , the economy has grown progressively worse in the last five years. Same with insecurity. The Economic Recovery Growth Plan(ERGP) on which his economic policy is benchmarked, is far from meeting its set objectives. Under Buhari’s watch, Nigeria had been in recession, managed to get out of the hole, and now, threatened by even a deeper recession. Within this period Nigeria has become the home to highest number of world’s very poor people, the poverty capital of the world. Insecurity has squeezed everyone into a corner. President Buhari needs more than tremendous moral strength to get things done. Raw power won’t do it either. He must make democracy work.
Altogether, every democratic president is judged by the many things he initiated and accomplished. These include legislations, programmes/policies that impact positively on the people. In that case, a President is like a shepherd who knows what stirs the hearts of the people and make better choices that work in their overall interests. In other words, the challenges that the country faces and the concerns of the citizens are often millstones around every President’s neck. And how he solves them, often determines how, in the end, history will judge him, either kindly, or harshly.
That’s why leaders are not judged like other men. When it is discountenanced, democracy becomes vulnerable to dark propensities. That’s why democratic elections require more than the casting and counting of ballots. In a healthy democracy, elections hold governments accountable to the governed. That’s where our democracy is in deficit. Vote buying has been the order of the day in recent elections. But, we can still get it right with good leadership and political will to make democracy work in Nigeria.