It may be difficult to interpret the attitude of Nigerian leaders without reference to the antics of the maximum ruler of the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), Josef Stalin. They are deft and deadly.
For the record, Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee, from 1922 until his death in 1953. He was good at intrigues and deceit with which he factored himself into the Bolshevik hierarchy in the years following the death of Vladimir Lenin and rose to become the leader of the Soviet Union.
Stalin’s strategies in manipulating his countrymen and women were quite instructive. In one instance, he was said to have presented members of his Politburo (ruling council), with a fowl that he had plucked off its entire feathers.
Thus incapacitated, the chicken could not stand properly nor fend for itself. But in a mischievous manner, Stalin threw some corn before it and the poor chicken fell for the show. After the gory display, Stalin told his audience that the lesson in the whole thing was that, to get the people and commandeer their loyalty, they needed, first of all, to be emasculated and disempowered.
Nigerian leaders seem to have bought into this absurd practice. And the people have fallen in.
In the last few days since some members of the political class began to creep out to announce their intentions for the presidency in 2023, the people have started falling for them. Groups are springing up or being propped to promote their aspirations. As usual, Nigerians are being divided on who to back, driven, of course, by the petty considerations of ethnicity and religion and not what each of the aspirants represents.
At a forum the other day, I watched some young men arguing vigorously on who among the aspirants deserved their votes. Their criterion for choosing the better candidate was not on the basis of proven integrity or capacity but on the ability of each to dispense favours.
It may be easy to dismiss them as not knowing what they wanted. But the truth is that they are hungry, disempowered and dislocated, hence, they seek any straw to cling to. The system, as it is, does not seem to have room for men and women of ideas without deep pockets.
This accounts for the surge of politicians, relatively, of the old brigade for the high office so far. At the last count, Pius Anyim, former Senate President, and Sam Ohuabunwa, foremost industrialist, have signified their interest for the office on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
From the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, former Lagos State governor, Dave Umahi, Ebonyi State governor, and Orji Uzor Kalu, Senate Chief Whip and erstwhile governor of Abia State, have shown interest. Kingsley Moghalu, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has also declared his ambition to run on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
There are indications that the list would expand in the days ahead in the PDP to accommodate former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President Bukola Saraki. Suspicions are equally high that the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, of the APC, has an eye on the job.
A particular strand runs through all of them. None is below 60 years of age. They have been in the system at one time or the other. This, ordinarily, should provide grounds to assess each of them and estimate what they can offer. For some that had been in executive positions, the point of assessment should commence from the level they met their various states and how they left them after service. Those in the legislature should be able to tell Nigerians the quality of laws they enacted in their days and how such acts have helped the country.
More than the trivial considerations of religious affinity and ethnic affiliations, conversations on the 2023 presidency should centre on antecedents of the aspirants, their capabilities and equipment for the office. Karl Meier, the West African former correspondent of The Independent of London, could not have chosen a better title for his book on Nigeria than “This House Has Fallen.” Nigeria, is on its knees, truth be told. What is needed is a leader with the verve to bring it back.
There is nohow we can discuss Nigeria in its present piteous state without referencing the ignominious role of some of those presently angling for the presidency. Chinua Achebe, in “The Trouble with Nigeria,” was right that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely the failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”
For Daren Acemoglu and James Robinson, authors of the encompassing book, “Why Nations Fail,” the most common reasons why nations fail is because of parasitic political and economic classes. Nigeria has had this extractive elite over the years. For them, what matters is what they derive from the system, not what they add to it. This is the time to halt the slide.
Earlier last year, a non-governmental organisation, the Chandler Good Government Index, ranked Nigeria as the third worst governed country in the world. The report judged the country very low in governance, leadership and foresight
The ranking, which was the first in the series, scored Nigeria 0.44 on leadership and foresight; anti-corruption, 0.45; long-term vision, 0.47; strategic prioritization, 0.41; and innovation, 0.4.
The verdict is a damning but true reflection of the situation of things in the country. In all indices of measuring good governance such as rule of law, health services, the social service delivery in areas the of electricity, roads, education, employment, and ease of doing business, Nigeria is virtually in deficit. Nigeria is presently the Poverty Capital of the World.
Nigeria has successively been lumped with Iraq and Afghanistan as the World’s most terrorized nations. Some of the politicians eager to take over do not have the capacity to reverse these ugly trends. They are part of the rot!
The Nigerian people must assert themselves and, in the manner of the Jews after the holocaust, rise with firm resolve and say, Never Again! The parasitic leaders must be rejected this time around.