THURSDAY COLUMN BY SAFIYA ADAMU
Politics is in the air and everything else is pushing for spot in the back burner; security challenges, economic woes, socio-political crises. In all, the society and by implication the nation is in disarray. Political stalwarts and juggernauts, the ambitious, the hopefuls, the serious and not so serious contenders are all rearing their heads on the multiple political platforms available. Last time there were over seventy presidential candidates with the “not so young to run” demographic producing the largest number of contenders. We probably will be witnessing a larger turn out. I can’t remember anything of their manifestoes or even coming across any though however manifestoes do not really count in our politics nor do they matter to the voters.
At the political party levels, conventions are speaking volumes of what to come. With consensus and zoning formula or system we do not seem to be ready for development of our democracy and democratic institutions. Democracy is about choice; the right to choose, and be chosen, the right to elect and be elected. It should not be about the person or individual it is about enabling environment that provides for anyone interested in the governance of this country to present himself or herself in contest with other interested persons willing to vie for office. It should not wholly be about the godfather or party stalwarts or even elders or whatever. It should be about willingness to serve, it should be about capacity to deliver on governance, it should be about the people and the people’s overall welfare. The entire political process and political offices should be about and focused on the people because it should be about the people.
However, politics the world over is about interests, no matter the system or type it boils down to interests. The interests of those who got the chance or opportunity to capture resources and take control of those resources. It is a class resistant to new entrants, a class nurtured on deception and deceit, built on low ethics and high on pretences. It is nauseating as well as a necessary process towards provision and manning of government machinery. In our case our greatest failure is in our inability or should I say refusal to let the process grow and develop to produce structures that will stand the tests of time, structures that are sustainable. If we can have this then we can be hopeful of eventual appreciation of rule of law, patriotism and hard work. In the absence of the rule of law in particular the society is threatened as it is now. Because though the entire world is threatened by insecurity our case is even more so because the people do not trust the government or leadership. Those who go into politics do so mainly to gain power and status and not necessarily because they have what it takes or anything to offer to the betterment of the people. A lot see it as a crowning glory for whatever they believe they have done or acquired. It is a fool’s paradise that has produced nothing but failure after failure.
The threat to our territorial integrity is a clear sign that we are on the wrong path. The fact that we do not seem to realize that hoodlums have taken up arms against the people and the nation speaks volume of us as a people. Our security challenges should be and be on the front burner, it should be a determining factor in coming elections. It is and must be a determining factor in our democracy. Consensus cannot produce the best from among a population of close to 200 people. Because the criteria deployed in arriving at a consensus candidate is flawed. It is most definitely flawed because a few persons with only their interests on the table cannot honestly decide from hundreds of contenders those who should be what. The people need a much larger role in the scheme of things. Party conventions must reflect proper democratic process in order to gain confidence of the people, in order to enable the people trust whatever government comes after the process. We must appreciate the fact that a flawed process is akin to a flawed foundation where no solidity can emerge. Give us a process that is transparent and tilted towards some semblance of honesty then we can begin to talk trust. It is simple logic that if the people can put their trust in the government of the day then the fight to save the territory, the fight for the soul of Nigeria and keep it one will most certainly have been more than half way won. Hopefully the primaries would take a different direction and lean towards a bit of transparency. With consensus really the people cannot hold anyone accountable, the consensus candidate most certainly owes no iota of accountability to the generality of the people except to those who are responsible to his emergence, thus hello godfatherism.
