The inability to manage election processes have constantly given room for the emergence of persons that are not only undeserving but also undesired by the people. We have been drifting at a fast rate and not quite far from actually being in kakistocracy, because the processes of emergence have always been nothing short of criminal. No criminal process could be expected to produce our desired quality leaders.
Every society needs proper coordination to harness its resources for purposeful living of the people. An uncoordinated society is both unsafe and unfit for human habitation. The collective effort of such coordination is what is referred to as governance. So, governance is actually as old as humanity. It started getting complex with passing times, as the world expanded. And, given the human nature, it was certain that governance would naturally be tough. This owes to the fact that life is highly dynamic, and the actors themselves (the leaders and the followers) cannot be exonerated from tendencies that are at cross-purposes to expectations. Thus, governance may not fulfil expectations until it becomes good, and it would fail to become good until there are deliberate measures put in place. Achievement of good governance in any nation or society is both worked out and worked for; it is one that requires paying the price to get the prize.
It is a common knowledge that democracy has become the most popular form of government throughout the world. Its uniqueness takes root from the fact that the people are ‘supposedly’ involved in the processes of the leadership emergence through the polls, amongst other procedures. However, and unfortunately too, the outcomes of polls have very often and painfully been restricted to the ones from the pool that have been pre-determined by the political class. The ease at continually achieving this had stemmed from the visible collective amnesia and complacency of the people. The political class who have turned politrickstars and `polienterpreneurs’ out of their self-serving tendencies and inclinations, created scenarios that continues to erode the credibility and confidence of elections at the polls. Given the perennial inability of the polls to avail us the much-needed quality leadership we seek, it is indeed very difficult to believe that democracy really holds the ace to our desired good governance. Definitely, our “democratic” governance has failed in all good governance parameters and measurements. It has continuously failed in getting Nigeria out of the sundry negative situations of economic quagmire, societal milieu, insecurities, and all others. In essence, the absence of guaranteed good governance results from our democratic government failures, which no doubt results from criminalized electoral processes. Without doubts, what we are having now is not far from kleptocracy or kakistocracy. This is where it should be a major concern to all, even those benefiting and defending the ugly situations at hand. Nigeria’s democratic experience is definitely at parallel lines with good governance, hence an undesirable form of government for us as a people.
In desiring good governance, it is absolutely necessary to state categorically, that government is just one of the actors of governance. There are several other actors in governance. These include the Media, Military, Multi-national donors, Multinational Corporations, Cooperatives, NGO’s, Research Institutes, Political parties, Finance Institutions, Religious leaders, Lobbyists, Associations etc. Besides the government itself and the military, all other actors are grouped as part of ‘civil society’. So, governance must be seen as a collective and aggregate effort of every citizen and not the government alone. The glory or blames of the outcomes of governance in every society must be shared among the various actors, though the government takes the bulk, being more of the anchor and in position to institute changes than other actors. To ascertain whether or not a society is having good governance, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in its Governance for Sustainable Human Development agenda of 1997, adopted 8 factors: Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency, Responsiveness, Consensus Oriented, Equity and Inclusiveness, Effectiveness and Efficiency, and Accountability. A critical analysis of these factors or parameters indicates that Nigeria is far from having good governance.
How well have we faired in our democratic practices, especially with regard to its most common feature of electing leaders through the polls? It has been a case of going from bad to worse. The impunity that trails elections is both terrible and horrible. No doubts, the 2023 general elections have revealed that nothing works in Nigeria. In describing the various situation reports, Reuben Abati of the Arise TV Station tweeted on 19th March, thus, “What just happened in Nigeria? An election or a burlesque? Even Masquerades voted. Touts and thugs replaced Electoral Commission and took charge. Shame on INEC and our security agencies for turning our country into a comedy station of the world”. He was absolutely right. We are witnessing a variant of democracy where political power is acquired by brute force through dubious electoral processes supervised by INEC, to govern a largely pauperized and conquered people at the detriment of national growth and development, in what is unarguably a Dem-all-crazy show. Very definitely, what we are now having is a “Demo-crazy Nigeriana”, as rightly captured by Dr Tony Agbons of the Institute of Leadership and Good Governance, in his own assessment of the ugly situation that meets the elections. Very definitely, our democratic practices is such that one can only describe it as being at parallel lines to the realization of good governance. And unfortunately, our penchant at trivializing very critical issues makes our country a sure theatre of absurdities. We turn every situation around to become a comedy. A land of comedy we are in, and why not, it has opened doors for skit makers and musical artistes. Even among the leaders, some have long become clowns, either by their brazen lies, defenses of the undefendable, or by their unashamed conducts. And, na pipo papa dem bi o. But shall we continue like this? Certainly, no.
So, where do we go from here since our democratic governance is reputable for breeding politicians and not leaders? It is good to point out that while leaders may be guaranteed to be good politicians, politicians don’t necessarily become good leaders. They are not development minded but elections and power minded. The inability to manage election processes have constantly given room for the emergence of persons that are not only undeserving but also undesired by the people. We have been drifting at a fast rate and not quite far from actually being in kakistocracy, because the processes of emergence have always been nothing short of criminal. No criminal process could be expected to produce our desired quality leaders. This situation can only suggest one thing; that though the world celebrates the democratic type of government as the best, it nevertheless is not workable in all societies or countries. Only hypocrisy, self-deception and delusion support pushing the narrative for continuum in this failed democratic system of government. We truly need to bring our minds to the fact of a ‘better than the best’ possibilities. Better than the best simply means even though there is something adjudged best, another exists that is better than it. This also follows naturally from the fact that life is dynamic and constantly evolving with passing times.
At the apex of societal governance is the government. All other bodies that constitute governance operate within the ambits of the standard set by government. So, government type and its efficacy are the chief determinant of governance and its outcomes be it positive or not. The supreme power of a state lies in the hands of government thus giving it the authority to make and enforce laws and implement policies as well. Indeed, government is at the heart of governing. Nigerians cannot and should not continue to carry on in pretence. Democracy is not working and may not truly work for the entity as it currently is. The 2023 general elections have exposed once again that we need to do something urgently. There should be a round table discussion of all concerned to work out what will work well. This feat almost came to being realized when President Goodluck Jonathan organized a constitutional conference in 2014. Interestingly, it is never too late to change the course and go about implementing the report. Honestly, were the outcomes of that conference implemented, we would certainly have gone past these unwarranted electoral impunity and “demonstrations of craze and crazy demonstrations” that the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti of blessed memory sang about.
That our rich human and natural endowments failed to uplift us as a people is nothing short of the very fact that we have failed in leadership and governance, and this is chiefly attributable to our employed or chosen form of government in practice. If we still hold the view that democracy could work, then let’s start it over again. We may need to first reconsider operating true federalism, where the component parts or regions would be allowed to govern themselves independently while the central government handles a few critical national issues. Definitely, something can be worked out to take us from the perennial shame of a nation resulting from election conducts, which still defiled the laudable electoral reform laws put in place. And, truth is, we cannot move forward because the critical process of electing our leaders have long become a regular ritualistic avenue of plundering our resources without expected results. May God help us!
Clement Uwayah, a public affairs commentator, writes from Edo state.
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