In recent years, the entertainment industry in Nigeria has been on an upward trajectory. Across the globe, Nigeria movies and music has been buzzing, along with an exciting array of comedians providing the much needed comic relief to a populace weighed down heavily by social and economic malaise. A few years ago, during a comedy show in Lagos, one of the top comedians dropped a classic oxymoron. A politician visited a village and asked what their needs were. ”We have two basic needs sir,” replied one of the villagers. “Firstly, we have a hospital, but there is no doctor.” On hearing this, the politician whipped out his mobile phone and after speaking for a while he reassured the village leader that the doctor would be there the next day. He then asked about the second problem. “Secondly sir, there is no mobile phone coverage anywhere in the village.”  The dodgy ‘politrikcian’ got the shock of his life.   

Scenes like this dot our landscape from the North to the South - at ward, local government, state, and federal levels. Politicians taking the Nigerian people for a cosy ride, making empty promises. How is it possible that they promise so much during electioneering campaigns and deliver nothing of substance when they get into office? How is it that in the next election, the same crop of failed politicians gets on the ballot paper to stand for re-election, and go on to win? How is it that our political parties have not developed to ideological powerhouses that can drive thought, policies, and national consciousness? How is it that we the people have remained so docile, gullible, and nonchalant for so long? How is it possible that a land so blessed by nature has majority of its citizens wallowing in abject poverty and penury? How is it possible that only a few are junketing and enjoying our commonwealth? How is it possible that we the people have resigned to fate and the ephemeral when we are capable of taking the destiny of our nation in our hands? How is it? How is it….? We can go on and on… 

In dissecting the core challenges facing our country and providing workable solutions to them, certain indices and parameters are worth viewing. Speaking in a Hausa language BBC interview, All Progressive Congress, APC Stalwart, Dr Mahdi Shehu accurately pointed out; “as disastrously as President Buhari has performed, I am happy that he got to be President.  Had he not become President and died, he would have been elevated to Islamic sainthood and his grave would have become a pilgrimage site”. Many Nigerians would not begrudge the erudite scholar for his pontifications. The reasons are not far-fetched. 

Pre- 2015, the current government of President Muhammadu Buhari rode to power on the wheel of change and doing things differently. The then opposition APC transversed the length and breadth of Nigeria and campaigned vigorously on the tripod of security, anti-corruption, and the economy. The aforementioned was also knotted with the promise to restructure the country and practice of fiscal federalism. Six and nearly seven years on, we are biting our fingernails. The question on the lips of Nigerians (with hindsight) is: based on empirical evidence and data before us, are we better off now than we were in 2014, 2015? Your guess is as good as mine.

Successive governments seem to fail in Nigeria. This is a country that has produced great minds like Chief Anthony Enahoro, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Abubakar Tafewa Balewa in the past. This is a country that currently has the likes of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Akinwunmi Adesina amongst others. Ours is not a case of dearth of sound minds but a battle between the reign of mediocrity and pursuit of excellence. How the latter (mediocre) continues to run the rule over the rest of us beggars belief. What actually is wrong with us as a people? Why is it always impossible for us to put out our best eleven in the reins of leadership? What is it with our memory that we often reward the leeches amongst us with the plum positions while those with the know-how do not even get close to the gate of power? There are arguments for and against the answers to these telling anecdotes. 

Our political party’s membership process, candidate selection process and ascension system as currently designed is not fit for purpose. These have to be rejigged. A situation where political party flagbearers are handpicked by so called big-men is ludicrous and unhealthy to our democratic evolution. Science tells us that, “the first step to curing a disease is to know the cause”.  The Nigeria people can only vote for candidates put in front of them. These candidates are synthesized via the political parties. Analyst posits that not until we get it right at the level of the political parties, our long walk to freedom will remain a mirage. Similarly, the splinter political parties could well amalgamate and join forces together. There is strenght in unity. The reality of having just the APC or PDP as the only `vehicle` that can drive an individual to political office is suffocating our `democratic lungs`. The smaller political parties must drop their egos and personal aggrandisement and team up. Also, and by far the most critical aspect of our party politics is the urgent need for our political parties to have their own ideologies. Nigerians deserve to know where political parties stand on Education, Health, Housing, Agriculture, Tourism, Power (Electricity, Sustainable energy), Infrastructure, Aviation, Environment, Sports, Youth, and other sundry issues. Nigerians deserve to know all the imperatives to moving the nation from point A to point B. Enough is enough of all the innuendos, abracadabra, and the nonsense music/dance now synonymous with our election campaigns. Time for issues-based politics and not the shenanigans on show in the last twenty-two years plus. 

Another source of worry in our polity is the stupendous flaunting of new wealth and affluence by those in power. Win an election or get a political appointment at any level and you suddenly overnight amass ill-gotten money from the public purse. Depending on who you know and are loyal to, you are able to walk away with no one blinking an eye. As alluded to by a former senior political figure of the present administration, “your sins will be forgiven if you join their party”. Politics should be all about service. Yes, service to the people and not the other way round. Governance is a social contract with the people. It is a prerogative held in trust for the people and not a money-making machine. It is the latter that has created the `do-or-die` syndrome prevalent in our clime. Some have even suggested we switch to the part time model practised in other countries especially with regards to the legislature. Other experts suggest that salaries and other entitlements for political office holders should be reviewed downward to reflect current economic realities. The jumbo lifestyle of these politically exposed persons is coming at a huge cost to the nation. If truly, these individuals (political office holders) say they are here to serve, then they must do so in every sense of the word.

The Nigerian people must learn to hold government accountable. We must ask questions when needed. The era of sitting on the fence is long gone. Merely complaining and ranting on electronic, print, and social media is not enough. Time has come for all Nigerians to align and come together to face our common enemies. Time for us to get off our ass and participate in governance from ward, local government, state to federal level. No Jupiter will do it for us. It is our game to win. Yes, majority of Nigerians have been battered and decimated by years of inept leadership. We can`t give up now! Another chance is begging. Are we going to seize our moment and go for the jugulars? Are we the people ready to take the bull by the horn and decide our destiny and future? As the 2023 General elections dawns, Nigerians from all works of life - the academia, organised labour, students, professionals, artisans, the clergy, businessmen and women, youths et al must rise up to the monster political class holding the nation to ransom. We hold the aces. We decide. This is not the time to keep mute and then wake up in 2024 to start complaining. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu of blessed memory opined emphatically, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”.

Finally, in the words of the German playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He hears nothing, sees nothing, takes no part in political life. He doesn’t seem to know that the cost of living, the price of beans, of flour, of rent, of medicines, all depend on political decisions. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and says he hates politics. He doesn’t know, the imbecile, that from his political non-participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber and, worst of all, corrupt officials, the lackeys of exploitative multinational corporations”. An anonymous writer said, “no country can progress if its politics is more profitable than its industry”. C`mon Nigerians, let us be wise!

Dr Agbons is founder of the Institute of Good Governance