Beyond Pardon: The Sordid State of Nigeria
Victor E. Dike
The
news coming out of Nigeria often makes one wonder if her present crops of
political leaders are serious with their duties. For instance, the president
does whatever satisfies his ego without ‘constitutional authority’ and
without minding the opinion of the people and his party. The members of Congress
and Governors have their personal agenda. Some of them are busy eliminating
their political opponents through hired thugs, while armed robbery activities
and poverty are rising beyond pardon. The INEC, which has not been unable to
update the nations voters registration log, is now embroiled in a huge
corruption scandal.
There
are no solutions yet to the dismal state of the nation’s educational
institutions. The proposed University Autonomy Bill before the Congress will, at
best, worsen the crises bedeviling the educational institutions. The policy
makers should take into considerations the opinions of the stakeholders and
critics who fear that some provisions in the Bill would transform the
vice-chancellors and the governing councils into powerful gods. And the economy
remains in shambles, as many state and federal workers still work for several
months without pay. Notwithstanding the sordid state of the polity, the corrupt
politicians have unlimited access to the ubiquitous Ghana-must-go
bags as they crisscross the nation in their campaign for a second term in
office.
All these are not what the people bargained for when they chased the military out of power. They expected a ‘true democracy’ that would improve the condition of things in the society. But the brand of ‘democracy’ being practiced in Nigeria has left the people in daily struggle for survival. Are Nigerians not tired of the politicians fomenting trouble in the polity? It is time for a change in leadership since the current political leaders are not performing!
The
crises in the polity have affected the state of the nation beyond tolerance. The
people needed democracy like air, but what they received from Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo and his group is autocracy. The lawmakers and the
executive who are supposed to be making and executing laws of the land (in
consultation with the people) to stabilize the society, are often on each
other’s throat. They are now
mired in impeachment battles, while corruption, poverty, unemployment, inflation
and crime are spinning beyond pardon. Currently, the powerful and rich
politicians hire well-armed private security guards to protect themselves from
any threats from their political foes eager to eliminate them through hired
assassins, instead of equipping the state police with appropriate gadgets to
protect the entire society from the menace of armed robbers. The lives of those
fighting for positive change in Nigeria are in danger, because some the
politicians who are against changes are comfortable with the status quo.
Can
the society achieve responsible leadership, fair elections, justice and equity
with the chaos in the society? Can Nigeria move forward with ethnic groups
clamoring for the presidency instead of working together to elect a national
leader committed to the welfare of everyone? Without all the ethnic groups
working together for the progress of the nation genuine democracy will continue
to elude Nigeria. Presently, the nation does not need politicians who pander to
ethnicity or religion, because that has contributed to a decline in civility,
tolerance and increase in criminal activities in the society.
Therefore,
to improve the condition of things in Nigeria the leaders must embrace civility
and create enabling conditions for social stability; and the nation must keep
pace with technological changes and tame corruption so as to attract local and
foreign investments into the economy. As Bill
Shaw has noted, ‘Developing countries must remain open to trade and
foreign direct investment to absorb recent technological innovations. Countries
that fail to keep pace with technological progress risk being marginalized as
the Internet plays a more important role in global commerce.’
Nothing
works in Nigeria as they are in other nations. For instance, political parties
are not built on any ideological framework to tackle the nation’s
sociopolitical and economic problems. They are often sectional, espousing ethnic
agenda, sugarcoated and unrealistic promises. Nigerians must work towards
building political parties made up of individuals with similar ideology and with
national spread, to attend to the myriad problems facing the nation. This will
help to build trust, friendship and social cohesion in the society. A society
constituted by parties committed to their political ideologies, and working with
effective, dynamic and national leaders operating under a true democratic
setting could effect positive social changes in the society. In The
Effective Executive, Drucker states
that “the effectiveness of a modern society and its ability to perform,
perhaps even its ability to survive, depend increasingly on the effectiveness of
the people who work as executives in the organization” (1993).
Politicians and Corruption
Any
society faced with the magnitude of corrupt practices prevalent in Nigeria
cannot function well. The news of corrupt activities keeps oozing out of the
society; with the right connection it
is a quick means to accumulate easy wealth. The leaders and the lead are
corrupt! One does not have look far off to note corruption in Nigeria. Bad
roads, police extortion, slow traffic and dry water fountain; heaps of trash and
erratic power supply are signs of corruption. Others are dirty toilets at the
airports, fuel shortages, crawling and missing mails, decayed educational
institutions, hospitals/clinics without equipment, the thieves in Babaringa masquerading as politicians, assassination of political
opponents, deferment of elections and recording of votes without elections and
poverty. This list could go ad infinitum.
Where is Nigeria headed?
The
widespread corruption among the political elite has trapped the society in
poverty; and it is now undermining the nation’s democracy-experiment. This
does not mean well for the already bad image of the society. Corruption has
sipped into the fabric of the nation; it discourages respect for the law,
honesty and valuable economic activities, breeds nepotism and inefficiency,
wastes skills, ‘cooks the book’, leads to brain
drain and foreign aids-foregone.
Notwithstanding
the issues facing the nation, Nigeria’s frequent-flier
president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and
his horde of advisers do not seem to understand the damages corruption has done
to the society, as the President keeps shuttling around the globe in futile
attempt to attract foreign investors to the corruption-infested nation. The
President should be made to understand that without honest attempt to tame
corruption, investors would continue to avoid Nigeria like a plague, because
they have seen the nation as a sinkhole that would swallow anything invested in
it. And this means the poverty of the people.
The Poverty of the People
The
magnitude of poverty in Nigeria is beyond pardon. Given the indices currently
used by international organizations, Nigeria’s GNP per capita of about $260 is
far below what is obtainable in the West. For instance, the GNP per capita in
the United States was about $27,086 in 1996. A nation’s standard of living is
determined, among other things, by her economic conditions and the productivity
of her citizens (the quantity of the goods and services that a worker can
produce for each hour of work). For that, a country may prosper if her citizens
are productive and not possess the major anti-growth
behaviors such as corruption and bad work ethic. But these are serious issues facing Nigeria today.
The mention of work ethic takes us to the issue of ‘culture’, which is a
significant determinant of a nation’s ability to prosper, because it shapes
individuals’ thoughts about risk, reward and opportunity.
The
life of any person burdened with the vices of poverty is miserable and short, as
he or she faces daily struggle for survival; that’s the case with many
individuals in the society. In spite of Nigeria’s oil wealth (the nation is
the 6th oil producing country in the world), the poor constitute
about 70% of the population. And with
the vast mineral, oil, water, land and human resources at her disposal, many
Nigerians live on less than $1.00 (one U.S. dollar) a day. Recent report by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows Nigeria as the 26th poorest nation in the world. Is this dismal
statistics not too bad enough to wake up the political leaders from slumbers? To
improve the welfare of the people the leaders must create an enabling
environment that would attract investors and spur economic growth, which, ceteris
paribus, could lead to increase in goods and services and improvement in the
poverty-profile of Nigeria.
With
the sordid state of the nation the poor are increasing in leaps and bounds. The
poor are those who cannot afford decent food, clothing, medical care and
recreation, live in crowded and dirty shelters, and cannot meet family and
community obligations and other necessities of life. Poverty is a serious issue
in Nigeria as many people struggle daily for survival without assistance from
the State. Worse still, Nigeria does not have any local guidelines to measure
the construct, or the basic social services for the needy.
An
interesting aspect of the poverty situation in Nigeria is that the poverty of
the people are caused by those they elected to protect them from it. Because the
political leaders with access to the national treasury convert public funds to
their private use. Thus, poverty has destroyed the hopes, happiness and
aspirations of the people. Corruption, bad governance, illiteracy and inability
of the poor to participate in a democratic process are other consequences of
poverty. In addition, poverty causes low morale of workers and affects their
productivity. Low morale is one of the most deep-rooted impediments to workers
higher productivity and the deteriorating poverty profile of the nation. High
level of poverty could lead to brain drain
-the emigration of many of the most highly educated workers to rich
countries, where these workers can enjoy a higher standard of living.
Therefore,
to control the scourge of poverty in
Nigeria, the political economy must show transparency and honesty in leadership,
accountability and distributive justice. The lack of distributive justice was
the main cause of the recent uprising in the Niger-Delta area where a group of
women seized some oil installations demanding that the oil companies making
billions of dollars from the land should employ their sons and daughters. They
even threatened to use their nudity as
weapon should they be attacked. Good health-care program is an important
variable in poverty alleviation, because an unhealthy person is usually an
unproductive worker. If the people are poor they cannot afford the basic
necessities of life and their ability to acquire an education will diminish.
The
unending political crises in the polity are affecting the people’s ability to
meet their basic needs -portable water, food, good roads, and habitable
environment. The voiceless - the unemployed, the old and disabled are neglected
by those who should cater for them. Educational institutions are in dire needs,
and as result, they cannot provide the necessary education and skills training
the youth and adults need to secure employment and compete in the emerging
computerized global economy. However, Nigeria can sustain economic growth based
on technology if a good number of the adult working population can read and
write well, and make productive use of the computers and information
technologies. Acquiring and using computers and information technology skills
could increase the people’s productivity. This would mean the prosperity of
the nation, which could translate into lasting, durable and genuine democracy.
Poor schooling, ignorance, poverty, and unemployment (or underemployment) among the youths could lead to their being easily manipulated by the political elite for selfish purposes; and that would spell danger for the society. Is it possible to manage a complex democratic process without critical and creative minds? Good quality education and good value system are known to affect the quality of leaders in societies.
With
the ugly tradition of corruption spinning beyond pardon in the polity, public
schools and tertiary institutions are left to rot away. Thus, the apparent war
on corruption in the society seems an impossible task, because those fighting
the corruption-war are themselves corrupt. Nigeria has to change her value
system and invest on education, which is the intellectual laboratory of any
nation and the engine that propels the economy. As Prof. Anya has noted without
a formidable intellectual base’ it will be impossible for any society to move
forward (The Guardian Online, June 19, 2001).
Therefore,
the success of any democratic system depends on the people’s ability to
analyze problems and make thoughtful decisions. Democracy thrives on the
productivity of its diverse constituency -productivity fostered by free,
critical, and creative thought on issues of common interest. If Nigeria
continues to neglect her schools, it could not educate her citizens and the
political landscape would be littered with illiterate politicians when the few
educated ones retire.
Conclusion
The
adoption of people-oriented and pro-poor
social policies, investment in education and skills training, investment in
rural areas, provision of non-interruptible electricity for cottage industries
and good roads for distribution of goods and services are ways to spur economic
growth and poverty alleviation of the people. Finally, no program would be
successful in Nigeria without controlling corruption and government waste and
ensuring accountability and effective leadership.
References
Anya, Anya O.; “The dreams, vision and myth of Nigerian reality” The Guardian Online, June 19, 2001
Dike,
Victor E.;
Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria [Zaria, Nigeria: Ahmadu Bello University
Press] 2001.
Drucker,
Peter F;
The Effective Executive; Harper
Business, NY, 1993.
Kuhn,
Thomas;
The Structure of Scientific Revolution, (1962); also see Clifford Cobb in The Atlantic Monthly, October 1995
Rousseau,
Jean-Jacques;
The Social Contract; Oxford University Press, 1994
The
Guardian Online; “ASSU,
students flay varsity autonomy bill” August 29, 2002
ThisDay
Online; “House
Compiles 9 Presidential Constitutional Breaches” August 30, 2002
Wolfe,
Marshall;
“Social Integration and Actors.” UNRISD
(Occasional Paper No. 4), World Summit for Social Development (not dated).
Victor E. Dike, author of Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria, lives in Sacramento, California. Please e-mail your comments to: vdike@cwnet.com