Letter To Nigerians

Murtala Maikaba

On the eve of elections in Germany, Jordan Bonfate, writing in the Time magazine of September 7, 1998 titled The Battle for Germany described the German voter as “a spouse who is caught in a miserable marriage. I’m certainly not happy. But then I’m not completely unhappy either. So what do I do? Do I get myself a new partner?...’” Should that voter, in other words takes a chance with Gerhard Schroder, the dashing outsider who seems to promise adventure? Or play it safe with long-reigning, too familiar Chancellor Helmut Kohl?

That may be what is going on in the Nigerians’ head. Nigerians are certainly not happy about the situation in their country. So, who between General Muhammad Buhari and the incumbent president Jonathan would Nigerians choose to be their next leader?. The choice is left to them.

That Nigeria is beset with problems is self-evident. “In spite of the trebling of the police force since 1999, increased expenditure and reforms, Nigerians still rank insecurity as one of their highest concerns. Infrastructure deficiency is still a big challenge. The huge investment in power running into billions of US dollars since 1999 is expected to yield 10,000 MW of electricity is still a far cry from what we need. The reality is that the generation swings between 3,000 and 4,000 MW. Analysts believe we need about 50,000 MW to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Given the growing population and urbanization, the challenge of infrastructure is likely to intensify”, says former Central Bank Governor of Nigeria, Professor Charles Soludo.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people living in poverty is expected to rise from 315-million in 1999 to 404-million by 2015 Nigeria inclusive. The battleline for Nigeria’s presidency between the lame-duck presidency of the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the re-invented General Buhari of the All Progressives Party (APC) is already drawn. That is the reason I write this letter to you, my countrymen. Just like the German situation narrated above, would Nigeria dump the incumbent and go for a new partner just like what the Germans did?

As you are aware, in few days to come, our country will be going to the polls. And you know very well that the election eve is hardly a moment of jubilation for Nigerians. The polity is charged and over heated. In a paralyzing grip fear and panic clutched our hearts. So it is with the approach of every national election.

The pitch of tension in the country reached the highest crescendo. We all become nervous and ask one another what is going to happen during and immediately after the elections. As a consequence, we pack our belongings, gather our families and despatch them “home,” to safety. Away from the sharp jaws of death. The spectre of violence cast a dark shadow over us, threatening our very existence.

With the absence of sharp ideological differences, self and other unpatriotic considerations are ruling over substance in the campaign for political offices. Remember, we still grapple with the challenges of ethnicity and religion. We still play into the hands of manipulative politicians. We should not be oblivious of the fact that democratization and elections sometimes increase the risk of violent conflict. Flawed elections also trigger conflict.

Fellow Nigerians, we all know that in a situation where the government’s capacity to raise up income and education levels for the poor, deliver services and security; ensure equitable economic growth and empowerment for all parts of the country is weak, therefore recourse to violence become inevitable.

According to the Africa Development Report 2008-2009, “the result of conflict is income loss as it affects commercial activities negatively, destruction of infrastructure and human and financial capital flight. Neighbouring countries also bear substantial costs through conflict spillovers, pre-emptive defense expenditures, and caring for the refugees.” Just like what we are witnessing in the country today.

To avoid all these, our democracies must be strengthened as a basis for social contract. This is because elections have proven to be insufficient to ensure a democratic delegation. As a result, elections must go hand-in-hand with constraints on the executives such as presidents or governors. This can be done if we strengthened some institutions and practices. This means that the electoral commission, central banks and the judiciaries must be independent. Nigerians, must therefore, go for a leader that will ensure this.

In addition the national constitutions must be rigid enough that requirements of super-majority or referenda must be needed to change them. Strict budgetary and auditory discipline and transparency must be respected and the government of the day must ensure the decentralization of economic and political governance to enable widespread participation as well as foster ownership of the governance process.

As our president is increasingly politically isolated, a recourse to desperate means to cling to power should be expected from those in government. Such examples can be seen in the postponement of the election and all the attempts to bypass and derail the normal electoral process. The personality-centered advertisements in the media point to the lack of creativity in the agencies that design the adverts. With all these misdeeds, one wonders what the PDP as a ruling party for 16 years would show to Nigerians.

If the presidency could lie about the Chibok girls, they can equally lie about more serious things. What faith can anyone put in President Jonathan’s government looking at what is happening in the country? Has he and his cronies misled the nation about the Chibok girls and the economy?

The questions being asked by Nigerians are: Has he betrayed the people’s expectations of a better, fairer and secured life, of a more just and prosperous and peaceful future? Has he allowed his cronies to pilfer and embezzle the treasure of his nation, and bring it to the brink of economic, political and social collapse? Has he surrounded himself with hundreds of bodyguards, while his defenseless people were being bombed and slaughtered in the streets and in their own homes by the insurgents? Is the president a tyrant who turned away when a section of his country were being maimed and displaced by the insurgents? Like the fig leaf, the credibility of the PDP-led government is wearing thin.

It’s a moment of truth for the country. The international community is watching the events in Nigeria with keen interest. It’s up to the national electoral commission to do what is right for the country-not what is convenient for one man and his henchmen.

What is happening in Nigeria is frightening and threatens the country’s stability, the government is scarred and unable to offer Nigerians security. In the years that Jonathan rules Nigerians are more divided and impoverished. There is absolutely no life support system for Nigerians. Who could save Nigeria from the collapse? Nigerian must see beyond their noses to see through the deceit.

Just as the president has apparently turned the PDP into a mere instrument of his personal convenience that’s how he wants to turn the country’s electoral commission. Even former president Obasanjo with all his military background and dictatorial inclination could not muscle the PDP into an unopposed presidential primary but President Jonathan did. It is a dangerous precedence, neither is it a good sign for the ruling party nor for the country.

Any attempt by the ruling party to enforce an interim government would be considered an act of blatant rape of the people’s democratic right to determine the future of their country as well as a violation of the constitution and would be detestable, unacceptable and vehemently rejected. Nigeria of today is different from that of IBB era where elections were annulled and interim government installed.

This is the time for Nigeria to redeem itself in the eyes of those who have been doubtful about the feasibility of the country’s democratic project, the country must learn to organise transparent polls in order to confirm that the era when a few miscreant politicians would hold the nation to ransom has passed.

If I had a President whose only crime to the nation was simply his ambition to win our votes for another tenure instead of a paranoid one -I would go straight to the nearest mosque say thanks to Allah and count my blessings.