Election 2007 and the Search for Leadership

By

Ritchie Ejiofor 

[USA, NJ]

rejiofor@naijanet.com

 

 

The Election Of 2003 has come and gone with all its attendant dramas and political rhetoric’s. It became apparent once more that Nigerians did not learn nor attempt to improve on its past experiences and lesson. Everything seems at least on paper That, our political machinery and issues have been resolved by the display of nonchalant attitude and salient projections That arose from electoral inadequacies and quest for power vis-a-vis power sharing and national integration cum development.

 

In similar fashion, the elections of 2003 could be likened to the melodrama witnessed In 1983, except that in the latter, Nigeria was saved the trauma of military incursion. In an objective analysis, the election of 2003 and its results re-echoes the now famous Gen. [rtd.] Buhari’s speech in 1983 that ‘The Election Could Be Described As Anything But Free And Fair”

 

First Nigerians were inundated with the infamous politically incorrect judgment as witnessed in the wabara election controversy fuelled with judicial zealousness and dysfunctional approach associated with political electoral maneuver. Also was the most recent Ngigate scandal whose trail is still very much with us and has refused to be correctly addressed to prevent future occurrence. The latter issue has demonstrated clearly in no small measure the problems with our system, which pinpoints to a defect in the structure that latently corrupts the operators of the system.

 

The present structure defective system over empowers the executive arms thereby threatening the basic ingredients and safeguard of democracy and presidential system which guarantees the separation of powers by streamlining core areas of control between all tiers of government so as to provide autonomy and independence with all arms working towards a more functional government with the end result to prevent abuse of power and big government at the center.

 

Most recent there has been a lone ranger call for the decentralization of the police and reforms needed to remodel it from the army of occupation the colonial master conceptualized it to a more re-orientated and autochthonous police force serving the need of a democratic and civil Nigerian society.

 

It is an irrefutable fact that most elections since independence has been won or marred with the assistance of the police whose centralized command structure makes it an easier tool to be used by the ruling party. In 1980’s it was Adewusi and his operatives, even the Ngigate gate scandal was carried out with the use of the police and on elections days, the role of our police in protecting democracy through providing an avenue for free and fair election could be described as notorious in the most romantic language I can possibly imagine right now. It needed an elected governor to call an un-elected vice president to recall the police army of occupation that had kidnapped an Excellency as per the Ngigate episode.

 

I do not subscribe to the negativity espoused by antagonist of the need for a state police force. The out come of any reforms cannot be evaluated unless it is put in practice.

 

Having enunciated all these it is time to direct our focus to the serious underground campaign for the 2007 elections. There has been an army of presidential hopeful but the real question is “are these candidates the very best Nigeria can offer” Why has contributed to the sudden demise for our seasoned leadership? I think one of the reasons could be attributed to the fact that the present operation of the system discourages and makes it impossible for the caliber of leadership to emerge unless the platform for a free election rather than selection is vigorously applied and implemented.

 

Nigerians are all living witness to “selection” rather than election that characterized the last election. Arch Bishop Obinna has cried out as an eyewitness but no body gave his lone cry any credibility. Buhari and Ojukwu re-echoed this national shame but were rebutted as wolves cry for bad losers but the truth remains and we will continuously have to live with it unless the system changes the approach of all mighty strong center and winners take all syndrome. The winner’s take all approach is premised on the fact that he who controls the center has absolute control over the national resources cum national cake largesse and patronage. As a result, Nigeria has more public officials appointed that continental United States of America.

 

What happens therefore is that emerging leaders are structured to believe and think that way of not looking beyond parochial, party and ethnic interest. They don’t see and think national at heart except only during electioneering campaign and promises that are never fulfilled.

 

The quest for political power is so fierce that those involved resort to mediocre mudsling and negative vices to achieve this purpose of ruling. Issues are not taken seriously because they don’t matter when elections is at stake. Even the last election outcome makes voting unnecessary as there will always be a landslide victory once there is a ruling party unless there is a military coup to make the table even, even the judiciary that is the beacon of the mass has failed when their input matters mostly. Late Awolowo when frustrated in 1979 sent his appeal to God for divine resolution but perhaps died before such judgment was given.

 

Using developmental growth as an indices t measures our achievement since the past decades or more, it is shamefully discovered that while the society is growing, the country growth remains stunted. There has not been any remarkable growth in terms of providing social infrastructure, medical, housing, nor political growth as would be expected. Our educational structure is so disarrayed that nobody is for certain what caliber of student we will be producing in future as there are not even jobs to measure a quarter of the population, yet there is the clamor and lavish monetary bing spent in campaigning yet non of our leaders and aspirants has proffered solution to this epidemic that has eaten so deep in our society that Nigeria could now be likened to walking ghost on a time bomb.

 

While it is true that most of the candidates preparing for 2007 do possess golden resume necessary for the job, including the retired generals for governing Nigeria, the question here is “will they function in a utopian model Nigeria?

 

This is a question that time and Nigerians only can provide an answer to. For indeed the road to the biblical Canaan is definitely not in sight. We have wandered for over forty years in our desert in search and yet we have refused to open our eyes to objectivity realities of a true search.

 

Ritchie Ejiofor [USA, NJ]

A commentator on National issues

rejiofor@naijanet.com