Nigeria: The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born And He Ugly Ones Have Refused To Die

By

Dahiru M. Maishanu

The Hague University, The Hague, The Netherlands

moyijo@yahoo.co.in

Observing Nigeria’s political trend is always an interesting exercise no matter how you look at it. Looking at it in a positive, negative, naïve, superficial, or sarcastic way, it will always certainly and surely give you an interesting time, interesting reading and a lot of food for thought. This has been the same even before the country attain its independence in 1960. The controversial nature of the amalgamation of the protectorates, the utter differences in the various nationalities even within the regions and the huge (western) educational imbalance between the north and the south were all food for thought for the discerning mind. The polity was however to be more interesting when the country began the process of self rule, democracy, military rule and midwifery democracy.

The various republics and military administrations and their often random programs have produced different effects to the country and the citizenry. A few were exceptionally good programs and could be compared with the best in the world while most were doomed to fail at inception. The tactics and the often foxy way the country always survive major catastrophe always seem to baffle all known logic and possible theories. The way  both the leadership and the citizenry always shoot the country on its foot defies logic from the so called civilized  societies; what they could however not fathom further is the mysterious way the country always seem to have a way of coming out of the fracas  albeit bruised and battered, but not out. We always seem to find our way out of the quagmire and doldrums.

The above analogy true as it is, has been compounded by a fairly new phenomenon that has been added to the country’s ever growing -isms. The people of the country have suddenly awaken up to find themselves and their country been plagued by a retinue of corrupt and inept leaders that have been around for a long time and simply refused to go away. What is more disturbing is the fact that these leaders have virtually done nothing good for the country for the long time they have been at the helm of affairs in the country  and are still bent on continuing to rule for ever in one way or another. Metamorphoses in various forms have been witnessed by Nigerians as these leaders try to be relevant and impact on our lives as much as they could with or without our consent, under democracy or the military. The past of these leaders is everything but glorious

In some states, leadership positions have been zoned to a few families who must produce at least a commissioner each when ever a new political dispensation comes up. The only criterion is these nominees come from the so called ‘reputable’ families who are either traditional rulers or some past president, minister or a money bag. We have seen ministers being appointed simply because their father was once a president, premier, minister or some kind of king maker. Ambassadorial nominations have recently been affected by this syndrome where children, spouses or relations of these leaders have been made ambassadors and they in turn made the embassy a family affair!

We have seen villages turned into local government headquarters at the expense of other more deserving towns just because a former big wig is from that village. These local governments have since been hijacked by the big wigs as leadership positions of the local government have been made almost exclusive for their children, grandchildren and other members of the extended family.  Some mothers really do have them (apologies to BBC)

The bottom line here is that these elements that are being recycled at our expense may not necessarily be qualified for these jobs. The over riding factor is they keep it in the family as if Nigeria is their own PLC. This recycling syndrome does not end in the political front; it is all over our national life. In the civil service, the military, the customs, NEPA and other public corporations, nepotism is the order of the day in Nigeria.

Even with the negative results these have brought to us as a nation, our leaders have stubbornly refused to let go in this shameful recycling process. While the developed countries are busy recycling waste to produce productive output for the economy, our leaders are busy recycling themselves to always have a grip on us all, at all expense.

Dismal failures in the polity like the Buhari-gate scandal, the Dariye affair, the Anambra crisis and many more have elements of this syndrome in them when one looks deep in to the their root causes. Without an element of godfatherism akin to this recycling syndrome, Buhari, Dariye and Ngige would not have found themselves at the threshold of power in the first place, nor engaged in what they engaged in. No wonder our leaders always embark on some kind of voodoo economics when they are trying to solve our battered economy. The truth is that they are ill equipped to handle this because they are round pegs put in our square holes and therefore did not match.

It does not take you far to see these things happening all around the place. Look at the National Assembly and see the quality of some of our legislators. If they are not engaged in squabbles over money, they are busy slapping one another at the slightest provocation. If you have a close look at the list of candidates selected for the ongoing national political reforms conference, you will see the ugly ones refusing to die in some faces among the list. Some of these candidates were only ‘selected’ based on some body’s (in) glorious past, not on their proven track record if they have any at all. How positive can the outcome of this conference be when the motive of some of the candidates was dubious to say the least. How can they produce a credible blue print for the future of the country when they came to the conference in the first place without qualification other than being somebody’s side kick who insist they be there because they are his children, relations or friends? I fear the conference may yet be another merry go-round extravaganza at the expense of the helpless tax payer.

Competence and qualification have been thrown to the dogs in Nigeria. You do not have to be competent, qualified or possess at least a semblance of them to become a governor, minister, commissioner or local government chairman. All you need is to be lucky to have a former this or  former that as your father, godfather or mentor. Once you are there, you do only the bidding of your sponsor, not the people, shikenan.

The inevitable result of this, among others, is the much talked about brain drain syndrome which has carted away our professionals to other lands where they can at be recognised and useful to the society. On all these, Nigeria is the ultimate loser while the sugar daddies of politics grow fat bellies of ill gotten wealth as a result of their refusal to allow fresh and capable hands, from any part of the country to manage the affairs of the nation. We are indeed held hostage by these hawks that hover around us with claws that are dangerously clinched to our throats and there is no let go. The ugly ones have indeed refused to die in Nigeria.