Nigeria Then, Nigeria Here and Nigeria There
By Bukola Ayeni
After listening to all the speakers at Governance and Democracy 101, I have this to write and that means that this article is base on what these speakers said.
The title of this article 'Nigeria Then, Nigeria Here and Nigeria There' represents the history of Nigeria's political system, the present situation of Nigeria's political system and the prosperous Nigeria, which is truly democratic.
According to the history of Nigeria's political system as narrates by Professor Lawan, before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorate by Lord Lugard in 1914, the different ethnic groups that now form Nigeria had their different orderly and functional politic systems. To mention but few, there were the Old Oyo Empire, the Sokoto Caliphate and the Old Benin Kingdom. All the aforementioned kingdoms had a working political system before the Nigeria that was created.
During the colonial era, there were different constitutions put in place by the colonial masters. To mention but few, there were Lyttlon and Macpherson's constitutions. After independence in 1960, Nigeria operated a parliamentary system of government and this gave birth to some standing institutions till now. Some are Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Nigeria and University of Benin. After the parliamentary system, the military came into the political system of Nigeria. Due to this, "coup begets coup" (Prof. Lawan). The military ruled for a short time, democracy came in and military rule again. Not until 1999, till date, there have been a 'democratic' system of government. Putting all together, twenty-nine (29) years of Nigeria's political system was ruled by the military. The military era disrupted the political process of Nigeria because of their dictatorship. This is part of what is still affecting the nation till now.
Since 1999, we have been told and made to believe that Nigeria operates democratic system of government, which the root word is 'democracy'. Now, what is democracy? According to Dr. Wale, one of the speakers for Governance and Democracy 101, "democracy is when a nobody becomes somebody without knowing somebody, and when somebody becomes nobody even when he knows somebody or everybody ." The question, is Nigeria truly operating a democracy according to the aforementioned definition of democracy? That is a rhetorical question.
Nigeria 'here' as I mentioned earlier is the current situation of the political system of Nigeria, which started in 'Nigeria then'. Nigeria that we find ourselves has lots of internal and external problems and there cannot be smoke without fire. Let's quickly look at few but major causes of Nigeria's problems.
First is "the settling power of money" as Dr. Wale call it. When the settling power of money is being taken away from Nigeria's politicians, they will be powerless. This settling power makes the myopic citizens to "celebrate pockets over brains" (Dr. Wale).. People celebrate pockets over brains when they vote for the 'dubious sit-tight patriots'. They give then a loaf of bread and deprive them of a bakery. Some of the citizens know and still won't bother. They reject the 'brain' because of the 'pocket'. Why? Because the brain lacks the 'settling power'. The brain is the candidate that has the mandate, zeal, an independent source of income, vision, passion, orientation, good health, exposure and orientation to move the country to its 'Cananan'.
When the 'settlers' rigged the election, the 'myopic eaters' won't complain for a short time. Why? Because they can't bite the finger that settled them. Unfortunately, the settlers will increase tax, demolish their houses, shops and replace it with the one that the 'eaters' cannot afford.
Second reason why the Nigeria here is still the way it has been since independence is because of the 'Influencers, Kingmakers or god-fathers', pick anyone that suits you. The Nigeria here is the type that a nobody cannot become somebody without knowing somebody. This somebody gives the nobody the position he or she desires. The nobody that is now a somebody will now be a 'Jack the dog' to the somebody that made him somebody. The somebody from nobody will have to compensate his 'somebody' by awarding contracts to him, his wife, children, friends or anyone he so desires. Even if that kingmaker will not execute the contracts. Taking a deep breath, that is the Nigeria that we find ourselves.
Finally, another major cause of the problems of Nigeria is the mass media. The mass media is being referred to as 'the fourth estate of the realm'. The first three estates of the realm are the executive, legislative and the judiciary. Nigeria's politicans understood media ownership and the influence the owner exacts on his medium of communication. Some of the things we read in newspapers, listen to on radio and watch on television are 'dilluted truths'. Any news that is not favourable to the owner of that medium of communication, whether a politician or not, will not be reported. And if it will be reported, it will he from the angle that will favour the media ownership (Dr. Charles Omole). Truth be told, the newspaper especially had been owned by politicians but used for patriotic reasons. Examples are the Nigerian Tribune newspaper, owned by Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Concord newspaper, owned by Late Chief MKO Abiola. These newspapers had great impact during the struggle for Nigeria's independence. So is not the case in the Nigeria we find ourselves. The mass media are now use for majorly political reasons. They antagonise each other. If the opposition political party does something wrong, a newspaper especially, owned by another political will give it prominence. How? By giving it a very bold headline. After all these, the question is, what is the way forward?
Nigeria there is the Nigeria that a nobody can become somebody without knowing nobody and a somebody can become nobody despite knowing somebody or everybody. The solutions or my recommendation is majorly the opposite of the cause of Nigeria's problem. But before that, it is sacrosanct that I mention that Nigerians, especially youths needs to GET INVOLVED in the in Nigeria's politics. Fortunately, majority of Nigeria's population are youths and the youths, which are said to be the leaders of tomorrow need to get involve before they expire out. How are they going to get involved? By doing one or more of the following:
Getting their PVC.According to Mr. Jimi Agbaje, " PVC is a knowledge and its application is key".
Becoming an informed citizen. Do not say that it does concern you.
Engaging in political debates and discussions.
Being a political evagenlist. That is to say, preach or encourage political participation.
Becoming a political activist.
Joining a political party.
Becoming a volunteer and delegates for the candidates that has the brain and of course, the pocket.
Now back to the major solutions to the three problems said earlier, the first recommendation is for Nigeria's citizens to be well informed about our political history. The past and the present enables us to predict the future.
The second thing is to support brains and not pockets. Of course, the pockets is important, bit that should not be the first criteria. We should vote for the candidate that is agile, healthy, expose, educated, has another reliable source of income and so on.
The third recommendation is to 'stand up to bullies '. It is not everthing in the political system that we need kingmakers, influencers or god-fathers for. We should replace them with mentors and not expired mentors or greedy mentors or success-jealous mentors.
Lastly, which is very important, is for Nigerians to be media literates.I have written on media literacy. Media literacy empowers you you develop a critiquing mind, that will filter out lie in truths in all the news or stories you hear.