Former South African President, Thabo Mbeki’s contention that ordinary
Nigerians deserve as much blame as the politicians for the leadership
failure in the country provides a valid platform for the re-evaluation
of citizens’ role in governance in Nigeria. According to the man who
took over the mantle of leadership from the great Nelson Mandela, it is
only the citizens themselves that can put a stop to bad leadership. We
agree.
Democracy’s efficacy and legitimacy are predicated on an
informed citizenry; without active and knowledgeable citizens,
democratic representation remains empty; without vigilant, informed
citizens, there is no check on potential tyranny.
Mbeki’s position quickly brings to mind the
statement credited to a French historian and political thinker, Alexis
de Tocqueville, that “in a democracy, the people get the government they
deserve.” Given his background as an activist and freedom fighter,
whose struggles helped to bring down the obnoxious apartheid system in
his country, Mbeki certainly knows what it takes to put a government
under pressure and compel it to do the bidding of the people, in whom
lies ultimate sovereignty. This civic political culture is lacking in
Nigeria at present.
But recent events in the Arab world, known as
the Arab Spring, have clearly demonstrated what the people can do with
power when they realise that it belongs to them, and is only held in
trust on their behalf by politicians. Once the Arabs lost faith in the
way they were being governed, they expressed their views very strongly
and forced changes. The change of government that took place in Libya,
Tunisia and Egypt was an inevitable capitulation to the will of the
people, just in the same manner as the reforms that were introduced in
Morocco.
This point has been made even more pointedly in Egypt
where, after three decades of authoritarian rule, the government of
Hosni Mubarak was unceremoniously brought to an end. Notably too, even
his successor, Mohammed Morsi, was swept away in a gale of protests,
barely a year after assuming office as the first democratically elected
president of the country. To achieve this, the people were ready to put
their lives on the line, confronting security agents and defying live
bullets.
Unfortunately, here in Nigeria, nobody wants to put his life on the line. Apathy
by the civil populace has meekly handed politicians and political
office holders the freedom to steal the country blind and squander its
resources in a manner, perhaps, unheard of in the annals of the country.
It is difficult to think of a country where over N2 trillion spent in
the name of subsidy has not been properly accounted for; yet, nobody is
behind bars two years after. It is unimaginable that in a country that
professes the rule of law, billions of naira belonging to pensioners
could vanish into thin air and nobody is made to account for it.
Indeed,
it is still difficult to fathom how over 100 security agents could be
murdered in cold blood while on official duty and the killers still
prance around unmolested. It is perhaps only in Nigeria that a minister
would authorise the purchase of two extra cars, apart from her other
official vehicles, for N255 million. To think that this is happening at a
time when a minister was given the boot in Ghana for merely expressing
her desire to acquire up to $1 million through politics only reinforces
the extent to which Nigerians are docile and satisfied with the kind of
government that they have. The Nigerian minister in question is still in
office.
It is not just under the current government, governments
in Nigeria have always acted as if they exist in a different planet and
owe the electorate neither explanations for their actions, nor
effective service delivery. Yet, when the time comes to make a change
through the ballot box, it is either the same villains are returned to
power or they rig themselves back, regardless of what the ballot says.
In
Nigeria, it appears nothing can provoke the people into demanding
accountability from political office holders. Things that would jolt a
government in any other clime go unnoticed in the country. For instance,
how does one explain the continued deterioration in the quality of
infrastructure amidst an endless flow of money from the sale of crude
oil? How can the decline in the quality of education and health care
delivery be explained in view of the amount that accrues to the country
from the crude oil sale? It is in this same country that a government
came to office when the price of oil was $18 per barrel was able to pay
off the country’s debt of over $30 billion and saved over $50 billion in
foreign reserves and more than $20 billion in Excess Crude Account. But
the country is now accumulating debts, even when the price of oil in
the international market has remained largely above $100 pb in the past
six years. Yet, Nigerians are not asking questions and are so enfeebled
that their views, when expressed, don’t count.
A major factor has
been the role of ethnicity and religion in the way people perceive
issues in the country. Once a person offends the law and is about to be
brought to justice, there will be shameless protests from his kith and
kin, claiming victimisation on account of the person’s ethnic origin.
This blackmail has worked in many cases, including the corruption case
of a former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, and it is currently being
put to test in the ongoing bulletproof cars purchase scandal involving
the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.
Making democracy work,
says the National Democratic Institute, a United States-based non-profit
organisation, requires informed and active citizens who understand how
to voice their interests, act collectively and hold public officials
accountable. Democracy’s credibility and sustainability depends, to an
important degree, on how it works in practice, and on what it delivers.
As Mbeki puts it, bad governments thrive in Nigeria, or elsewhere for
that matter, because “the leadership does not feel pressure from the
people.” It therefore follows that if Nigerians desire the dividends of
democracy, they will have to fight for it. They must decide whether to
continue with the way they are being governed or become active in
demanding transparency and accountability from government.
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