By Douglas Anele

All this is disturbing, considering the enormous amount of resources, both human and material, that have been mobilized to ensure that the 2011 elections are better than the previous ones. The blame lies squarely at the feet of desperate politicians and inept corrupt INEC officials, although we should not lose sight of the fact that the 1999 Constitution is flawed in many areas, thereby allowing morally crippled unpatriotic Nigerians to exploit the system for their own narrow egoistic interests.

Let us consider at this point the dominant attitude and basic motivations of most Nigerian politicians and see how these dispositions are affecting the electoral process and governance in Nigeria. A factor that stands out in bold relief is that Nigerian politics is probably the most monetised in the world.

In otherwords, active participation in Nigerian politics as a candidate for an elective position is very expensive. Candidates oftentimes sell their property and other assets to raise money for logistics during campaigns, pay homage to godfathers, and even purchase forms from political parties. Little wonder Nigerian politicians consider politics a business investment. Moreover, the political system is structured and operated in such a way that even if a politician wins in a free o wealth, respect and admiration for the victor.

And talking about free and fair election, many Nigerians naively think that it is the magic wand that would produce good leaders. We might define such an election as one in which the election management body is impartial and provides a level playing field for all political parties, such that no party or candidate has an advantage over others through its decisions and activities.

 It also includes the presumption that to a reasonable extent the election was free of irregularities, to the extent that an overwhelming majority of those declared elected reflect the genuine choices of the electorate. Keep in mind that people’s perception of the quality of an election is determined by a number of factors, the most important of which is the media. For example, the election conducted on June 12, 1993, generally regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigeria since independence, would not have been so regarded if the press had reported it to be otherwise no matter what else might have led to that same conclusion. Therefore, the question arises: is there a correlation between “free and fair” election as defined above and the quality of leadership that would emerge from the process?

We believe that the quality of leaders from any given election is a function of several variables, of which the quality of that very election is one. Now, assuming that the victorious political party in a “free and fair” election fielded largely incompetent and morally disabled candidates, but because it had far greater financial resources than its rivals who had better candidates to mount blistering campaigns which succeeded in selling its flagbearers to the voters, can we really say that the election will produce good leaders?

Certainly not, because although it was free and fair the likelihood of incompetent and corrupt leaders emerging from the process is high. The dominant social character of a society and the controlling values and norms that shape the worldview and lifestyles of majority of its members determine the kind of leadership it would
have and, by implication, the quality of its political processes. Free and fair election is very important, especially for credibility and confidence in democracy as the best form of social engineering in an imperfect world. But it does not guarantee that those elected will perform their duties for the common good.

 It is really disheartening to think that even if the on-going Aprils elections would end up free and fair most parts of Nigerian will still be saddled with the same group of indolent, avaricious and morally deaf and blind politicians that have been messing up the country especially since 1999. Who and who are the front runners in the presidential, governorship and legislative elections, the likely candidates that would win? Most of them are the very people that have squandered the resources of this country and frittered away opportunities to put durable smiles on the faces of long-suffering Nigerians. Let us be frank and face the truth squarely. All the political parties in Nigeria today are owned and funded by Nigerians whose source of wealth is highly questionable. None of them is a genuine grassroots party of the people, by the people and for the people.

 Without exception, they are financed by shameless money-miss-roads who, at one time or another as public servants, used their positions to amass wealth by stealth. There is really nothing to give one hope that the next set of political office holders will not continue with business as usual. Consequently, what Nigeria needs right now, more than free and fair elections, is a political and moral revolution that must sweep away the parasites that have been sucking the country to premature death.

 But before the emergence of the enlightened leviathan or benevolent selfless dictator that will trigger the process, Nigerians, especially the youths, are hereby advised to use their votes wisely. They should vote massively for politicians with positive antecedents and totally reject all the wolves in sheep’s clothing looking for those to deceive and eventually devour when they get elected. Most importantly, they must resolutely refuse to vote for those running on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender and other pigheaded irrelevant platforms. Our liberation from obscenely wealthy political vampires and scavengers is in our hands. We just must not fail this time around! 

CONCLUDED.