GOVERNMENT of the people in power, for the people in power and for their powerful friends, may be another definition of democracy, if the peoples’ only place in government is to vote, for candidates of their choice.

With all the campaigns promises, once results are announced (even if contests for their validity continue in the tribunals) a bigger campaign commences over the selection of those who will command the key sectors of government. There are thousands of appointments to be made with bureaucratic appendages to ensure the levers of power move towards intended directions.

One of the strongest arguments anyone who wants a position in Nigeria posits is that it is the turn of his part of the country. Further justifications are unnecessary. The sole qualification of the candidate then centres on the fact that “it is our turn.” If the candidate turns out unsuitable for the office, he is to be replaced with another from the same zone to maintain the balance.

Michela Wrong was right in her 2009 book, It’s Our Turn To Eat, The story of A Kenyan Whistle Blower. It dealt with the adversities of former anti-corruption chief John Githongo, who fled the country to save his life. However, the book aptly captures the attitude of most African government officials in managing resources around the positions they occupy, supposedly on behalf of the people.

The fight is all about fulfilling the selfish inkling of a few for themselves or on behalf of a group, never the people. Even within zones, the battles for the positions can be expensive. It cost a life on the floor of the House of Representatives in 2007, before Mrs. Patricia Etteh agreed to step aside for Bankole who is from the same zone. If settling the matter within zones can be so acrimonious, what will happen when it becomes an inter-zonal affair?

The National Assembly is again awarding the key elected heads of legislative governments to different parts of the country because “it is their turn.” How will the South East or South West or any other part of the country benefit from a certain individual occupying a particular position?

We have seen four years of David Bonaventure Achelenu Mark as President of the Senate. Did that make life better, in any way for the people of Benue State? Who in Enugu State benefited from Ikechukwu Ekweremadu being the Deputy Senate President? Or did the four-year tenure of Oladimeji Saburi Bankole improve the lives of people in Ogun State?

Why would sections of the country invest their energies in the wasteful politics of farming out positions on the simple reasoning that it is the turn of an area? It is worse where these positions are for legislative offices that would direct laws for the benefit of all Nigerians.

If Presidents, with all the executive powers under their loins are unable to make their parts of the country the paradise of Nigerians’ dreams, what chance does a lawmaker have? Are these wrangles not another of the political elite’s distracting agenda, solely, for their benefit?

Everyone should concentrate on building a country where every Nigerian has a stake and where people are appointed and elected to offices because they would provide service to the people.