Another election season is upon us and it appears that nothing has changed about the high appetite of Nigerians for mediocre leadership.
Former ruler of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, once said “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
Party primaries are being conducted to prune down aspirants and select candidates for the 2023 general election and so far, we can say that it is enough that the people know that there were primary elections but the delegates decide everything.
The sad reality of our kind of politics is that the best candidates do not always emerge.
As history has shown, who becomes the party’s flagbearer is the sole prerogative of the delegates and their godfathers. The loyalty of delegates is to those who made them delegates first, and then to the highest bidder.
Primary elections in the country, across the political parties have become cash and carry and only those with big war chests emerge. Your qualification, track record and antecedents do not matter to the delegates, what matters is how much you’re putting in their pockets. And this is what is playing out now.
Otherwise, how do you explain that someone is elected into an office, performs abysmally and when it is time for another election, he gets the ticket, courtesy of delegates?
The Holy Bible says to whom much is given, much is expected. Also, in the parable of the talents, the servant who dug a hole and hid the talent (talent in this case is a unit of measurement for gold and silver) given to him by his master was cast out of the master’s presence, the talent was collected and given to the one who earlier got 5 talents, traded and made profit.
The two servants who got 5 and 2 talents, respectively, traded and made profit were commended by the master:
“You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).
Taking a cue from what happened in the parable, only those who understood the assignment and delivered the goods should be considered for higher office but to the chagrin of discerning Nigerians, these people who have no records to run on are the ones the delegates prefer.
Those who perform abysmally use money they most likely illegally acquired while in office to buy their way to other offices.
This is why the Senate, for instance, has become the retirement home for governors, among them those who failed as governors.
Look at the case of Benue State, where Governor Samuel Ortom has been adopted as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Benue north-west senatorial district in the forthcoming election.
News reports say he was adopted by delegates from the seven local government areas which make up the senatorial zone, making him the sole candidate for that election in the PDP.
If not that our appetite as a people for mediocrity is high, on what record is Governor Ortom even running at all and on what basis are the delegates endorsing him? Is it just in fulfilling the pattern for governors? This is a governor who owes at least 32 months pension and has not made even the simplest efforts to industrialise the state or at least create an enabling environment for private investors to come in.
With all its agricultural potential which make it the Food Basket of the Nation, Benue cannot boast of functional state or private-owned industries to add value to it’s agricultural resources for more money. As we speak, mangoes are in season and 10 mangoes the size of a toddler’s head are sold for N1000 in a country where a 500ml bottle of mango juice is sold for not less than N1000. Daily, thousands of mango fruits go to waste because of lack of industries to off take. The situation is the same for other crops and fruits.
In the same Benue, a member of Parliament who lobbied to have a bridge for a river in his local government included in the 2022 budget lost out at the primaries.
Even though he was of the PDP, works and housing minister, Babatunde Fashola, during a town hall meeting, spoke glowingly about him, commending his efforts which led to the inclusion of the bridge in the 2022 budget. Word on the street is that lobbying the federal government to construct the bridge was his undoing. Those who own barges that are used to ferry cars across the river would rather not have a bridge there as it would put an end to their source of income. They say he ought to have left sleeping dogs lie, and borrow a leaf from his predecessor who didn’t bother with such ‘anti-progressive’ ideas when he was in the house. Whether this is true or not, he has lost out already.
Another person has the party ticket now and may go on to win the election but whether he will he be as effective as his predecessor remains to be seen.
A former minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, whose biggest mission was to make Nigeria a pencil producing nation also wants to be president and is touted to be one of those President Muhammadu Buhari would prefer to handover to.
I’m yet to see pencils produced in Nigeria flood the market. Maybe it’s easier to be president of Nigeria than producing pencils.
Former minister of education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba also declared his ambition to be president at a time students of public universities are at home, following a strike by lecturers over unpaid wages and other allowances.
Governor Yahaya Bello who owes many months’ salary and pension also wants to be president.
These people even find the gumption to come out at all because they know that they will get the support of Nigerians, once they throw some money at them.
People often argue that delegates and other electorate would rather make what they can from the contestants during electioneering, as they do not make any impact when elected into office.
To my mind, this should be enough to not vote such leaders but a delegate who is thinking of the fertilizer he will buy for his farm, the new wife he will marry, the new car or motorcycle he’ll buy, the debts he’ll clear among other things does not see it that way.
The best spender, not the best candidate wins and this is disturbing.
