…where the “rotation” card is played, the power which is meant to serve the people will end up in the hands of those with the most money, those who promise nothing and deliver nothing. Just come to think of it, the rotation formula takes power from us all and hands it over to a few that exercises it the way it likes. One does not have to understand Robert Michels’ iron law of oligarchy to realise that the power which is “zoned” to a region will neither be meant for, nor checked and controlled by, every individual belonging thereto.
In my humble opinion, Nigerians who are agitating for “power rotation” are not only aiding and abetting the cynical divide-and-rule tactics of politicians, but are also taking a short-term view of Nigeria’s state construction challenges, when in fact they should be thinking long-term. Power rotation is, as I see it, a pernicious ideology. It is a political dogma founded on, at best, false premises; at worst, grand deception. All power rotation does is to perpetuate poor governance practices. Instead of encouraging the emergence of leaders with vision — the Lee Kwan Yew type of leaders who are capable of turning Nigeria around within a generation, power rotation merely emboldens and recycles wheeler dealers.
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Let us start with a few questions — the ones that demand categorical answers, but which have so far been constantly evaded. What is the purpose of power? When we severally and collectively surrender fractions of our rights and freedoms to one sovereign, so s/he can take decisions on our behalf, to what end must s/he expend/exercise the power? Is the power we hand over to him (or her) meant to GOVERN and serve us all well? Or is the power to be viewed as a licence to RULE over us — that is, to enable the wielder to gratify his/her basest urges, like promoting the interests of his business associates and cronies, extending favours to his immediate and extended family members, placing his former classmates in key jobs, or exploiting the opportunity to kick something back to campaign donors?
If the power we hand over to one sovereign (as in president, governor, Local Government Chairman) is meant to be exercised for our collective good, shouldn’t the sovereign be thinking of how best to serve us? Shouldn’t the power meant for us be expended on the search for professionally competent individuals, meaning individuals most capable of proffering solutions to stubborn challenges and delivering services of direct benefit to us, the citizens? The services I have in mind include police protection; instant tracking and apprehension of kidnappers/ritual killers/body parts traffickers; fair and expeditious dispensation of justice; provision of health and medical care; replacement of learning for paper qualifications with quality education; infrastructure upgrade and maintenance; and preservation of our rights and dignity at home, as well as our safety and honour abroad. The list of our expectations on our elected sovereign is endless. So is the capacity that is needed to perform the critical functions, and to discharge the essential services.
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To the best of my knowledge, neither our mandate-seeking formula, nor our leadership selection system appears (even remotely) to recognise the enormity of the challenges facing us as a nation. Neither takes the individual and collective needs of the citizens into account. The practice till date, has been to turn a blind eye to the challenges facing the citizens and, in the quest for power, whip up ethno-religious sentiments. By ignoring real-life headaches and appealing to emotions, the power seekers coax the already distracted (and unsuspecting) electorate into making choices they prefer (the power seekers, that is).
What is the connection between mal-administration and impaired access to essential services? What have the two (maladministration and impaired access to services) got to do with “power rotation”? That “the system” is not working (and not delivering the services needed by the public) is by now beyond doubt. Anyone who argues otherwise should ask those who are overwhelmed by the burden of Nigerian citizenship, or those who can’t wait to leave the country. Even the uncomplaining majority will swear that the system is not working as it should.
Anyway, where the “rotation” card is played, the power which is meant to serve the people will end up in the hands of those with the most money, those who promise nothing and deliver nothing. Just come to think of it, the rotation formula takes power from us all and hands it over to a few that exercises it the way it likes. One does not have to understand Robert Michels’ iron law of oligarchy to realise that the power which is “zoned” to a region will neither be meant for, nor checked and controlled by, every individual belonging thereto. The power that is treated as the birthright, entitlement, or ‘property’ of a “ruling house” is not expected to be accounted for in a way that is meaningful to the sustenance of life and well-being of the average citizen.
As such, it is that one election cycle after the other, we troop to the polling centres, rubber stamp choices dictated to us by tribal elders or by keepers of our partisan political or religious conscience but return to our daily routines without any visible change in our condition. Life, as we know it, continues after we cast our votes and vest the new equivalent of a “ruling house” with the power to rule over us. In such circumstances, elections make no difference to our life and well-being. Whoever has the power continues to RULE and the rest continue to wrestle with their daily challenges. The jobseeker will keep roaming the streets, while those with strong political connections are slotted into cushy jobs. Universities will keep proliferating, but the graduates will stay barely literate and virtually unemployable. Health and medical services will continue to be out of the masses’ reach. Highway contracts will be awarded at regular intervals, but rural and urban roads will remain pockmarked, and, perhaps, stay impassable. Life will continue to be at risk, as kidnappers and ritual killers team up to make a mockery of the ill-equipped and under-motivated law enforcement agencies. Corruption will continue to thrive, even when we know that it (corruption) is bad for our economic health and for our security.
Meanwhile, the “new royals” (members of the ruling house’s inner circle) will continue living in luxury, while the “commoners” (including putative members of the “ruling house”) will keep wrestling with escalating challenges and headaches!
Where am I going with all this? What is the connection between mal-administration and impaired access to essential services? What have the two (maladministration and impaired access to services) got to do with “power rotation”? That “the system” is not working (and not delivering the services needed by the public) is by now beyond doubt. Anyone who argues otherwise should ask those who are overwhelmed by the burden of Nigerian citizenship, or those who can’t wait to leave the country. Even the uncomplaining majority will swear that the system is not working as it should.
The tendency to view Nigeria’s challenges from a narrow, ethno-regional, angle is not unique to one region. It is a national, cross-regional pastime. Sadly, our leaders have, for selfish or, at least, non-altruistic, reasons, encouraged this myopic view of power. They constantly drum it into our ears that it is in “our interest” to have power in our kinsman’s hands. What they forget to tell us is that this power will, in all probability, be exercised for the benefit of a few who have the wherewithal to take possession of the “ruling house” and rule as they please.
The system is dysfunctional because we have not got our governance and public administration equation right. One salient feature of that dysfunctional system is the focus on APPEARANCES to the neglect of the fundamentals (like the scope and magnitude of problems awaiting solutions, plans and policies for the amelioration of suffering, performance targets, delivery standards, accomplishments, and results). Like other dysfunctional systems, the focus in ours is on APPEARANCES (e.g., the ethnic origin, the religious belief, the age, and, increasingly, the media exposure) of those seeking power or those currently exercising it. So long as they pass our APPEARANCE tests, we never hold officeholders accountable for specific deliverables or pin power seekers down to specific delivery promises. We are happy insofar as the one calling, or wanting to call, the shots is “one of us.” In other words, we ask no questions, provided power has been “rotated” to us. We only start griping when power leaves our kinsman’s hands and rotates elsewhere. The cry of ‘marginalisation’ becomes loud and strident only when power shifts to another “ruling house.”
The tendency to view Nigeria’s challenges from a narrow, ethno-regional, angle is not unique to one region. It is a national, cross-regional pastime. Sadly, our leaders have, for selfish or, at least, non-altruistic, reasons, encouraged this myopic view of power. They constantly drum it into our ears that it is in “our interest” to have power in our kinsman’s hands. What they forget to tell us is that this power will, in all probability, be exercised for the benefit of a few who have the wherewithal to take possession of the “ruling house” and rule as they please. They also fail to remind us that this power will, under the rotational arrangement, go elsewhere one day. Not only that; when power leaves our kinsman’s hands and moves elsewhere, we shall be back to square one. Square one is the point at which we are obliged to pay for choices made in our collective name by a few (members of the new “royal family”). Among these choices are those which we had no hand in making and from which we derived no benefit whatsoever!
It goes without saying that a leader who wishes to succeed in building a strong and virile Nigerian state, and who wants to leave a legacy that can’t be erased, will start, not by setting one region against the other, but with pledges to mitigate every region’s suffering/headache. That requires, at the minimum, mobilising the electorate around ISSUES of concern to every part of Nigeria. The leader who will make a difference (and be favourably remembered by history) will play down “tribe and tongue” and instead come up with a vision of a greater, technologically advancing, and more humane Nigeria.
As it so happens, the regions’ interests overlap. If one region is traumatised and unstable, the rest cannot sleep soundly. By the same token, peace and prosperity in one region will, everything being equal, spill over to all parts of Nigeria. At least, if not for the present but for future generations, the time has come to evolve an ideology that takes a pan-Nigerian view of challenges, places high premium on excellence, and leaves the rotation of mediocrity where it belongs – in the past.
The African Giant has slept long enough. Now is when it should wake up and become an African Tiger.
MJ Balogun is special adviser to the President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York.
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