 Published
May 27th, 2010
There is no doubt surrounding the fact that democracy is the
best form of government ever known to man. Even so, many
democratic societies and its citizens still suffer gross
underdevelopment and abject poverty owing to poor political
leadership culture. This sad reality has elicited a whole
lot of debate among political scientists, journalists,
opinion leaders, and commentators on contemporary issues.
The consensus opinion is that the masses have been robbed of
their powers by the political class. It has become clear
that political power no longer belongs to the people-
electorates like it is supposed to be. As a result of this,
the loyalty of political leaders is mostly directed at
electoral umpires, god fathers, and kingmakers. It is for
this simple reason that public office holders can afford to
ignore the concerns of the electorates and loot the
treasury.
In an effort to return power to the people, the late
President Musa Yar’Adua stunned the world when he admitted
openly that the election that brought him to power was
faulty. He thereafter called for understanding and promised
to carry out a holistic electoral reform exercise.
Unfortunately, many Nigerians have failed to appreciate the
true meaning of electoral reform and have therefore
restricted it to mean the recommendations of Justice
Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee.
For the avoidance of doubt, let it be noted that the main
aim of reforming the nation’s electoral system would be
defeated if it is not done holistically. We cannot talk of
electoral reforms when there is no internal democracy within
the political parties. We cannot talk of electoral reforms
when some key players in the nation’s electoral body- INEC
are card-carrying members of political parties. In the same
vein, Nigerians cannot talk of electoral reforms when
political parties are allowed to practice undemocratic
traditions such as rotational presidency.
One of the major aims of reforming the electoral system is
to promote quality political leadership in the country. For
this very important reason, whatever action or practice that
would not support this objective should be jettisoned.
Rotational presidency is one of them. Apart from promoting
tribalism, the culture of seclusion is undemocratic. It
creates bitterness among party members and also reduces the
chances of sourcing for the best hands.
My opinion is not based on the fact that I and President
Goodluck Jonathan come from the same state. After all, he
has not said he is going to contest the presidency in 2011.
Nevertheless, there would be nothing wrong if majority of
members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wants him to
contest. This is the beauty of democracy. Power belongs to
the people- not a party’s National Working Committee or
Board of Trustee. This is the time when Nigerians should
come together and work towards making every vote count and
not wasting valuable time on issues that will divide the
nation along tribal lines.
Perhaps, it would be necessary to highlight the reason
behind the culture of rotational presidency. It is to a very
large extent erroneously believed that one has to share the
same tribal lineage with the president in order to secure a
key appointment or win a big contract. This anomaly is
hugely responsible for why tribal lineage is regarded far
above every other factor in Nigerian politics. Frankly,
tribal-based politics can only be rife in a country where
the government pay mere lip service to the culture of
transparency, accountability, justice, and fair play.
Just like I have submitted in previous write-ups, one of
Nigeria’s greatest problems is tribalism. It is owing to the
deep rooted nature of tribalism in the polity that
successive administrations have not been able to effectively
fight corruption in the country. There is an unwritten law
in Nigeria that forbids citizens from exposing or
prosecuting fellow tribesmen for corrupt practices. That is
the reason why public servants that earns less than N12m
annually will build mansions, acquire fleet of exotic cars,
and own investments worth over N200m within four years
without being asked to show proof of sources of funds.
Furthermore, tribalism promotes national poverty. It makes
citizens to become lazy. In a tribal-infected polity, even
people that sow nothing can reap bountifully simply because
their tribesperson is in power. This is clearly against
natural principle. The more we promote tribal agenda above
democratic prescriptions, the closer we get to the source of
our disintegration.
I do not know their individual names but most of the people
championing calls for electoral reforms are carrying
nametags that bear “Hypocrite.” That is exactly what those
of them that support the culture of rotational presidency
are. The reason for the reform must not be bleached to serve
tribal agendas. And for those that are threatening the
corporate destiny of Nigeria following speculations that Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan may run for the presidency come 2011; I
wish them well. They should not play God. Nigerian masses
are hungry for good political leadership. Let the people be
allowed to decide whom they want. It can be Jonathan or any
other person. Let us stop playing God and concentrate on how
to make our votes count.
KALI GWEGWE
2 Greenvilla-Customs Link Road,
Biogbolo-Epie,
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
kaligwegwe@yahoo.com
http://kali-gwegwe.blogspot.com
0806 407 4810
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