Narcissistic Kakistocracy in Nigeria? -By Tony Osakpamwan Agbons

In his memoir, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass published in 1845, the Afro-American Slave Frederick Douglass, criticizes directly with withering irony those who defend slavery and those who prefer a romanticized version of it. Pitilessly, he offers the reader a first-hand account of the pain, humiliation, and brutality of the aberration that was Slavery. One myth that Southern slave owners in America and proponents of the illicit trade perpetuated was that of the slave happily singing from dawn to dusk as he or she worked in the fields, prepared meals in the kitchen, or maintained the upkeep of the plantation. In his Narrative, particularly chapters 1 and 2, Douglass quickly distinguishes the myth from the reality. He uses incidents of cruelty that he witnessed along with songs of the slaves themselves to emphasize this distinction.

There is a country called Nigeria. It is at the critical point where it needs to decant the myth of democracy from the reality of democracy. According to the Britannica Encyclopaedia, Democracy literally means rule by the people. The term is derived from the Greek demokratia, which was coined from demos (people) and kratos (rule) in the middle of the 5th century BC to denote the political system then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens. Can Nigerians beat their chest and be proud of the recently held General elections? Can Nigeria boldly pontificate that the basic minimum standards of the tenets of democracy were met at the February 25th and March 18th, 2023 elections? Did the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission INEC led by `Mr Promise and Fail’, Yakubu Mahmoud deliver on what they promised Nigerians? Did the Nigerian politrickcians allow the citizenry to freely choose those they want to lead them? The jury no doubt is out.

Since medieval times empires and domains were ruled by Imperial Kings and Queens. It was a period in the history of mankind when powerful mortals ruled and reigned supreme. In most cases, their subjects saw these Kings and Queens as demi-gods and direct representatives of divinity. One word from these “gods on Earth” was absolute Law. These imperial majesties ruled by decree, and royal seals which were irrevocable. The palaces of these monarchs, apparels, and paraphernalia were adorned with glitz, beauty, and grace. These great emperors of yore superintended over their subjects and domains with great wisdom, pedigree and left indelible footprints on the sands of time.  The stories of such legendary emperors are still being told with pride and gusto till this day by their people.

Fast forward to the present day and empires have given way to nation states.  The world Geo-Political order has gone republic and the monarchical system of government/rulership is no longer the norm. Only a handful of absolute monarchies exist in the world today. Ascension to leadership is now achieved via a system called Democracy.  This ascension to leadership is now demanded for, and no longer bestowed on individuals by progenitor, selection or by family tree. Nations of the world now have political systems that breeds men and women within the society to steer the ship of state.

Nigeria is not an exception in the democratic wind although we are latecomers to the ‘league’ of democratic nations. This piece is an introspection of the kind of democratic vehicle we have boarded in Nigeria. Every society has its `Aha-moment`. It is a moment of great national rebirth, reset and renewal. Take a bow Malaysia, Singapore, Rwanda, Botswana, Kenya to mention but a few. For Nigeria, a great opportunity for national rebirth was presented on a platter of gold on February 25th, 2023. Sadly, it was seemingly blown away like a punctured balloon. Did we seize the moment? Your guess is as good as mine. Not at all despite the Nigerian people coming all out to participate in the electoral process. Nigerians battled hard in the sun and rain to register and then collect their Permanent voters’ cards, PVCs. So many were even disenfranchised due to the inability of INEC to issue them the cards.

The entity called Nigeria has a habit of blowing it chance. Nigeria has a platinum medal for always missing a golden opportunity. Hopefully, this (2023 elections) will not be one of them. Name one sector in Nigeria where we can say it is Uhuru! None!! It is all abracadabra in education, lack of value for Nigerian lives in healthcare, a sky full of anxieties in aviation, a horde of masses without shelter in housing, perennial failure of power in the Energy sector, to mention but a few. Just now, democracy has been added to the list. How can Nigeria justify spending over 400 billion naira on an election whose outcome has led the nation downhill like never before. Observers of Project Nigeria wonder why the country cannot simply do things right. Why was it that the BIVAS/IREV technology brought in for the 2023 could not be used for the Presidential elections as originally intended? Shouldn`t there be repercussions for those who tampered (albeit deliberately) with this technology? Even INEC admitted in their Press release that there was a glitch in their I.T systems. Does a glitch just happen in a flash in such a monumental election? How come INEC didn`t have a contingency plan in place? Who and who actually tampered with the INEC BIVAS/IREV server? Who sabotaged the real-time electronic transmission of the Presidential election results from each of the 176,606 polling units? How come the House of Reps and Senate elections conducted the same time were electronically transmitted? Was there a grand design/plan to scuttle the choice of the people for the Office of President of Nigeria?

If the answer to the last question is in the affirmative, we could as well be going for se(election) every four years. We could as well go for the Chinese Politburo model so we can save the billions of naira we spend on election charade. In China, they do not waste money conducting elections. They operate a one party state. The Communist Party is the be all end all.  The Politburo is a group of 24 top officials who oversee the CCP and Central Government. Power within the CCP Politburo is further centralised in the Politburo Standing Committee, a group of 7 individuals from among the larger Politburo. In practice, however, scholars of Chinese elite politics believe that the Politburo is a self-perpetuating body, with new members of both the Politburo and its Standing Committee chosen through a series of deliberations by current Politburo members and retired Politburo Standing Committee members. The current and former Politburo members conduct a series of informal straw polls to determine the group’s level of support for each new candidate’s membership in the Politburo. The process for selecting the new Politburo begins with a closed door meeting by the incumbent Politburo Standing Committee.

If the above model does not suit us, we could as well bring back the era of Kings and Queens ruling and reigning. Why not if not. We can as well be picking the oldest men and women around to lead us or find a `Nigerian method` to pick and choose those who lead us. Why bother conduct elections when the outcome is seemingly pre-determined, or not credible and the umpire running the process cannot even adhere to its own rules, guidelines, and procedures. Why is our word not our bond in Nigeria? Could there really be healing without justice? Can Nigeria afford to sweep under the carpet this gross incompetence by INEC and criminal collaboration by some politicians and individuals? Can we just move on as if nothing happened? Step in the Nigerian Judiciary – supposedly the last hope of the common man. The Nigerian Judiciary have a once in a lifetime opportunity to etch its name on the golden sand of time as well as the eternal heartbeats of men and women. The `Blindfolded Lady of the Temple of Justice` must meticulously adjudicate on the matters arising from the 2023 Presidential election without fear or favour. Whatever the outcome of the legal fireworks ahead, if justice is done and is seen to be done, Nigerians and the future generations yet unborn will look at these times as the defining moments when a country was born. As a final admonition, the Good News Translation Bible has this to say in Proverbs 14 verse 34, “Righteousness makes a nation great; sin is a disgrace to any nation”.

Dr Agbons is Lead, Institute of Leadership and Good Governance @www.twin2.org.