Democracy and deferential culture
As the 2019 elections draw closer, politicians have narrowed the argument about the nation’s future down to the choice between the current All Progressives Congress (APC) President and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) opponent. Social commentators who look beyond the immediate future are taking pains to decipher how we got ourselves into this situation in […]
As the 2019 elections draw closer, politicians have narrowed the argument about the nation’s future down to the choice between the current All Progressives Congress (APC) President and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) opponent. Social commentators who look beyond the immediate future are taking pains to decipher how we got ourselves into this situation in the first place. It’s silly for anyone to believe that the prevailing mass poverty, unemployment, corruption can be cured by any individual or within the lifetime of any administration.
The performance of all governments since 1999 in the areas of security, fight against corruption and economy remains controversial at best. Based on its enormous mineral wealth Nigeria is one of the richest nations in the world. All the misery in the country is a result of misguided policies and politicians realizing their ambitions to become wealthy on the backs of citizens. Nigerians can vent all their anger against Atiku or Buhari but the truth is that neither of them will be able to solve the nation’s problems unless all hands are on deck post-election.
The legendary Greek philosopher Plato said “One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. This is a truism in Nigerian where the best brains and most principled individuals stay well clear of politics. As a result, Nigerian politicians scorn at the fact that the people are the ultimate in the State. Under normal circumstances it’s supposed to be the people to whom all authorities are answerable. In Nigeria it’s the other way round. The prevailing weakness, ignorance, hunger and divisiveness amongst the populace prevents them from putting politicians in their rightful place and releasing themselves from the shackles of poverty. Nigerian politicians take the people for granted I because of deferential culture.
Throughout our history of paramount rulers, colonialism and independence, Nigerians have given undue deference to their leaders. There is a lot to be said for a culture in which age and experience are respected. In so called “advanced nations” where everyone has rights and nobody defers to anyone else, a man can sleep with a man; a woman can sleep with a woman or even a dog! Children can insult their parents and a young man can marry a woman who is his mother age. The problem in Nigeria is that politicians take undue advantage of our respect for age and experience to continuously impose themselves upon us.
The unpleasant truth is that the nation’s current predicament is evidence that anyone with advanced age and past experience in government, has only experience of failure to fall back on. Politicians who are supposed to represent the people, perversely believe that they have a right to live over them to the detriment of national progress. Mass unemployment in Nigeria is a result of unpatriotic leaders whose children school overseas, use German cars, French elevators, Italian doors, Korean air-conditioners, Swiss watches, American I-phones, and Chinese pens ensuring that our economy nosedives because there are no factories producing anything here.
In addition, leaders have hijacked the police force as their personal bodyguards behaving as if in Nigeria only self-styled VIP’s have the right to security. Everything about the upcoming elections indicates the contempt in which the citizenry is held by those in authority. In a brazen mockery of the anti-corruption war all sorts of stained characters are joining the bandwagon to redemption by joining the APC. Under normal circumstances men with obvious character flaws would never win elections. But in Nigeria from the lowest to highest political offices this has always been the case. It is trite that people who elect corrupt politicians and imposters aren’t victims, they are accomplices, and once again they are set to become accomplices.
Although Nigerians have a reputation for being easy going and pleasant in nature, Nigerian politicians are rude, arrogant and aggressive. Kindness shows great self-discipline and strong self-esteem, wisdom and true strength. International new media CNN reported that a mass burial was held for dozens killed in Benue during New Year’s Day attacks. It was also reported that while thousands of residents turned out to mourn the dead, no senior Federal government official was present. This together with no coverage of the burial by the state owned NTA illustrated the lack of empathy and compassion from those in authority and lends credence to the belief that they don’t really “give a damn”.
As for the elections themselves it’s undeniable that personalities in the camps of the two major Presidential campaign teams are on record as having rigged elections in the past. It’s got to the stage where there are many who believe that voting for a Nigerian politician is like selling your head in order to buy a cap! Yet we are implored to respect elders. The question remains…is it really possible to have truly representative democracy in a deferential culture?