Nigerian people and their political leaders are one of a kind. The politicians are wily but good in masking their objectives. They pretend they are serving the interests of the people while catering for their own personal comforts. And while the people keep their eyes wide open, they don’t see farther than the tip of their noses. A country in which many people love to live a good life instantaneously but detest hard work is a country of epicureans, a country of dreamers and merrymakers, and a country without a constructive future. Political leaders understand this overriding philosophy and have used it to keep citizens down and to perpetuate poverty among the people.
In Nigeria, many people want instant gratifications that are not grounded in quality life for the present and future generations. This informs what former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose described as the politics of “stomach infrastructure”. The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also alluded to this principle when he said all you need to give citizens a feeling of belonging and to keep them momentarily satisfied is to offer them “ewa”, “agbado”, bread, and other common food products.
These expressions represent various ways politicians belittle ordinary citizens they portray as people who could be fooled easily. The terms used by politicians symbolise rapacious ways to exploit ordinary people. These representations and perceptions feed political chicanery, dishonesty, corruption, and lack of commitment on the part of politicians to improve the socioeconomic conditions of citizens. They also highlight the unequal power relationship between the people and politicians.
For many years, politicians carved out unsustainable arrangements to manage persistent demands by citizens for improvements in their quality of life. Unfortunately, what the people receive in return are disrupted lives that are short lived and end tragically soon after every election. Sadly, many people fail to observe the hollowness in promises made by political leaders. The politics of “stomach infrastructure” have many drawbacks. People who accept immediate incentives from politicians on the understanding that their lives would improve in the future are capricious. In doing so, they relinquish their destiny to politicians who have no integrity or a good track record of ethical behaviour.
To think about a good life now without considering the quality of life you would live in the future is to aspire for a fallacious lifestyle and unsustainable existence. The decision that voters make on election day will have consequences for the quality of life everyone would live over the coming years and decades. No one should ever allow themselves to be deluded or conned because of promises of a better life in an undefined future.
Accepting inducements offered by political candidates is inappropriate, unethical, and careless. Of course, it is easy to understand why people choose to receive a crumb of bread today to dispel hunger rather than elect tested politicians who will help to improve their quality of life for many years to come.
At all times, politicians should be elected because of their proven capacity to lead, to govern, and to achieve practical and verifiable results. They should also be elected based on their profound knowledge, diverse skills, experience, and ability to govern effectively. Anything else does not qualify to be included as part of the hallmark of men and women imbued with good conscience and plans for a positive future outlook.
Every political inducement has a short lifespan. The benefits, if at all they hold any value, wear out immediately after the political “carrots” have been consumed. Thereafter, voters who accepted bribes return to their state of destitution. And the politicians who offered incentives settle down to raid the treasury. Once elected, crooked politicians plot how to recover the money they spent during election campaigns. Politicians throw money around during elections on the understanding that whatever they expended must be recovered immediately they get into office.
This is one way through which politicians have elevated stealing to a new form of art. As the saying goes, there is no free lunch. The economic interests of many people, including their welfare, their wellbeing, their security, and their safety will be forfeited. The long-term impact will be felt by voters.
When insecurity worsens, it must be because money and other resources that would have been invested in tackling the problem were misused and diverted to irrelevant projects.
When the quality of teaching, research, and learning is degraded at public universities, it must be because money that could have been used to upgrade facilities and services was used inappropriately to ingratiate thousands of people through procurement of their votes during elections.
When public hospitals collapse, the healthcare needs of citizens are compromised because money that could have been used to improve the quality of healthcare services was misused. In that environment, ordinary citizens struggle perpetually to overcome poverty, economic hardships, a life of social deprivations, and hopelessness. This shows that vote buying undermines rather than enhances the political process, the calibre of politicians who are elected to govern, and the quality of governance.
The challenges facing Nigeria are multifaceted. There are leadership problems. There are governance issues. There are also political, economic, educational, social, technological, and structural difficulties. Surely, Nigeria needs a new direction and a new team of vibrant leaders who are committed to national development through application of modern science, medicine, and technology to significantly enhance the economy.
Many years ago, Nigeria was regarded as a continental leader. That profile has been messed up. Currently, the country has no political direction, no political leadership that enjoys respect in the global community, and Nigerians are treated as criminals in various parts of the world. Many African countries no longer see Nigeria through the lens that portrays the nation as strong and influential. How could such a continental elephant be crushed in such a short period of time? How could Nigeria be ridiculed at high-level intergovernmental meetings?
There are so many things that taunt Nigeria even as it continues to lay claim to continental leadership. A country that lacks the capacity to conduct free, fair, peaceful, transparent, and credible elections to select political leaders has no moral ground to continue to claim undeserved titles it cannot maintain.
On the ground, the economic situation has been bad for long. Every institution has failed its primary objective. Public and private sectors, government business, public servants, the higher education sector, and indeed the entire society have gone under. These show how low the country has descended. But, having gone through the best of times and the worst of times, the people’s attitude is that life must continue. No nation gives in to challenges of any kind.
It is true that all is not well with Nigeria. There is no indication when the country would rise again. There is no signal about when things would start to go right in the country. Everyone is hanging on to hope.
While politicians lure people with money, food, and other incentives, it is important to keep in mind that life is much more than money, particularly money that has been acquired illegally. Leadership is not about how much money politicians pull out during elections. It is more about how people’s lives have improved or worsened over a period of time.