2015: What do Nigerians want?

This is a response to a long-time reader of this column who, after reading my piece two weeks ago, Why Buhari may not defeat Jonathan, accused me of underplaying the severity with which Nigeria needs change. His long rejoinder highlighted reasons for an urgent need to vote out the present government.

One, I do not think the reality of how a Muhammadu Buhari candidacy will galvanise an undeserved second term for President Goodluck Jonathan should elude anyone. Those who think if Buhari becomes president, he will sweep away corrupt politicians with the force of his personality and turn Nigeria to Disneyland need a crash course in Democracy 101.

Two, I believe that right now, Nigeria needs to move beyond the question of the who of leadership to stating what we want for ourselves and what we are willing to forego to achieve it. We have to be willing to suspend certain sentiments to focus on the things that count in the long run. It will be a thing of wonder to generations down the line that one of the biggest debates about the 2015 elections, at a time when the country is in the doldrums, was about religion. The caterwaul about religion, I suspect, is being pushed by some folk who need the emotion they generate to cover their own ideological emptiness.

That naturally leads into another issue he raised: How can you say corruption is not the biggest problem confronting Nigeria when all around us we see the effect? My answer: If we go by the Nigerian definition of corruption as looting of public funds, then it is not the problem. Looting is symptomatic of a larger and more complex issue. Any candidate promising to fight corruption with such a micro-level analysis of corruption is just wasting everybody’s time. S/he will probably give us another Economic and Financial Crimes Commission – an organisation that fell from being a celebrated anti-corruption agency to arresting fishermen and yahoo boys.

If, however, corruption is defined as a failure of systems and Nigeria’s persistent failure to evolve better institutions, then, I agree that it is a major crisis. Even then, the resolution is not as simple as a top-down approach or electing a strong man as president. That is why I oppose change for change’s sake – merely swapping one political party with the other without addressing the tortuous paths that will lead to making an actual difference. If the Presidency in the hands of the APC will change the future of the country, there should be several indisputable indices that show that already.

Yet, like most Nigerians, I am aware the country is overdue for a change. Jonathan’s administration has spent four years proving that the next four/five years will be more of the same – misfits crawling around the crevices of power, seeking what else to devour.

Never mind the “Jonathanians”, that word aptly coined by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai to refer to Jonathan’s supporters, who tell you that this administration has done for Nigerians far more than what Penicillin did for mankind. Forget the dubious figures they churn out at the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria rallies. If those tales were true, they would not have to beat us on the head with it. It would be obvious to even the blind.

The problem with the current political terrain is that the odds are far more in Jonathan’s favour to win the 2015 presidential election. Ironically, of all the potential presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar seems to me to be the best prepared but only a few are interrogating his campaign promises. We can argue he is not the turning point Nigeria needs but we cannot deny he does much more than make barren promises.

Jonathan, aware of how the Pentecolisation of politics shapes the ballot in Nigeria, gathers some “men of God” and they rush to Israel. He sends us photographs that tell us he went to the Holy Land to pray for the country. If God were truly Omniscient, why go to Israel to pray to him when churches litter Nigerian landscape like N10 notes?

But the man is no fool. He knows he did not come this far by the strength of his ideas or even by his charisma. He is what he is because he is a political statement; a monument to turn-by-turn and chop-make-I-chop political system. When he starts campaigning for a second term, do not be surprised when he makes another round of grandiose promises like he did in 2011 and promptly forgot all about them. He is not going to waste our time stating his vision for Nigeria because he thinks we do not need such fantasies. Why should he bother when he can retain his seat simply by propping himself as the humble ethnic minority who submits to divine will despite his many human failings? It is a narrative people bought in 2011 when they keyed into his I-was-born-without-shoes oratory. For 2015, a similar story is being repackaged.

Back to the question of what Nigerians want: Almost everyone will respond they want change; a better-governed society where our lives count. Even the most clueless politician wishes for a better Nigeria, they just cannot help themselves to rise to greatness.

The change that will come to Nigeria, however, is not as easy as voting in a president with a broom in hand to sweep the nation’s many intractable afflictions. Our efforts have to start with building and rebuilding institutions, and we cannot achieve that without a serious legislature. Those who have been selling a messiah candidacy seem to ignore this. The legislature, however, needs a lot of boosting for the nation to move forward. We need to weed out the demagogues, misfits, zombies and others who become lawmakers simply to collect hefty salaries.

Unfortunately, when one looks at what currently stands for the legislature, it takes some effort to not descend to crepe hanging. Both progressives and conservatives are forever agreeing on the same issues, none contradicting the other, all getting handsomely paid for merely showing up to debate nothing.

Nigeria is currently fighting a civil war with a band of demented, religion-crazed human demons. In the midst of it all, soldiers sent to the battlefield mutiny and also make earth-shaking allegations against their superiors. What did our lawmakers – including those from the North-East who cannot return to their constituencies for fear of Boko Haram- do about the issue?

Should such an accusation not have resulted in a congressional hearing at least – to find out why our brave soldiers have fallen before Boko Haram in huge numbers? And this is just one of the many opportunities they have missed to set things straight and strengthen certain institutions.