Princewill Odidi|26 July 2017
1. I read a piece earlier today from a social activist titled “Not too young to run for office, it got me thinking. The question is, how can you run when sit tight politicians have made political office a permanent home?
2. To those who are observant, you will notice that most politicians who have been in Politics since 1999 are still bent on serving and continuing in office. If not for the term limit in governorship elections, virtually all governors would still be in office, rigging elections year in and year out or getting the people so impoverished to the extent that for salt and crayfish the people will continue to keep them in office. This is the reality of the Nigerian democracy.
3. For those who think a time will come when career politicians will voluntary retire from politics to give room to new entrants or sponsor younger people to replace them in politics, that day will never come so long as politics is defined based on wealth accumulation rather than the generation of ideas to move society forward.
4. Nigerian Politicians only leave office when they are subsumed within a larger political structure where the Captain of the structure prefers to field a new candidate.
5. So for most young people, and those aspiring to be politicians, you cannot initiate these fight and fight it alone, to belong, you have to be subsumed within a political structure that would create room for you. It would have been better if that structure was the Political Institution, rather it is godfathers.
6. Having said this, you understand my position why I say the current democratic structure in Nigeria cannot bail us out of underdevelopment. The reason is simple, the Nigerian Political Class have kidnapped the common man, placed a ransom on them, making it obvious that the poor depend on them to survive in exchange for food and even job opportunities. The current Political Class is not the solution, they are actually the problem.
7. The only structure in the Presidential System that was originally conceived for continuity is the legislature. The framers of the democratic Presidential system, thought of the need for experience in the legislative chambers. The argument they framed was that, if law makers are experienced, it creates systemic stability. So long as a congressman is representing the interest of his constituents, he can sit in congress for a lifetime so they reasoned.
8. However, this reasoning works in societies where ethnicity is not a problem. Example, Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago, but ran for Senate in New York. Barrack Obama was born in Hawaii, but ran for Senate and Presidency as a resident from Chicago.
9. When the framers of democratic Presidency thought about candidates running for offices, they never envisaged ethnicity, tribalism and other factors like zoning that may impede Representation. Constituents careless about how long a Representative has been office so long as he delivers the dividends of democracy. That’s why US Senators like Robert Byrd served 51 years as a Senator, Daniel Inouye served 49 years as a Senator, Edward Kennedy served 46 years as a Senator and over 25 current US Senators have served more than 35 years in Senate, yet no one is saying it is our turn, it is our zone, we are not represented.
10. In real democracies, Representation is not defined by language or local government or zones; Representation in Congress is measured by your Capacity to meet the needs, aspirations and interest of your constituents. It is heartbreaking to know, that after six decades of self-rule, Nigeria is rather at the brinks of collapse.
11. Example, you notice last week, The US Senate failed to pass the Healthcare plan proposed by Trump. In developed democracies, Congressmen do not sit down in their offices and vote on bills after collecting bribes; they actually consult and receive calls from their Constituents. As Constituents call the telephone lines of their representatives telling them how to vote on a matter, a staff in the congressman office tabulates the calls and opinions and scientifically generates public opinion in the Congressional district, this helps determine the Congressman’s votes. The question is how many of our Congressmen would even take calls from their Constituents, and in the event they take the calls, how many Constituents understand National issues being discussed in the public gallery?
12. If a Congressman votes against the wishes of his people on a particular matter or bill, on next elections he is voted out. This is how democracy was originally designed to work. Our concept of democracy in Nigeria which is tied to ethnicity, tribalism, zoning, religion and sectionalism is just a recipe for failure. Some of our Congressmen have no business being in Congress, yet they sit tight year in and year out.
13. Barrack Obama born in Hawaii could contest for President of United States from Chicago and he is accepted. A Hillary Clinton born in Chicago could contest Presidency from New York, She is accepted as a New Yorker, that’s how it was designed to work. Once you live in a city for one year, you pay your taxes in that city, you are automatically a resident of that city. The focus is place of Residence and not place of Origin when choosing Representation.
14. It is on this basis, we clamor for a New Nigeria. Our Country as currently organized cannot be rescued by the present ruling Class irrespective of Party Affiliations. We have hoped, that the current generations will not make the mistakes our fathers made, the sectional and tribal mistake that were designed to divide us rather than unite us
15. Let us rise as a people and reject bigotry, ethnic hatred, sectional zoning, and naïve tribalism. Until we decide to define ourselves first as Nigerians before tribes and tongues, our future will remain bleak and uncertain.
16. Let us rise to judge one another, not based on tribes, tongues and zones, but on the content of our individual character. Let us stop generalizing Character with tribes, we are one people, one nation and in diversity we find our strength.
17. In the words of JF Kennedy, ask not what your country can do for you, ask, what you can do for your Country. We will not give up on the Save Nigeria Project, to fix our Country is not an option, it is a task that must be done.
Princewill Odidi is a Social Commentator, writes from Atlanta. princewillodidi@yahoo.com
