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Op.Ed
OPINION
Five lessons 2022 taught us about politics and nationhood
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By Dakuku Peterside
Government seems to be fighting the symptoms of insecurity while the root causes deepen. The reality is that Nigerians who live in rural areas and on the fringes must develop mechanisms to live with insecurity since obviously government has failed in its primary duty of protecting them.
THE year 2022 is winding up. High-level political activities characterised it – from the dramatic to the absurd. On the eve of a crucial general election in Nigeria, 2022 is ending with a cacophony noise of optimism, cynicism and ambivalence. This year has put all our assumptions about democracy, nation building and good governance to the test.
But we can reflect – that is, assuming we learn from our experiences and we use the lessons. There are five major lessons we can learn from this year. The first lesson is that money politics has come to stay in Nigeria. Money was consequential in determining the success or failure of political office seekers during the party primaries at all levels and in all political parties.
The momentum and depth of electoral campaign so far has been shaped by the quantum of cash available to candidates, and the dominant underlining strategy of some of the parties is to buy votes. The recent off- cycle governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states were characterised by vote-buying.
It has been empirically proven that vote-buying tends to be more prevalent in poorer societies, although a distinction has also been made between programmatic and non-programmatic distributive politics. The electorate is mostly poor and their vote is a ready commodity which they can transact and earn something to fund the next meal.
There is every indication that the 2023 general election will be marred by the negative influence of money on our politics. Even the recent CBN redesigning of the Naira is considered a ploy to reduce the monetary impact on the 2023 general election.
INEC chairman recently bemoaned this ugly situation by positing that: “The negative role of money in elections goes to the very heart of democracy as it destroys the very basis of democratic elections, which is that citizens should freely choose those who exercise power on their behalf.” Reducing or eliminating monetary inducement is vital to the success of the 2023 polls.
The government and INEC owe it as a duty to Nigerians to conduct a credible, free and fair election next year. All measures must be put in place to discourage vote-buying and other forms of clientelism. Presently, politicians and their agents seldom get punished for this dastardly act of buying power. I expect INEC to ramp up citizens’ education on the destructive effects of negative monetary influence on the democratic process. An informed citizenry will negate the evil acts of politicians planning to rig elections through vote-buying.
The second lesson is that insecurity has become a part of our national life. Nigeria is fast becoming the crime centre of subSaharan Africa, where kidnapping for ransom, banditry, terrorism, cattle rustling, armed robbery and arms trafficking have assumed a feature of everyday living. Criminality is so pervasive that we seem to have accepted it without qualms. It is now part of our national life and economy. Politics, business and society must mainstream insecurity and adapt. Nigeria has recently been among the countries with the ‘least peace in the world’, and the Global Peace Index ranked it the world’s 17th least peaceful state.
Government seems to be fighting the symptoms of insecurity while the root causes deepen. The reality is that Nigerians who live in rural areas and on the fringes must develop mechanisms to live with insecurity since obviously government has failed in its primary duty of protecting them. And unless government prioritises security and fighting crime, we assume that 2023, an election year, may even be worse than now and insecurity is not going away soon.
The progressive degeneration of security across the length and breadth of Nigeria has far-reaching implications for citizens growth and economic well-being. Evidence abound that there is a relationship between rise in criminality and economic climate. In this case, insecurity and economic climate is pushing citizens to the brink. The third lesson is that technology is changing our lifestyle as a nation and as individuals.
Our way of life is rapidly evolving and is influenced more by technology and artificial intelligence. The old ways are being quickly replaced by new ways anchored on technology. We now have e-banking, e-politics, e-healthcare, e-learning and e-communication, and they are pervasive. The year 2022 witnessed an unprecedented increase in the adoption of new technologies in our national life than previously seen.
Nigeria is now ranked 38th in eCommerce globally and it is projected to grow by 16.30 per cent annually. Technology is changing the way we act and think as a people. If our leadership does not keep pace, it will lead to widespread discontentment by an enlightened citizenry getting more impatient with an analogue decadent ruling class. We are nearly there.
The electoral campaign we are witnessing may be the most social media election campaign ever in the history of Nigeria. Young citizens in Nigeria are not shy to fight for their political interests online, and the social media space is almost the most militant political space in Nigeria. The democratisation of the public space has allowed the voiceless to be heard.The ultimate lesson is that this wave of technology-driven change can only continue and would not slow down soon.
The fourth lesson is that mass discontent is gathering momentum. In the past few years, we have witnessed many Nigerians disaffected and discontented with the political orthodoxy. Rather than being apolitical, these people have become active and are creating new loci or finding appropriate loci to coagulate and form a critical mass to agitate for change.
We see this group in the secessionist movements of IPOB and Sunday Igboho groups, the EndSARS agitation group, and other non-state actors’ groups that challenge the state, the elite class, and the socio-economic and political space. When each coalition fails, they re-group and quickly emerge in another group. The transmogrification of the vocal secessionist movements and other social agitators into the ‘Obedient movement’ is worthy of mention.
The lessons from a phenomenon called, “The Obedient”is the emergence of a discontented majority who find appeal in the anti-establishment rhetoric of Peter Obi. Whether Obi-Datti wins the presidential elections or not, this anger will snowball into something more significant that a different sort of social organising agent for change for sinister outcome could harvest.
The Nigerian bubble may soon burst! My concern is that mass discontent is gathering momentum without corresponding shared consciousness for change in a positive direction which may lead to anarchy. Any new government must try to douse this palpable national tension and bring about change that will reverse the trajectory of Nigeria.
The fifth and final lesson is that there is a near national consensus on restructuring but differences in meaning and understanding. All major presidential candidates are promoting and committing to restructuring, but they understand and interpret it differently. The form of restructuring will depend on who wins the presidential election and what brand of restructuring he advocates. However, any restructuring exercise must be holistic, physical, promote greater productivity and in line with Nigeria’s historical antecedents.
Anything short may touch the fault lines of the diverse multireligious and multi-ethnic society. Finally, I expect everything not to be the same again in the world and Nigeria come 2023. We either embrace change in its different dimensions, or we perish. The signs are not ominous, and there is hope.
The hope is that the new government has its job cut out from day one .. No one is under the illusion that the task of resetting the nation on the path of safety and growth is going to be straightforward. Far from it. But to make meaningful progress, we must strive to accomplish worthy goals and build on our progress, if any, in 2022.
Peterside is a Public Policy Analyst.
By Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh
Women now think it is wise to be emotionally unintelligent. For this reason, husbands are becoming endangered species to the extent that amicable solutions to marital disputes are no longer sought after because of course; there are numerous hotlines to call and nail the man. I think this is quite unfortunate and enough reason why society needed to do a rethink now.
It all started many years ago with the hues and cries against societal neglect for the girl child’s right to be as educated as her male counterpart. Then, it brought in the much offensive culture of genital mutilation especially how it was inhumane to do that to the girl child and how that led to the transmission of infectious diseases.
As time went by, domestic violence against the female gender and, sister crimes like rape also came on board. While all these were on, there was a great applaud for how the now hydra-headed issues resonated with the general public. Then, things began to go haywire when what is now known as the feminist movement finally manifested as the umbrella under which the hydra-headed issues rested.
There was no doubting the fact that the feminist movement did not sit down well with the women or with the Nigerian public. In fact, at the initial stages of its manifestation, I learnt of several well-informed elderly people who warned about the counter-productiveness of this movement in other climes. Some mentioned the fact of how lonely women in the US and the UK had become over the years.
Yet, because of the combination of the initial euphoria, gross ignorance of the youths who saw the movement as a veritable platform to vent energy and make money from international donors who were searching for platforms like those to sponsor and society’s nonchalant attitude; the movement survived through the years to give society reasons why it needed to now rethink its stands.
Quite franking, to say that the movement is far more unneeded today than it was from the very start is to state the obvious and in a manner that may portray me as being economical with the truth. The damages are indeed unacceptable. But what have we really gained at the end of the day from the movement? For it is important that knew these gains so as to know what to do next.
For me, I’d like to highlight what society gained before the feminist movement came and then compared it with where we are after the movement started. First, without the feminist coloration, society frowned at rapists and men who abused their wives domestically. At some point, it became a criminal offence to either rape a woman or abuse her. This was a milestone advantage to society.
Women were protected by society while the men were not neglected; because two must agree before any interaction can commence. Second, there was an immediate throwing away of the practice of mutilating the female genitals by many ethnic groups. Third, the dangers of early marriage and clinical consequences like VVF were highlighted and jettisoned.
And the girl child now had as much right as society accorded the male to be educated. That Right also considered the mental well-being of the female gender as more and more empowerment programs were designed to increase the ease of the average woman in the Nigerian space. Fourth, it took care of the discrepancies in employability and gave more room for women to thrive.
In politics, women began to enter the arena and to showcase their potentials in leadership to the admiration of society. And lastly, without the feminist spice women were stirred onto more learning and more quest to improve themselves. This stir to self-awareness did not in any way encourage the women to underrate the men or vice versa. Rather, self-awareness meant understanding boundaries.
Needless to say that while all these were happening it was preparing the ground for what now stirs us in the face namely; (a) increased loneliness which has worsened the case of prostitution, (b) increased cases of divorce and (c) increased community of emotionally unintelligent women. These aforementioned 3 subtractions began to manifest with the entry of the gender equality movement.
With the manifestation of this movement, there has been a surge in prostitution, divorce and, I dare say; a steady reversal of the initial gains of seeking to protect the female gender. Just take a drive around town in the evening, what you see are girls walking about in panties and naked. They are either congregating in a beer parlor, standing aloof along the street or going to a club house.
If loneliness was not real, why would a young female DSS officer take her life by jumping into the lagoon in Lagos? In 2022 alone, the rate of divorce more than doubled. And what baffles me and I believe everyone else is the reasons adduced for the breakup. The feminist movement has shifted societies’ focus of protecting the women gender into a focus for gender equality and equity.
Incidentally, this has created a deep cleavage in the peaceful relationship and coexistence that once existed between the male and the female gender; resulting in incessant divorce and what this portends for the next generation who are made to live mostly with their mother by custody while their father is away and made to look like the devil himself in the minds of these kids.
Women now think it is wise to be emotionally unintelligent. For this reason, husbands are becoming endangered species to the extent that amicable solutions to marital disputes are no longer sought after because of course; there are numerous hotlines to call and nail the man. I think this is quite unfortunate and enough reason why society needed to do a rethink now.
For some of us who are conversant with the trend in the US and the UK; we believe that Nigeria won’t need another 5 years from now for women to begin to lay with dogs for sexual pleasure or visit massage houses or even call in sex partners just to have sexual pleasure. For the ignorant, sex toys like Dildo and Vibrators are invading our space from climes like the US where men are scare.
Scammers on the internet are rife today; ripping off foreign women and even using their Nigerian girlfriends for money rituals because the feminist movement has more than damaged society. The growing population of LGBTQ in Nigeria is a trend that should worry us too. If Nigeria won’t reverse its stands on this feminist thing then it risks having her future leaders come from broken homes.
Think of what it’s like for a woman to pose as though she’s with the CIA or FBI in her own marriage and all the while piling up information about a man she claimed to be married to just to have him nailed tomorrow in the courts and, to get away with his children and alimony? Even in the US, court orders are required in order to wire a house with bugs; why shouldn’t the marriage rights act be reviewed to protect men’s privacies?
PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 28, 2022 COMMENT
Church, State and 2023 general elections
By Abiodun Komolafe
That the Church is presumably drawing global attention to the fielding of Tinubu and Shettima as the APC joint presidential flag-bearers as a result of these fears cannot be far from the truth. The argument is that, as Muslims, a Tinubu/Shettima presidency may not be sympathetic to the core interests of the Church, more so as they dont even understand the components of those core interests.
Originally, in the secular world, the State comes before the Church, because, by its institutional characteristics, it is the custodian of all other institutions. In other words, the State is the behemoth institution; co-existing, but superior to other social institutions. And that has been established since 1648! Thenceforward, the marriage between the Church and the State has been at the mercy of the State. The only exception is Rome, where a State exists within a State because the papacy is a state on its own.
In the United Kingdom, the Church legitimizes the State. Succinctly put, the Church is the legitimacy booster for the State. That is why, while the powers of the State protect the King or the Queen, the Church legitimizes the State. The more reason the King or the Queen can do no wrong! Again, thats why, immediately a Prime Minister is elected, he or she goes to Buckingham Palace for the blessing of the King or the Queen. And the King or the Queen will normally approve the appointment of the Prime Minister, because it is both symbolic and a symbiotic thing!
Basically, though the State is always there to protect the interests of the Church, the unfortunate thing is that, in the Nigerian circumstance, the Church is now representing a sectorial capacity of the religious sector. For instance, the Islamic faith is as formidable as the Church. As it is, the Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima same faith joint presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has so made the powers of the two main religions in Nigeria become so antagonistic to each other that it is now the test of religious influence!
It is also interesting to note that former Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State did add the reality of Isese (traditional worship) to the mix, which, of course, is still within the purview of religion. Gboyega Oyetola, the immediate past governor of the state, did not betray the trust! In Osun, for instance, Isese now has a recognized annual holiday attached to it. Impliedly, the indigenous religion is also qualified to be a contender to the throne. While the Christians may put forward an advice, the Islamic world will be willing to add its voice. Ultimately, the ‘Isese adherents, who also have the recognition of the State, will also want to be heard! So, its no longer the Church, solely.
Where also lies the place of the atheists and others whose interests are not captured in the present picture? After all, Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians, irrespective of creed or race. Whats more? Elective offices in Nigeria are supposed to be secular. Thats what Article 10 of the Constitution says! Yes, the atheists may not have the population with which to push through their wishes, but, within the context of liberality, even the Boko Haram insurgents have a reason to make a demand in a democracy!
With a specific reference to the 2023 elections, theres a lot of confusion in the definition of Christianity in Nigeria. And it is deliberate! Take, for instance, the case of Peter Obi. As governor of Anambra State, its being alleged that he never gave non-Catholics free access, or Certificates of Occupancy to build their churches in the state. Added to Obis purported sins was that he almost chased everybody, who wanted to build a mosque in the State, away. As a matter of fact, these allegations have been appropriately documented and any Nigerian with disagreeing opinions has been asked to come forward and open up. Now, Obi as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) is a regular face at Pentecostal churches and congregations. As Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, doesnt being a Christian go beyond being a churchgoer?
Those who still doubt the relevance of, or the influence of religion in Nigerias democratic journey had better ask Atiku Abubakar why he hurriedly deleted his tweets, condemning the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel by religious extremists in Sokoto, on his Twitter handle. Obviously, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate did it to appease the hoodlums. Otherwise, he would lose the entire North, come February 25, 2023!
It has also been argued that Nigeria is currently not a State. Well, those who hold this notion may not be wrong after all! For example, had dear fatherland truly been a State, the Ademola Adeleke-led government in Osun would not have deliberately refused to pay the salaries of certain public workers. Thats not possible in a true democracy! No! In a thriving democracy, public administration cannot come down to the handlers personal feelings or idiosyncrasies.
All said, the immediate major interest of the Nigerian State, so to speak, is to have successful elections in 2023. Without doubt, the point opined about the question of religion and its influence on; or, relevance to, governance is so critical to social cohesion. The State will want the cooperation of the Church, while the Church, though will want to appear neutral, will be very sensitive to its interests. So, the State must be extremely careful not to be seen as being religiously biased or partial. If it does, it could lose its legitimacy; and it will have legitimacy crises. Take for instance the Nigerian situation: the current president is a Muslim; so also are most of the key position holders in its bureaucracy and public service. Coincidentally too, the ruling party has also presented a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket for the election. Under this condition, should the handlers of the State spew words that are perceived as being against the Christian world, it can bring the country to its knees.
If I may ask, how coterminous is the interest of the Church with that of the Nigerian State? Whereas the interest of the State is as constant as the Northern Star, the Church cannot but negotiate its interests and preferences with the State within the context of the demands of other similar social institutions. The interest of the State is to have a legitimized government in place; and the interest of the Church is to have its interests protected from hindrances from the State or opposing faiths. That the Church is presumably drawing global attention to the fielding of Tinubu and Shettima as the APC joint presidential flag-bearers as a result of these fears cannot be far from the truth. The argument is that, as Muslims, a Tinubu/Shettima presidency may not be sympathetic to the core interests of the Church, more so as they dont even understand the components of those core interests.
Lastly, its a statement of fact that the burden of the success of the forthcoming elections lies squarely on the State. However, since it is a societal issue, it therefore behooves the Church and other societal groups to cooperate with the State to ensure that a peaceful atmosphere prevails before, during and after the exercise for, it is only in a peaceful atmosphere that both the interests of the State and the Religious Community (the Church inclusive) can be realized. How to get societal peace engineered in an environment of insecurity, poverty, hunger and other kinds of social malady places an enormous burden on the State. Its after these negative social indices are sorted that both the Church and the State can have peace and, effectively, a government that is legitimate.
May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!
Abiodun Komolafe is a Public Affairs Analyst.
Expediency of strategizing against vote-buying to make 2023 elections free, fair, and credible
By Isaac Asabor
Without resorting to sounding overbearingly optimistic in this context, it is enough to say that if we, as Nigerians, are willfully determined to nip the phenomenon of vote-buying in the bud that it is possible, particularly if extant laws on it are literarily given sharp teeth to bite offenders.
If there is any form of electoral fraud that need to be strategized against as the 2023 general and presidential elections are fast approaching, it is unarguably “Vote buying”. For the sake of clarity, the electoral glitch simply means when a voter exchanges his or her vote for some form of compensation in an election. Without any iota of exaggeration, the fraud has been plaguing virtually all the electoral contests so far conducted in Nigeria since 1999 when Nigeria embraced a democratic system of government
The irregularity has been a cause for concern so much that in the bid to tackle it as the 2023 general elections draw closer, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) penultimate week moved to control the amount of cash in circulation by introducing new cash withdrawal limits for banks and other financial institutions. The new policy followed CBN’s recent currency redesign project in which it had expressed concerns over the high volume of cash outside the banking system.
In a similar vein, the leadership of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) during the weekend urged President Muhammadu Buhari to “urgently direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr. Abubakar Malami, and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to identify and arrest politicians who are allegedly buying Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from poor Nigerians, and promptly bring them to justice”.
SERAP also urged him to “ensure that the politicians and their sponsors who are suspected to be involved in these grave electoral and human rights crimes are named and shamed, regardless of their political affiliations.
Be that as it may, with the 2023 general and presidential elections on the horizon, the issue of “vote buying” has returned to the political arena, and several Nigerians have been encouraging the electorate to refrain from engaging in the practice.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to say that the call for Nigerians to eschew vote buying is not in any way illconceived as it breaks the link between candidate performance and winning elected office. It leads to reductions in the quality of services provided by the government. In other words, votebuying is a problem because the most suitable candidates may not win office, and the candidates that win will not be the best candidates to represent the interests of their voters.
In fact, vote-buying also creates a criminal opportunity for politicians to engage in corruption. For instance, politicians may give kickbacks to big businesses that funded their campaigns.
At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “How can vote buying be stopped to make next year’s election free, fair, and credible?
Given the degree of hunger in the land, it appears unscrupulous politicians are latching on the vulnerability of the people to engage in vote-buying as some of them lure prospective voters at the polls with amount of money that is as low as N1,000. Surprisingly most of them gleefully collect the bribe, and smile to their various homes with a collective sense of achievement. It is for the foregoing that it would be difficult to urge voters to refrain from the electoral behavior of selling their votes as a way of disrupting the vote-buying marketplace.
Without resorting to sounding overbearingly optimistic in this context, it is enough to say that if we, as Nigerians, are willfully determined to nip the phenomenon of vote-buying in the bud that it is possible, particularly if extant laws on it are literarily given sharp teeth to bite offenders.
You may have asked if there are extant laws promulgated to address the electoral dereliction. The answer to the foregoing question cannot be farfetched as the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa-Ibom State, Mr. Mike Igini, a few months ago at a media parley said there are laws that can be applied to overcome vote buying, improve the conduct of elections and reduce the intervention of the courts in the electoral process.
As gathered, there are several legal provisions where rules that guide elections in Nigeria can be found. They include the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended; the Electoral Act 2022 and the Guidelines, Handbooks, Manuals, as well as Codes issued by the Electoral Management Bodies, that is the Independent National Electoral Commission (in accordance with section 148 of the E.A. 2022) and the 36 State Independent Electoral Commissions. There are also international covenants, protocols, and conventions such as those of ECOWAS, African Union and United Nations. Each political parties also have their constitutions and electoral guidelines.
In the same vein, there are a number of sunshine provisions in the country’s electoral laws. By that, I mean anti-corruption provisions. These provisions are to be found in the Nigerian Constitution, Electoral Act, and Electoral Guidelines. Take for instance section 225 (1) of the 1999 CFRN, as amended; It says political parties shall submit to the INEC and publish a statement of its assets and liabilities. S. 225 (2) says, “Every political party shall submit to INEC a detailed annual statement and analysis of its sources of funds and other assets together with a similar statement of its expenditure in such form as the Commission may require.”
While making the point that the court has a role to play in delivering judgment on cases of electoral fraud such as votebuying, Iginni cited an example, saying “In 2013, in Kenya, we were there for the 5th of March election. On that day, we were monitoring. The campaign manager of a senatorial candidate was caught with different envelopes containing monies he was using to induce voters. He was arrested that same day, he was charged in court that same day. On the second day, he was convicted to three years imprisonment. That election was for a period of five days, we were in Kenya. Why is it that people who have been arrested overtime on this matter, we do nothing? The only way to make an impact is to quickly arraign them. In the US, over 400 cases before the 2020 elections were all determined before the 2020 elections. Why are we different here?” He asked.
However, to my view vote-buying should be strategize against by unleashing extant laws on it against unscrupulous politicians that may have been banking on massive vote-buying by virtue of their deep pockets ahead of the 2023 general and presidential election.
