By James Sunday, FCAI, MNIIA
We were told in the School of Politics that it is a game where the majority carries the vote, and that “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” But is this really true?
Let us go back to the basics. Individuals vying for elected positions do so through ward recognition, progressing to local, state, and federal levels as necessary. They are first nominated as the people’s choice candidates, ratified at the party level as potential candidates with the tendency to win elections. They are then approved as party representatives in various categories, Councillors, State House Members, National Assembly Members, Senators, Ministers, Governors, or even the President.
Today, however, we have a majority of politicians who have crossed from one party to another, even abandoning the parties that brought them to prominence, relevance, and influence, all without an iota of conscience. Forgive my emphasis on conscience, but it is the very reason they forget so easily all their unfulfilled promises to the people. We must appeal to their conscience to make them humane and thoughtful, for without conscience, loyalty and commitment to partisan politics become questionable.
Nigerian politicians are not ideological politicians; they are fair-weather politicians. Like seasonal birds, they fly toward greener and more favourable climates. In advanced climes where the politics of ideology is practised, you are either Conservative, Labour, Democrat, or another name that aligns with a defined ideology. But do we truly have ideology in Nigerian political parties? Do our politicians stand for any ideology or merely for their personal interests?
Ideological politicians are driven by passion and conviction. Unfortunately, we have mostly ambitious individuals whose interests revolve around what they can gain politically and financially for themselves and their immediate families. That is why the average politician does not remember the promises made during campaigns, let alone the people who supported them or campaigned alongside them to secure votes.
The most dangerous aspect of Nigerian politics is its fixation on self-enrichment, deceit, hypocrisy, and sycophancy. Politicians easily forget that elections are term-based, four years, and that they must return to the same people they neglected, abandoned, or ignored after the last election, only to beg for another chance.
The citizens, too, share in this political tragedy. Knowing fully well that politicians rarely keep promises, many still go all out, even to the point of endangering their lives, for candidates who will forget them the moment elections are over. There is, therefore, an urgent need for voter education, political orientation, and understanding of the electoral process, including how to recall underperforming politicians, how not to re-elect defaulters, and how to hold leaders accountable for unfulfilled promises.
Politicians may constitute only about 20% of the problem, but the citizens make up the remaining 80%. This means the greater blame lies with the people, those who trade their conscience and right to vote for credible leaders in exchange for money, food, or clothing. By doing so, they sell both their conscience and their future. The political class understands this game well. They exploit it every election season, returning to the people after four years, often with nothing to show, yet the gullible electorate still votes them in.
Is this a game of lost conscience or mere political abracadabra? Politics is a game of give and take. If a politician has nothing to deliver as the dividend of democracy, there is absolutely no reason to re-elect them.
For me, my school of thought is simple: people can only hold politicians accountable if there is a signed agreement or bond of service between them and the electorate, one properly sealed in a court of competent jurisdiction. With such an agreement, politicians would act more cautiously and sincerely in fulfilling their promises, knowing that such a document could be used against them for recall or to deny them re-election.
Politics, as we know, is a dirty game. There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. But citizens must be aware and wiser.