The philosophy behind global promotion of democracy as a kind of government is to guarantee a flourishing society which will ultimately have positive impacts on the citizens.
Karl Marx and other great scholars spoke eloquently about a multi-party system in every society, governed by the rule of law in order to guarantee the liberty of citizens for social, political and economic emancipations
In other word, this form of social order is called free market economy where factors of productions are controlled by the private individual called the private entrepreneurs or better still, capitalist society. This is in contrast with communism, a political ideology where factors of productions are exclusively in the hands of government.
We are not here to teach this elementary concept of political ideology but just to remind our political actors that Nigeria is on the march again and Nigerians are on the threshold of history.
No doubt, Nigeria is a society with capitalist ideology like Europe, America, Canada, Brazil and other parts of the world where capitalist ideology thrives
Nigeria is on the March again to transfer power from one civilian government to another. Expectations are very high because large percentage of Nigerians are not happy with the dividends of democracy available to them under the Buhari-led government, so they are not pretending about this. Although, some people believe that the government made some laudable marks but this depends on whichever divide you belong to.
Nigerians are more conscious about the unfolding political event in their environment than they used to be 20 years ago. This is the time to pick leaders in a multi-party democracy in order to guarantee good governance that will usher in a flourishing society. This is the time to look critically at the character of persons who will represent us at all levels.
From the president to governors, members of National Assembly and state Assemblies, this is not the time to play all manners of games with the lives of the citizens. It’s not the time where one president will sit in Abuja and give order in a military fashioned style that ‘ this is the list I will be working with at the National Assembly . This is not the time when one governors will sit somewhere and be drawing list of people that will represent community they have not visited once since their election into office.
In any multi-party democracy, electorates should be allowed to pick their leaders. We can’t guarantee a flourishing society when selfish and unreliable people are in power.
Let me share my experience with you in my recent trip to somewhere in Kwara State enroute Oyo and Osun states.
We took off very early and arrived Ibadan as scheduled but were held up for hours due to unplanned construction works and total abandonment of governance by Seyi Makinde. I used to love the guy especially his TV hours on TVC every weekend. What I saw during my trip gave me the impression that most of these guys, once they find their ways to public offices ,they become something else! What Seyi Makinde shoud quickly do is to deploy traffic officials and create alternative routes for citizens so that the nightmares on that road could be reduced . I heard someone saying, it’s a federal road but I do know that we do not have any citizens called ‘federal citizen’ so every citizen in Oyo State or on transit enroute Oyo State must be protected.
I continued my trip till I got to Osun State and saw prosperity. Market women, workers and all kinds of infrastructure everywhere. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Gboyega Oyetola, thump up for you guys! I have seen some governors that are concentrating development in their state capitals only and theymake noise about that in self adulation. Some even think they are the most brilliant and excellent people in their states. This is an illusion and must be discarded forthwith. There are array of stars in every state of the federation who are even better than the crops of people we have at the helms of affairs both at the centre and state levels today.
Some of our governors who use public offices to showcase their ego and grandstanding lifestyles should desist from this ignoble behavior forthwith . Public offices should be accorded with the right decorum expected and those occupying tbe place should be people with great humility and impeccable characters, ready to serve their people as servants and not warlords.
I left Osun and finally arrived Kwara State. I went as far as Omu Aran. The last time I visited this environment was about 20 years ago and I was shocked that nothing has changed except the dilapidated roads and large expanse of land everywhere which should have been deployed into farming to enable us have food sufficiency level in Nigeria.
Why can’t we deploy our resources into farming rather than implementing policy that can’t be enduring? Osun State, today, has emerged as one of the prosperous states in Nigeria where citizens are very active in productive activities as there are different kinds of farms produce everywhere. We didn’t see anything like that in Kwara State. Government has refused to come up with deliberate policy to motivate people into farming.
I went for a function and had the opportunity to meet with the former governor of the state, Chief Conelius Adebayo. We exchanged pleasantries and I told him my mind about Kwara State and he laughed.
I haven’t met with the current governor of the state yet but hope to meet him soon . However, everybody I met spoke about his styles of governance and great humility.
Humility is the hallmark of a great leader. Some days ago, social media went on fire when BAT drove El Rufai during his visit to the governor to address the delegates. Leaders with bravado styles and grandstanding approach in any public offices should be seen as errors in democracy.
I eventually returned to base through same route and my harrowing experience increased when I got to Ibadan. I think Seyi Makinde should wake up and do his job rather than using TV to brainwash people about his activities which can’t be a true reflection of what is happening in Oyo State.
In every society, government exists for two reasons which include security of lives and properties of the citizens and guarantee their welfare.
Recently, a governor in the Southwest said he was not elected to create employment for the youths . I called a few friends around to join me over lunch so that we can debate what the governor said. I have to explain to them that it’s the responsibility of the president who is sitting atop human and natural resources of the nation to come up with sound economic policy that will instigate massive economic opportunities for the citizens thereby guaranteeing prosperity for the citizens. Same as the state governors.
It is therefore my candid view that as we are marching towards the next political dispensation, citizens should be allowed to pick their leaders. In making our choices, we should look at the track records and humility of these characters in their previous trade. How do you intend to unleash economic prosperity on the citizens when you don’t have knowledge about how to create wealth ?
Lagos State today is on auto run economically and has attained phenomenal growth as the 5th largest economy in Africa. In less than five years away, Lagos may attain the status of the largest economy in Africa. The social and economic transformations we have been witnessing in Lagos State since the emergence of the 4th Republic is a reflection of the political leadership that have emerged since 1999 and coupled with well thought out master plans designed to transform the State for growth.
The reality today is that Lagos State is on the move towards the smart city status with her ever increasing population. It must be noted that for every $1billion FDI into the country, $800m will be domiciled in Lagos. Lagos also has the best judicial system with friendly and transparent ways of conducting government business. It’s very sad that even in the South West where we expect decency and transparency in the conduct of government business, some states run public offices as private entities. This can only breed anarchy at the end because public offices management is not same as private management.
Those who found themselves in public offices and think it’s opportunity to convert public assets to private ownership, will have citizens to contend with afterwards. Every State in Nigeria has the potentials of greatness especially states in the South West but right political leadership will make this dream achievable, otherwise, we continue to wait for our monthly hand out from Abuja when we should be thinking out of the box in the 21st century.
If we must address our security challenges, social inclusion is a hallmark of good governance which is the bedrock of democracy. Our winner takes all mentality after every election should be jettisoned for inclusion in governance. This will no doubt bring peace and stability across the country which will in return promote unity and prosperity. It is also my considered opinion that for our nation to move away from this trial and error mentality, citizens should ensure that our next president and governors must possess corporate knowledge of the economy. This will enhance the opportunities to unleash prosperity on the citizens through sound economic policy that will trigger limitless economic growth for the benefit of the citizens.
It’s laughable that in our daily conversations, we talk and dream of prosperity in Europe, Japan, China, USA ,Latin America ,Canada and even our next door neighbour, South Africa. Almost all these countries have experienced industrial revolutions as a way of guaranteeing the prosperity of their citizens. In contrast, while advanced economies around the world have since dwarfed the significance of religion in their society, Nigerians are busy replacing their factories with mega churches and mosques thereby promoting religious economy. This is the era of knowledge economy and we shouldn’t be left behind for whatever reason and allow religious leaders to continue brainwashing the citizens, praying for miracles as solutions to prosperity without adding any value to human society.
. Otunba Sola Olatunji, a Marine economy expert and Chairman of Ikale Heritage Development Association, IHDA, writes from Lagos
