What Do Nigerians Really Want?

In a previous article, I made a wish-list of the qualities I wanted to see in the next Nigerian President. I posted the article on my facebook page and I got quite a number of comments on it. Comments that ranged from sheer derision and disbelief that any one individual could possess such attributes to more thoughtful comments by individuals who indicated they might start assessing potential presidential aspirants based on a more rigorous set of expectations.

One comment however that caught my attention in particular was one that questioned if Nigerians were indeed ready for such a leader. It is an old saying that a people will get the leader they deserve. If a people have absolutely no interest in the process that produces the leader of the nation and a thief and charlatan is voted in, one could argue that is the kind of leader the people deserve. If however, people take the time to understand what each candidate is offering, compares and weighs all the options, goes out to vote and then ensures that their votes are counted… well... you get the idea.

But this above scenario is an advanced stage of a process. Before we can assess what each aspirant at local, state and national level is offering, Nigerians need to define and clarify a few fundamental issues about what they really want. It is when one knows what one really wants that one is better equipped to identify who will best provide this to you and exactly how they intend to do this. I will give an illustration.

American politics can be very partisan and broad lines are drawn between Republicans and Democrats. With decades of political rivalry between them some of the lines have deepened into chasms that stretch and divide opinion on social, economic and political issues. Do we allow private citizens to bear arms? Do we want to allow gay couples to get married? Should abortions be legal and available for free? Do we want to increase taxes and provide more funds to programs such as Medicaid? Or reduce taxes and let market forces determine who gets the best type of health care insurance? How much interference do we want the government to have in our affairs? Is Lady gaga truly reflective of how we want to be portrayed in the world?

Depending on how you answer the above questions usually determines which part of the political spectrum you will be buttonholed in. Polls indicate that a lot Americans consider themselves centre of the spectrum (Independents) lurching a little to the right or left on specific issues.

Underlining this whole process is a common theme. Despite the sometimes bitter debates and hot air blown about by Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike, Americans are united in the pursuit of a common goal. They call it, ‘The American Dream’. This is more than just a single goal or objective. It is rather more a philosophy and way of life. It is the belief that no matter where you come from or what god you believe in, if you work really hard and take your opportunities you WILL build a better life for yourself and your family. If you plan properly and make a few sacrifices, your children will go to a better school than you did and attain one higher level of educational achievement, thereby getting a better job than you did. If you display exceptional talent in an area of life, that talent is nurtured and built upon and celebrated when it reaches its full potential.

Of course the above is a gross simplification and there will be any number of groups who complain that the American dream has passed them by. Or that some segments of society have hijacked the dream and don’t want to let it go. But the fact is that the American dream remains the goal and the how to achieve the goal is what dominates political discourse.

I believe political discourse in Nigeria is severely limited to how to acquire political power. The attainment of political office is an end in itself and not a means to an end. Politicians in Nigeria spend lots of money, energy and manpower to gain political power and then once they have it, have absolutely no idea what to do with it. In countries with a bit more maturity in its political theatre, the election to office of a group of politicians is a sanscrosant contract between the government and the people. The people say, ‘this is what we want to do with our lives. We want to work hard, send our children to good schools and watch a good football game at the weekend’. Do not interfere with where I go to worship on Sundays, provide me with the roads to get to work, affordable schools for my children and deal with those noisy neighbouring countries on our behalf’. The government in turn says, ‘No problem, it will cost you this much to build those roads, maintain those schools and ensure that the banks are able to give you a good loan for that business you want to start’.

Once the government in power forgets or refuses to listen to the demands of the people, they are quietly (sometimes loudly) told to pack their bags at the next election and let someone who will listen to them take over. And sometimes, the people just tire of the same group and say, ‘Give the other chaps a chance’.

I sincerely believe the lack of a common goal/dream/objective for Nigerians is a severe limitation in how we choose our leaders. If we don’t know where we want to get to, how do we know the type of person to lead us there? Nigeria like the rest of Africa suffers from the legacy of the colonial masters who drew arbitrary lines across the continent and mashed up diverse nations into contraptions that served their economic interests at the time. This however fails to become a valid argument in the task of nation-building. The USA as an example again is made up of a potpourri of nations and peoples. Diversity is celebrated and woven into the unique fabric that is the American dream. Do you want to work hard, buy a house in suburbia and drive an SUV? Call yourself African-American, Italian-American, Irish-American or Mexican-American you are and will always be an American.

I have lived with Igbos, Hausas, Ebiras and Tivs. In the day-to-day grind of everyday life our aspirations were remarkably the same. We wanted to succeed at whatever it is we did. We wanted to gain a university qualification and get a really good job that would enable us to splash out on a big society wedding and move into a fully furnished house, furnishings that didn’t include a generator because the power supply was constant, reliable and affordable. We wanted to take holidays to the UK and enjoy the beaches of Cornwall and the Edinburgh comedy festival but be eager to return and still catch the Star-Mega Jamz at the Bar Beach and attend the Night of a thousand laughs in Muson Centre. We wanted to be able to drive to the Muson Centre in VI and return back to the mainland without having to avoid the Ikoyi link bridge because of the fear of a thrown tyre rim. We wanted to have kids safely in hospital and be secure in the fact that the teaching hospital was up to any complications or conditions in our health.

This isn’t too much to ask is it?

But time and time again, the political elite exacerbate divisions of ethnicity and religion in a bid to acquire power. It would probably be more satisfying if a section of the country was a nirvana because a son of the soil had acquired power and accelerated development in that region. But this is not the case. Power is acquired and used for self enrichment. Mansions are built with high fences around them while the gutters right outside the gate contain the dregs of society hoping for a handout and the mansion owner dares not go out freely in the fear that he will be targeted by the victims of his corrupt practices. Or he goes out in a protective security bubble, ignoring the world around him.

I just wonder about one thing. The different ethnic groups I lived with were in cosmopolitan Lagos and also the melting pot of the University of Ibadan. One could argue that these individuals were like me and constitute just one part of society. That of the urban middle class. An urban middle class that has been decimated true but that is a story for another day.

What about the 60% of Nigerians that live below the poverty line? Does the mechanic in Beere Oje in Ibadan share similar aspirations with the shoemaker in Langtan in Jos? Would the almarijis who cluster round the big man's house every Friday abandon a life of handouts if the opportunity to go to school or learn a trade was offered? Would the area boys in Idumota Lagos, rather set a goal of becoming master craftsmen rather than dealers of violence and thuggery?

I sincerely do not the answers to these questions. At least not yet.

What I do know beyond a shadow of doubt is that Nigerians have to define what we want. We need to identify those who are most likely to lead us to that desired state and ensure they have a chance to lead. And I choose my words very carefully. Lead us there. Moses led his people to the promised land. But the people still had to follow. They did not sit in Egypt and send Moses out to look for the land and come back with Ekenedilichukwu buses to ferry them there. They braved 40 years in the wilderness before arriving at their destination. Nigeria has added on an extra 10 years to that record. And Canaan is still not on the horizon.

So yes we are still in the wilderness. We need to start defining the things that unite us, pool our aspirations into cohesive plans and lay out road maps on how to achieve them. Only then would we be able to start fulfilling our potential and be recognized as a true giant of Africa.