By Onyeche Wofurum Igwe
In civilized democracies, politics is a game for men of honour and integrity. A game for honest men and women who have made successes of their careers or professions and have chosen to dedicate the rest of their lives for community service. In those climes, politics is about service, service to the people and one’s fatherland. Service fired by patriotism, stoked by altruism and propelled by a genuine commitment to be part of a positively growing society. The ultimate and over-ridding goal is to leave behind indelible footprints on the sands of time and enduring legacies that posterity will not forget in a hurry.
But in Nigeria, politics is a different ball game. It is a business from which politicians reap stupendous dividends. Service, if at all it is a part if it, is the least consideration in opting for politics. That is why men of honour and integrity are in short supply in our polity. It is also why our political landscape is crowded with opportunists, drug pushers and addicts as well as jailbirds and certificate forgers. It is, therefore, not surprising that in our own setting, politics is a game of survival, survival of the ‘greediest.” It is politics of self-aggrandizement and of course, self-rewarding. The unwritten rule is “make your financial hay while the sun of political office yet shines.”
The unfolding macabre drama in the polity is instructive. We have a political class that has become so drunken and intoxicated with such awesome powers that they now play God. The rest of us, a bunch of dummies they must take us to be, do not need to think or act any more. Thanks to the telepathic intelligence and wisdom of our political leaders. Their thoughts have become our thoughts, their ways, our ways, and their feelings our feelings. As leaders with the mind of God, they know what we want and by extension, what is good for us. We wear the shoes but they know where the shoe pinch.
It is a well-known fact that many our our political leaders are not democrats. Their antecedents confirms this. They may go about in over-flowing agbada or babaringa, yet they have the minds of Adolf Hitler and Abacha both rolled in to one. That is why they are the kinds of leaders that they are, self-serving masters, who are not servants of the people. And it is also why we are where we are today. A nation that has so easily forgotten where it is coming from and unsure of where it is going.
The crises of democracy and development in third World nations have continued to task scholars to their wits ‘ end. What is the meaning of democracy to an African and, indeed, people of the third World? Is it simply to accumulate and privatise state resources for personal use and benefits? Or, does democracy come with responsibility of ensuring good governance and development. Indeed, can democracy co-habit and encapsulate development in our largely illiberal societies with cultural heterogeneity and often times, superfluity?
In a twist of irony, the intellectual heavy weights with enviable political savvy are today light weights in the presence of our ‘almost intelligent’ politicians. This is the tragedy of our democracy, where the bright ones are suddenly emasculated and obliterated from public focus and influence by the power of cash, no matter how illegitimately acquired.
However, this forceful eviction of the brainy from the political stratosphere by the barely literate but rich ones, has resulted in the present dog fight in our political arena. And it will continue for a long time, with heavy casualty, at costly prices too.
The saddest of all, the masses are helpless, the civil society weak and overburdened by poverty. Untill we break this cycle of poverty and entrench respect for the rule of law through exemplary leadership, we shall continue to witness similar shows of shame aided and protected by the state. Then, our democracy shall remain in chains.
Onyeche Wofurum Igwe, also known as Humble Lion, a Journalist, Social Critic and Human Rights Crusader, writes from Egbeda.
