63 years of failed governance

It’s now the norm for the annual ritual of “celebrating” independence to be low-keyed, and rightfully so. Truth be told, since self-rule in 1960 successive failed governments have diminished the once acclaimed Giant of Africa into an economically ravaged war zone, from which its teeming youths aspire to escape to build “a better life” in properly governed countries. 

There is no denying that the nation is fast becoming a failed state. The common features of failed states include the inability to effectively enforce law and order, the loss of control over a large territory, widespread violence and insecurity, economic decline and widespread poverty, displacement and humanitarian crisis, lack of basic services, and weak or ineffective governance all of which apply to Nigeria.  

After 63 years of trying, but failing to govern our affairs properly, lack of job opportunities, high poverty level, regional inequalities, insecurity, social and political unrest and high inflation beleaguer the nation. While it’s true that every nation has only limited resources to try and solve an unlimited number of needs, it’s also true that the serial failure of Nigerian political office holders to provide even the most basic needs of adequate infrastructure and social services which are primary functions of governance is mainly due to unbridled treasury looting.  In truth, our leaders have never been prepared for the inherent responsibilities of political leadership. Rather than govern properly, they rule with no plan, no capacity and no competence to solve the nation’s problems. Governing properly requires humility, empathy, wide consultation and sacrificing comfort, personal ambition and pride none of which applies to the Nigerian political class. The nation’s problems are well-known. Inflation and debts, inadequate power supply, poor communications network, lack of social safety net, inconsistent economic policies, poor human capital development, the unregulated Nigerian market, crime and terrorism, unemployment, ethical and religious differences, poor health system, poor transport infrastructure and massive corruption. Although corruption is part and parcel of every government, between 2015 and 2023 the government presided over the most mind-boggling unbridled corruption in the nation’s history. The supposed war against corruption is laughable. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which should have been staffed by legal, accounting and information technology experts capable of detecting and successfully prosecuting financial crimes against the state, has been relegated to a paramilitary organisation routinely losing high-profile cases of monumental corruption. Political office holders who loot billions go scot-free to continue their “successful” political careers! It’s now common to see people with tainted past who are facing serious corruption allegations holding high office as part and parcel of government! 

Many political commentators postulate that Nigeria was destined to fail because it was built on racist beliefs that peoples with black skins are all the same and diversity of population isn’t important. This of course is not true. The two things the top ten countries with the highest standards of living in the world in 2023 have in common are uniformity of population, and a single major religion. It should come as no surprise that Nigeria has the lowest quality of life index in the world because the nation has no national identity but is simply a conglomeration of different nationalities, competing major religions, different cultures and different languages lumped together by colonialists to further their own interests. If contiguous small European nations like Spain and Portugal or Netherlands and Belgium prosper by recognising their differences and the need to be governed separately, it would appear that the forced “non-negotiable” unity of Africans into colonially created nations is the reason for Nigeria’s backwardness. 

However, it makes little sense after 63 years, to blame colonialists who manage to govern their own nations properly. In properly governed nations with innovative mindsets and futuristic consciences, political office holders bear responsibility when things go wrong. 

Governing properly requires humility, empathy, wide consultation and sacrificing comfort, personal ambition and pride which are seriously lacking in Nigerian politicians. Although Nigerians are enamoured with the concept of democracy, they are disgusted at the manner in which it is practiced in their country. The executive arm of government has become bloated and mediocre comprising cronies, acolytes, and political allies. Political appointments have become a vehicle for returning political favours to the unqualified, not for employing technocrats. The nation has debased itself to the extent that anything and everything is tolerable and passable in politics as the self-serving concerns of greedy political office holders take precedence over the interests of the majority. 

Governance is not about pride and self-aggrandisement, it’s about right and wrong. Nigerian political office holders do not have the honour to do what is considered right, let alone the courage to do it. Lamentably hope for the future and belief in the virtues of democracy are waning because truth is no longer part of our national conscience. Condemnable, the “Independent” National Electoral Commission (“I”NEC) has institutionalised fraudulent processes in collusion with the judiciary. The latter endorsed the fraudulent processes and squandering of billions on technology by declaring that elections need not be transparent and INEC can do as they please!  Currently, with the federal government becoming more sectional, tribal and nepotistic by the day, religious and ethnic tensions have reached previously unattained heights. The nation keeps rotating on the same axis in the mistaken belief that it is somehow moving forward! The question remains how many more years of failed corrupt governance can the nation withstand?