The advent of democracy meant citizens elected a small group of individuals, expected them to govern in the interests of the majority and bestowed upon them the power to establish and maintain control over their affairs.
Formerly, maximum rulers exercised unrestrained power of life or death and there was subservience to whoever was the mightiest warrior. Over the years’ as leadership qualities moved from battlefield prowess to administrative aptitude, coercion which was the original reason for loyalty was replaced by consensus. Submission to the will of elected leaders presumes fairness, compassion, decisions made in public interest and equality of justice. Democracy is only threatened when government ignores consensus, serially fails to act in the public interest and alters its purpose from public service to self-service.
In Nigeria, political office holders shield themselves from the economic ruination they created by treasury looting, while citizens suffer routine mass killing, mass kidnappings, and human rights abuses. Long-suffering citizens are left to ask themselves: “What on earth are those governing us thinking?”; “Do they truly believe they are acting in the nation’s best interest?”; “Do they have the intellectual capacity to conceptualise new solutions to age-old problems?”
Those outside government who are unaware of the constraints under which public officials operate, cannot justifiably accuse them of not having the best intentions or of not doing their best. However, what is clear is that their best simply isn’t good enough!
A fairly new word “ineptocracy” was created to describe poor governance. It derives from the word inept, which is defined as lacking skill or aptitude for a task and not suitable for the time and place. Ineptocracy summarises a complex concept with a single word. It’s defined as: “A system of government where the least capable to lead are elevated by the least capable of producing and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers”.
In failing to shore up the nation’s economic fortunes, catalyse technological advancement or entrench peace and unity serial Nigerian administrations are responsible for absolutely inept and dysfunctional government, which has done seemingly irreparable damage to the nation’s soul, integrity and prosperity. There is worldwide dismay at the sheer volume and gravity of Nigeria’s current problems comprising looming financial chaos, rampant insecurity, clampdown on freedom and human rights and a major war where local governments and even states are being overrun by insurgents.
The argument has been made that things went downhill fast because of the bad luck of past miscalculations, accidents and inattention to detail. There is a counter argument that Nigeria’s abysmal circumstances aren’t the result of “bad luck”, but rather are a natural consequence of character flaws in those who have held leadership positions over the years. The collapse of any democracy involves three stages. In stage one, highly qualified citizens exit the nation looking for greener pastures. In stage two, manufacturers and major employers leave in increasing numbers to re-establish in neighbouring nations with more conducive infrastructure and economic policies. In both cases, the government’s reaction is “let them go and good riddance to them”! In stage three, citizens begin to protest their deprivations and government reacts by labeling them as “unpatriotic traitors” who must be stripped of their basic human rights. As it stands, Nigeria is in stage three where citizens are being coerced into passively accepting poor governance, insecurity, inefficiency, corruption and ineptocracy.
A law is being considered to outlaw the constitutionally guaranteed rights to protest about their lives diminishing daily and their wealth being confiscated legally and illegally by the political class. Protest isn’t unpatriotic, it’s democratic. The public are given the impression that public policies and procedures are too complicated for them to understand and can’t be articulated easily.
There are numerous news channels and media, which government can use to clarify its purpose and strategy, yet in spite of the verbosity of their spokespersons, the leadership vision in Nigeria is obscure! Benjamin Franklin said “unquestioned loyalty and submission is repugnant to the dignity of freedom”. The message from the government is “simply have faith; no matter how bad life is, continue to sit tight and bear it because better days are round the corner in the not too distant future”. The reality is that by definition the “not too distant future” never arrives! The trending joke about the government’s hype that a new solution is always “round the corner” is that they believe so far they stay on the “straight and narrow” path, the nation will somehow “turn the corner” to prosperity!”
The truth is Nigeria’s problems have far less to do with constitutional issues than the reality, politics has been overrun by the wrong kind of person. Moral rot has become so prevalent, it’s now institutionalised and the restraints of the constitution have become inconsequential. Ineptocracy in Nigeria is exemplified by the glaring chasm between statements by government spokespersons and the action of government itself. They speak of determination to end insecurity and insurgency but unconstitutional security votes for state governors and humongous amounts of the defence budget are routinely misappropriated. They profess their desire to lighten the load on an impoverished citizenry, but heap laws, regulations, fines and taxes on them like never before. They claim to seek greater security for all, yet reject state policing, vigilante groups or licensing firearms for self-defence. They pretend to respect individual freedoms, yet create an endless stream of agencies granted unconstitutional authority to breach human rights. They aver to be pursuing a sounder economy, yet they have mortgaged the nation’s future by routinely borrowing thereby creating an unprecedented level of debt with no capacity to repay. A nation like Nigeria with all its human potential and natural resources has absolutely no reason not to be a successful and prosperous democracy. As 2023 approaches, all that is required is to replace ineptocracy with true democracy.
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