Afe Babalola

In this edition, I will examine African leader’s quest for power and its failure to realize its responsibilities.

Elections times in many African Countries are mostly times of great expectations. They are usually heralded with promises by the electoral bodies of transparency in the electioneering process. The electorate are always assured that at the end of the day, their will, as expressed in their choice on the ballot papers will ultimately matter in the declaration of which leaders will run the affairs of the Government for the period limited by the law. In most cases, these assurances are given in good faith. To make them a reality, huge amounts of public funds are expended into public enlightenment campaigns designed to reduce cases of electoral violence and cheating to the barest minimum. Regrettably, it appears that such efforts are usually exerted without a full realization or appreciation of the extent to which the average African politician will go to either remain in power or attain it.

So on Election Day the same scenario which has played out for many decades in several African countries often end up occurring again. People turn out to vote only to have the exercise disrupted in one form or the other. If ballots are not immediately stuffed into ballot boxes, the boxes are themselves hijacked to unknown destinations only to reappear hours later already filled to the brim with suspicious ballots. Based on the strength of this “elections” leaders emerge and are sworn into office. The Electoral Body gives itself a pass mark and invites dissatisfied candidates to approach the law courts. The loser either files a Petition which is soon dismissed in several instances for lack of evidence or he may himself end up being compensated by the winner with a political appointment or lucrative contract. The declared candidate goes on to enjoy the gains of office whilst the people hope that he will fulfill his electoral promises, which experience has shown many candidates never had the intention of fulfilling.        

Failure of leaders to perform after election.
However one must ask why many African politicians fail to perform after being sworn into office? Is it due to a failure to appreciate the enormity of the challenges of the office? Is it due to a lack of ability to confront and bring about a solution to the many problems which have continued to militate against the development of many African Countries and indeed the continent in general? Or is it due, as Lord Lugard has posited, to the inability of the African, despite his crave for power, to appreciate the responsibilities that come with it? It is my view that Lord’s Lugard’s view aptly captures the African leader’s love for power without appreciating the responsibilities that go with it.

When the comment was made in 1922, Africa was still to the world, a continent largely untapped and unexplored for the full potential it possesses. However almost a century on, the political and economic landscape of the continent has changed. No African Country is under any form of colonial rule. For the better part of 50 years, most African countries have been self governing. As I noted earlier, the agitation for self rule, aside from any political consideration which may have made them imperative, was underscored more by the belief that the interest of any people could only be best assured by self rule and determination. However, Africa has been let down by its leaders. The saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely rings true of African Leaders past and present than of any other region in the world. Ours, it would seem is a continent whose history is replete more with tyrants and despots, rather than statesmen and global leaders.

Many who doubt the truth of this need only compare the resources of many African countries with their present state of economic development. Nigeria for example is a classic case of a country which has failed to realize it potentials mainly as a result of the preoccupation of its leaders with attaining power alone. I will not bother to discuss the many ills such as corruption, nepotism, tribalism which many agree are great stumbling blocks in Nigeria’s path to social, economic and political greatness. I have already addressed many of these factors in earlier editions of these series. What is however deserving of mention is the seeming obsession of our leaders with power at the detriment of other factors which would have made their stay in power of benefit to the people.

Lack of political vision, identifiable ideology or philosophy.
In many developed countries of the world, aspiring politicians take care to fashion out a discernible philosophy or ideology for themselves and their political career. Thus a politician very early on can be classified either as a conservative or otherwise. If he leans to the right or far left, it is easy to know. Such factors enable the electorate to know where the politician will stand on issues ranging from abortion rights to legalizing gay marriages. Thus the politician is really in politics to contribute his quota to the development of his country.

In Nigeria this is far from the case. A politician who is today a so called “progressive” will for the flimsiest of reasons or no reason at all metamorphose into a conservative the following day. Many politicians do not even have the faintest idea of what their political philosophy or orientation is. The reason for this is not really far-fetched. What obtains is not really politics of ideas. It is really politics of self aggrandizement and self-enrichment. Political office is not seen as the means to an end, it is seen as the end itself. Many simply relish the opportunity to be addressed as “Your Excellency”, “Distinguished Senator”, “Honourable Chairman”, without bothering to bring any form of excellence, distinguished contribution, or act of honour to the discharge of their duties.

Political office is too attractive.
To compound matters, political office, particularly in Nigeria has been made too attractive.  Such is the huge size of governments and the immense remuneration of elected public officials that a huge percentage of government revenue is dedicated to recurrent expenditure. Recently there were allegations that the expenditure of the National Assembly alone accounted for a very substantial percentage of the National budget. The 36 states of the Federation each have their own Houses of Assemblies. At the national level the country operates a bicameral system of legislature. There are Commissioners and Ministers at the State and Federal levels.  That the country has a bicameral system of legislation has not helped matter. However, the problem is not limited alone to the huge number of elected public officers but more importantly to the huge number of aides and assistants attached, at public expense, to these officials. There is a huge army of Personal Assistants, Special Assistants, Senior Special Assistants, Private Secretaries along the corridors of power in Nigeria’s state capitals. These persons much like their principals are also entitled to a litany of allowances.

As strange as the above might sound, the advent of the phenomenon of “First Ladyship” is another instance of the attraction which the allures of office holds for many of our leaders. First Ladies or wives of elected officials are now almost as ubiquitous, much like their spouses in the display of power. It is often difficult to distinguish the motorcade of a governor from that of his wife. Even wives of Local Government Chairmen are not left out. Without a doubt, the phenomenon of First Ladies is not unique to Nigeria. However, it is perhaps only in Nigeria that activities of first ladies are funded with state resources. One of the states in the south west of the country even constructed an office with state funds for the “Office of the First Lady”. When this is contrasted with the statement released by the White House, in the recent past, that Mrs Obama’s private visit to spain was not on state funds, it is not too difficult to see the difference between the African’s appreciation of the responsibilities of power and that held in other regions of the planet.