By Adewale Ajadi
Watching aspects of our political drama play out, you cannot but
conclude that at its heart is character. Like most African cultures, in
general, and Nigerian ones, in particular, premium is placed on the
content of character. It was essentially character which transformed a
slave boy into King Jaja of Opobo, taking advantage of the reforms of
King Amachree amongst the Ijaw people in the 19th Century. The same Jaja
was the catalyst of what is today Nigeria. Without his trade excellence
there would never have been the Royal Niger Company, and our eventual
colonial adventure would not have played out the way it did. Character
as it plays out in this administration can be captured in the metaphoric
story of a fortunate boy granted a scholarship to an elite school. This
was not because, like many otherwise poor students, he had scored
exceptionally in the entrance examinations or that he was very
hardworking; in fact fortune smiled on him because he was not
remarkable. He was just a bland possibility on which everyone projected
their desires and hopes.
Into the academy he went because he represented an egalitarian ideal
of equality of opportunity (so his champions claimed). A Joe Nobody who
could become somebody. His family and community were totally full of the
joy for winning life’s lottery; their son was the first to enjoy this
incredible opportunity. In fact, on top of that fortune and in spite of a
most unremarkable academic tenure and attitude, he got elected as Head
Boy. As usual, everyone just saw good fortune but no one could see or
say anything he had done to deserve this. No record of excellence. No
evidence of service. No manifestation of sacrifice. Now Head Boy, he
became the vehicle for bullying and exploitation of all the junior boys
and girls. Especially because of his position, he received attention
from a damaged beauty queen; her wants alway insatiable, he went from
the banal to the very cruel. He was a cypher who stood for nothing and
fell – initially through association and eventually through habit – for
the crudest abuse of power and became the most damaging example to the
entire school. All the school toughs were rewarded with access and they
kept the school in an unstable and uneasy vice. Eventually time came do
examinations and move on, but he would rather stay than graduate because
his unremarkable life would beckon. He had no imagination nor
commitment to recognise the possibility of changing roles to build
effectiveness and a genuine track record. He was a prisoner to the
poverty of ideas and inability to see the effect of his actions. His
family and community chose not to see the damage he had done to himself,
to them and to the school. As Khalil Gibran says in The Prophet,
“Is not the fear of thirst when you well in full the thirst that is
unquenchable?” Well, the chip on his shoulder became the rock upon which
he founded his character.
We should make no mistake about it in this election cycle, Character
is the critical decider of who leads the next government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. The Yoruba say, ‘efin ni iwa’ – character
manifests like smoke i.e. it cannot be hidden. Many will not admit that
banality itself is evil. In the case of President Jonathan, it has
delivered evil consequences. A President who oversaw the highest income
from the sales of oil in the history of Nigeria, yet his main policies
are just cut-and-paste from the administration of Chief Obasanjo,
without the effectiveness in execution. The litany of numbers killed in
the insurgency, sums squandered in opaque transactions, and mediocre
impact of trumpeted results that most Nigerians can only experience in
documentaries and posters.
I have heard it said that the campaign for the Presidency has lacked substance; I fundamentally disagree. There is no greater issue in Nigeria and about her future than the substance of her character. You have a choice of continuing with Nigeria as she presently behaves or changing the fundamentals. It is not a hardware issue. You can buy the latest hardware but if your operating system software is itself a malware or riddled with viruses it will be worse than a redundant relic. You should not build or purchase new infrastructure on a operating system that is not fit for purpose. How can transformation mean new coaches with air-conditioners on a single gauge track that is the product of the 19th Century? How come the road to the main and critical ports for entry into the country, at Muritala Mohammed Airport as well as Apapa Wharf, are unmanaged and in the case of the Seaport, in an awful state? How can this be anything other than catastrophe for an economy looking for alternatives to oil revenue?
We have also seen character in this election as the PDP and its
candidate continued to deploy what is often negative campaigning.
Billions spent on so-called documentaries that are making all kinds of
allegations against the persons of its opponents. It forgets that by
being the government in power, it has the responsibility of prosecuting
many of these allegations, if they have merit. It is not only negligent
not to prosecute, it is a failure to discharge duties and obligations
under the constitution. The character of General Buhari and his campaign
have been quite unusually permissive of these attacks this time. Gone
are the coded campaign speeches from 2011 and the idea that all it takes
to be President is to speak to his cheering section. In both tone and
content, the Buhari campaign has been restrained except when it has
taken legal action against serious libel and slander. I wonder is this a
wholesale differentiation or just political positioning? I am sure it
is both, but what is clear is that it seems more like the kind of
campaign that an incumbent will run, which is less strident and more
focussed on what governance means.
We must choose the character and characteristics that provide the
basis for a better future. The Pew Research gives us some of the
priorities of Nigerians as they go into this elections. According to the
Pew article, “Six Facts About Public Opinion in Nigeria Before Election
Day”:
• 82% of Nigerians have unfavourable views of Boko Haram, with an
overwhelming majority, 79%, having very unfavourable views. This cuts
across religions and regions, so this is a far cry from being a popular
insurgency. Despite this, the current government has not mobilised the
country expressly to support the war against these mass killers in any
strategic manner. The plans for a Marshall Plan by General Buhari
provides a cohesive focus which Nigerians can understand, engage and
critic; it not just focuses on war but also on supporting the victims.
Unfortunately this unpopular and murderous group have held Nigerians to
ransom under President Jonathan whose best efforts are belated and do
not seem to embody the revulsion majority of Nigerians have for the
insurgents and their campaign;
• 72% of Nigerians are worried about Islamic extremism (a number
which includes many muslims). More telling is that they identify their
top threat to the country as being religious and ethnic hatred. Simply
put: by his campaign strategy alone, the President has invigorated this
threat. He has sought the support of ethnic warlords, his wife has
whipped up sectional differences, and in fact he has courted all the
divisions in the national fabric. In many ways, people have tried to
artificially balance things, suggesting both sides are culpable so as to
appear objective. Simple observation shows the President has tried to
use the wedge of religion and ethnicity to build a groundswell of
support against General Buhari, with little or no explicit consideration
for the threat that many Nigerians recognise as extremely proximate to
destroying the country;
• The top three everyday worries for Nigerians are in this order:
crime, 88%; corruption, 86%; and electricity, 81%. Even though there are
no surprises here and the challenger has covenanted to prioritise
these, after 6 years of the GEJ administration, they appear worse not
better. There is tacit acceptance of unexplained wealth and ambivalence
of accountability, as well as transparency. The President seems to have
chosen key people in his campaign because of their ruthlessness and
ability to use any means, including illegal ones. The word ‘impunity’
has come to define Nigerian society during this administration;
• Not surprising that 74% of Nigerians believe that the country is
headed in the wrong direction. Unemployment at record high; the economy
in decline, with wealth distributed consciously among a small group of
presidential supporters; and the lack of transparency and social capital
at their lowest ebb;
• 66% of our people believe government officials do not care for Nigerians, and in fact I am surprised the figure is so low;
• In spite of that, 79% of those who responded were likely to vote.
Now my message for those who are going to vote is quite simple:
please do not reward failure! Like the story of the school boy, the
effect will not be only in this transaction but will send a message to
everyone. In this case, agreeing to a second term for a President who
has performed below the usual mediocrity means we are telling the future
generation that it does not matter what you do, just reach for good
fortune and ride it for the rest of your life. That is not just damaging
but will destroy what is left of the fabric of this society. So on
Saturday, Nigerians should use the principle that most effective
employers use – recruit for attitude, as you can always improve skills.
Define the future of the Nigerian character to be about integrity,
discipline, sacrifice and love. Stop the ‘fortunate’ few having an owambe
with our children’s legacy. Vote to reset our values and rescue our
character towards an genuinely honourable attitude. Vote for Change.
Adewale Ajadi, a lawyer, creative consultant and leadership expert, is author of Omoluwabi 2.0: A code of Transformation in 21st Century Nigeria.
Source: premiumtimesng
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