Nigerian politicians often all too easily show a complete lack of an understanding of the essence of politics. Or put rather differently, the lack of an essence in the politics of Nigerian politicians is too easily used as a disguise for the fraud that is committed against the people in the name of politics.
The Nigerian political gravy train is for pretenders, liars and frauds, who are busy pretending to be doing something on behalf of the people but are, in truth, living in self delusion, helping themselves to a better life in some instances, and an even greater life in other instances, but at the expense of the state and the Nigerian people.
It would be all right if it were just that. In which case, they would just be seen for the fraud that they truly are. But it is not just that. And that is the reason why it is very painful! It is the lack of a full or comprehensive understanding of that crucial decision made to take a plunge into politics that brings it all home and hurts. You will find this lack of understanding in numerous campaign speeches, people promising what they cannot deliver on; not for lack of a need to do so, but because, in reality, the office they seek does not give them the power to do what they promise the people they want to do. You will find this mismatch of intentions and possibilities running across the political class at local, state and federal government levels in the country. If citizens are confused about the essence of politics in Nigeria, it is because Nigerian politicians have always sold them the dummy that politics is a fraud; that it is deceitful; that it is about people singing different tunes from the same hymn book. For example, those who sit in judgment today and are busy probing the mess in the fraudulent oil subsidy regime have just reemerged from the shame that they brought to the House of Representatives by their failure of judgment when the Integrity Group threw up a certain Bankole as their choice for Speaker. They took a position to stay quiet during the heady days of the controversy, but are now beginning to raise their heads and masquerade as real democrats and seekers of truth and justice. We know that in truth until the former Kwara Governor, Bukola Saraki, raised concerns on the floor of the Senate about this huge discrepancy between the budget and the actual amounts of the subsidy payments, nobody cared!
Every student of politics knows that this attitude is wrong. The world is changing, and politicians in many countries, even in countries where things are working, continue to make it their number one priority, the protection and advancement of the rights and interests of their people and countries to everything that is good in their individual countries. When Russian and Chinese politicians chose to veto a United Nations’ resolution against the government in Damascus, Syria, they did so not so much because they individually liked what is going on in city of Homs, but because of the benefit that is accruing to their peoples and countries, in terms of arms trade with Syria. The Syria case is not such a humanitarian example to cite, but it is the reality of how politicians can allow patriotism, not selfish interest, positively blind them sometimes.
One of the biggest assignments for elected politicians, and this is something for which governments easily fall in some countries, when they fail to deliver on, is running an economy that provides jobs for citizens. All the prospects that have been talked about the Nigerian economy in the last two to three years have been linked to the yearly economic growth of six to seven percent. I have heard the Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, lament what he and many other economists think is an awkward growth, especially on the back of its failure to translate into real development. Many watchers of the Nigerian economy have also noted how it is that this growth rate has been achieved against the many challenges that the nation faces in terms of the lack of infrastructure, such as adequate power supply, efficient transport systems, among others. There is a glaring mismatch here. The danger is that politicians know about it, they talk about it, they pretend they want to do something about it, but they show no understanding that, in reality it is their job to fix the problem. They talk down on the general populace when they have the opportunity to do so and will never admit that they are in power to serve them. Observe the body language, the countenance and the language of those at the two hollowed (sorry, hallowed) chambers of the National Assembly, then you will get a sense of what I am talking about.
Politicians who understand the real reason people go into politics (in other words, those who understand the essence of politics) do not talk down on the electorates. They are respectful and understand the responsibilities that come with being a politician, especially when elected into office. One of the reasons why the high and stable rate of growth recorded by the country over the last three years is being questioned today is because it is not helping in creating jobs. In one of the stories in this paper today, an analysis is presented about how one million jobs have been lost in the leather and allied products manufacturing companies in recent times Kano alone due to production difficulties. It said this was happening at a time Nigeria was importing an estimated 80 to 120 million pairs of shoes yearly, and that Nigeria was the biggest importer of shoes from China and Italy.
Nigerian politicians are lucky to have their work cut out for them. But it is such a huge shame that, whereas there is so much work to do, especially work that they can easily see, they are failing themselves and the people and choosing to look the other way. In 2009, then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, clearly spelt out the essence of politics and why those who decide to go into it do it, when he said: “I came into politics to help people out of unemployment, to help people who were poor by building an economy that was confident and strong to weather this storm. I believe that the action we have taken to help people in work stay in work, to help people who lose their jobs get jobs again ... is the way to do it.”
It is that simple. Politicians, be they at the centre, in the state or in the local government, are supposed to be working to see this happen. The failure of our politicians to pursue this simple task frontally is a disaster to the people and this country. For them not to understand that they are giving jobs away to other countries when they sleep while industries die in Nigeria is the reason why they are a fraud. You can add the fact that while they yet sleep, it is not just Nigerian jobs that are going abroad; these days, all manners of people come in from China, from India, from the Philippines and different other places to do jobs that do not require exceptionally high qualifications, and are now taking jobs away from our people right in this country. And senators and representatives are not seeing that to debate about. Politicians are sleeping and need to be woken up from their slumber. So long!
