By: Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo
We are in another election circle, the eighth since 1999. It is gratifying to acknowledge that the Fourth Republic of Nigerian democratic experience is enduring. The three previous ones were disastrous and short lived. By the 29th of May 2027, we shall by the grace of God be swearing-in the 21st Governor of Kwara State. The pages of our history are dotted by the regimes of fourteen military governors imposed on us by unconstitutional seizure of political power by armed men in military uniform. The next governor will be the eighth in the series of civilian governors, elected by the people and the fifth, since 1999. We now need to take stocks, as we make the next governor of Kwara State.
“They have come”, non-politicians will say. “We have come”, I will say as I am one of them that have come. This is a period political aspirants will come from far and near to present themselves as the solutions to the problems of Kwara State. Politicians shall come in various sizes with different, styles, plans, programs and promises. Politicians seeking public offices through elections shall come with different motives and strategies of capturing political power. Some motives may be hidden, altruistic and selfish. The season is here when the atmosphere and the environment will be charged with grandiose claims, glittering pictures, oratory and theatric displays, perhaps designed to shift our attention from our immediate problems of hunger and poverty. People tragically, as onlookers may ignorantly dance to the music of the moment.
But I write this for many reasons. Firstly, the people of Kwara State shall be reminded that this season is usual and it runs its circles, which though separated by time and level of sophistication, have the same approach and ultimate motive. I write to raise the level of consciousness of the people, so that we may not fall to some cheap political deceptions that lead nowhere. Together with readers of this piece, there is the need to examine the past on the collective exploration of the future of Kwara State as may be dictated by the next election. I write to remind the electorates on what democracy says about the potency of the people in the making of leaders through the ballot box. This piece is about not taking another political decision that will further arrest our development. I write so that people will say that one of the politicians exposes to them the antics of people seeking office. I write to warn and educate.
It could be alright if errors of choices had been committed in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 elections. As the military prepared us for civil administration in 1999, they had to take a quick exit from the political space as their credibility had been seriously impaired. Being not politicians of the civilian bend, they could not have nurtured anybody for democratic political participation. Those that took over the rein of power from them in 1999, were the civilian branch of the military. Many of them were born and grew up under military dictatorship. They were even made rich by the military. Politics for some years now have not been one of ideas, principle, values and ideology; it has been a game of money making and influence peddling. Many of the frontline politicians since 1999 have been retired military men or military made rich people that see politics as an enterprise in the huge game of money making. In attitude, disposition, culture, values and focus, they were simply the same with the departed military. The guns and uniform do not equip people for any stint in democratic practices and values. Attitude and values have much to do with quality learning and political experience. Thus, if many significant errors of choices had been made since 1999, after twenty-eight years of uninterrupted democracy as it would be for Nigeria in 2027; we have no justification not to exact peoples’ power in the making of the next Kwara State Governor. The antics and practices of Politicians are now clear and the deception ought to have run its course. If we are still deceived, we have permitted ourselves to be and the only benefit we shall reap are pains and agony of underdevelopment. We need therefore to watch out for the following deceptions in the making of the next governor of Kwara State.
There are many variables that are being pandered around in the determination of the next governor of Kwara State. The most important of them all is this senatorial rotation of the gubernatorial office. Personally, my sympathy goes to the Northern senatorial district of Kwara. And that is resting on the principle of equity, fairness and justice. The agitation of the North is genuine for, since 1999, they have never taken a shot into the office of the governor of Kwara State. But “we want to be governor” is different from, “I want to be governor”. Let those from the North that may want to be the next governor of Kwara come out individually to declare their ambition instead of resting on senatorial entitlement. They should be assessed and judged on their individual merits, integrity, character, values, preparation for office, etc. They rather should tell us how they will be the governor of Kwara and not the governor for the North. What are their pedigrees, programs and political philosophy? What we have produced since 1999 had been sectional governors that use gubernatorial office to essentially promote their interests and the marginal interests of their region. Sectional governor cannot develop Kwara State.
Another deception is this “I am waiting for governor’s or godfather’s endorsement”. From all our recent history and experience, that is the road to perdition for Kwara State. From 1999 to date, strong men whether within or outside Kwara State have been producing our governors for us. These strong men did so to protect personal monetary interests, political relevance, clout and ego. Whichever way it had been, has it been beneficial to the people of Kwara State? When Dr Abubarkar Olusola Saraki produced Alhaji Mohammed Lawal, time and state resources were wasted on political crisis at the expense of development. When Dr Abubarkar Olusola Saraki produced Governor Bukola Saraki, it ended up in domestic squabbles that arrested Kwara development. When Dr Abubarkar Bukola Saraki produced Alhaji Fatah Ahmed, people saw it as the third and fourth terms of the godfather. When the present governor was imposed on the APC, Kwara, what we see is what is on the ground today. We ought to know that any governor that does not emerge from the will of the people, will only serve himself or the patron. It is time that those that want to govern us in Kwara present their personal worth and values, rather than this absolute reliance on godfathers.
To make the governor of Kwara, some claim population superiority of one section over the others. Their belief is that only the zone with the greatest number should always be the governor of Kwara. This belief has excluded better candidates that could be found elsewhere. Though victory in electoral democracy is principally about scoring of the highest figures; it is yet to be seen that such guarantees good governance. In a socio/cultural plural society, reliance solely on the population of a culturally homogeneous community to constitute a government over others is an invitation to economic imbalance that is not based on fairness and justice. In such a society, mediocrity and nepotism become credentials for appointments and promotions. These could be at the expense of consideration for knowledge, wisdom, skill of administration, integrity, credibility and character in the making of leaders in all sectors of life. But in Kwara State, population superiority of any section is a ruse and not tenable if results from all previous elections since 1999 are well analyzed. There is no senatorial district in Kwara, whether on the issue of sheer population or electoral spread that can solely put into office a gubernatorial candidate without co-operation with any of or the two others. We need a governor that will derive his mandate from all sections of Kwara and protect the holistic interests of the people of Kwara. That is the royal highway to the development of Kwara.
I have a friend that recently lost out in an election. He thought he failed because he did not have sufficient money. Yet, he spent fortunes. He told me that he would go to Abuja before the next election, make billions of naira to come and win election in 2027. If it is only money that determines who wins in an election, did President Jonathan failed a re-election as a result of paucity of money in 2015? In 2019, the candidate of the sitting governor and the sitting Senate President were beaten silly in Kwara. Could they say that they did not have enough money to prosecute the election? While money is germane to elections, its value should not be too exaggerated above competence, good performance in office, bond with the people, sensitization, mobilization and organization of the people. Those that have too much money merely consistently take people out of elections through outright purchase of electoral mandates. But how far has it given us good governance in Kwara State?
I can see them in town because they have come and they are truly around: the political philanthropists. Philanthropy is the voluntary promotion of human welfare. It is also an act of generosity, charity, assistance, etc. If it is generosity without attachments, it makes it an act of kindness and therefore Godly. Political philanthropy is always with the strings attached. Those not known in the environment but few months to elections, they start to provide water, scholarship, free eye test, purchase of JAMB forms, etc, should be suspected. Where were they when their communities were raising fund to build schools, hospitals and town halls, etc. Just because they now want to contest elections, they now become generous givers. Politics to such people is a business investment. They often believe that when they spend ten million naira to win an election, from the public till, they take one hundred million. And since we have been using primitive ways of spending money to capture power in Kwara State, has it had significant impacts on the development of the state?
The last variable I wish to discuss is the emotive issue of religion. I hold a tenacious belief that religion is between the adherents and his or her God. I also still hold a belief that religion, in a multi-ethnic, multi-religions and multi-cultural society; the worship of God through an individual or groups modes of worship should be permitted. Luckily, this is the stand of 1999 constitution in section 10 which states that “the government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion”. I believe that politicians take refuge in their religions while seeking office as another form of deception to capture state power. The Imams and Pastors that urge the adherents to vote for candidates simply because he is a member of their faiths, can also be called a partisan politician in another dimension. It is either such people have been contracted by their fellow politicians in active politics to open the hallow sanctuary of their faith to advance the course of their political colleagues or they have been paid to do so. Leaders of our faiths should simply educate their members about good governance and how their congregants can reap benefits of good governance. They can also sensitize their members on the intrinsic qualities of contestants and the manifestos of the Parties. These will make their members to make informed decisions on who to vote for in elections. As things are today in Nigeria, am yet to see anybody that will be in government that will cancel either Christianity or Islam. What we need among our religionists is political consciousness that will hold our governments accountable on many serious issues touching on beliefs. But instead of advocating piety, tolerance, integrity in government and a corruption free society; urging people to vote only for members our faith is a way to disunity and crisis. The question is that since 1999 that we have either been ruled by Muslims or Christians, what has been the impacts on the development of Kwara State?
In the preceding paragraphs of this message, we have discussed the six variables that we have permitted to govern our choices for gubernatorial seat in Kwara state. My opinion is that the six: senatorial rotation, sole endorsement by the governor or godfather, population superiority of a district, the use of money, political philanthropy and inappropriate use of religion are mere manipulations of the political elites to capture political power for their interests. In the making of Kwara State governor, towards 2027, there are some real needs of Kwarans and residents of Kwara State, that are religious, ethnic, numeracy, money or rotational free. These are the things that aspirants for gubernatorial office should address towards 2027 election. The main issues should be:
(a) Good governance-How is the aspirants going to address the issues of equity, fairness, inclusivity, transparency, rule of law, government efficiency, etc in Kwara State?
(b) Rural/Urban Development: What are the plans of the aspirants on rural urban drift, urban slum, road, water infrastructures and poverty reduction?
(c) Youth Empowerment: What are the aspirants blue prints on youth employment and empowerment?
(d) Corruption: What are the realistic plans to curb incidences of corruption in Kwara State?
(e) Security of life and Property: What are the strategic plans to secure lives and property of the people of Kwara State?
(f) Qualitative Fee Education: What are the plans of the aspirants to improve the qualities of our education at all levels? Can they make primary and secondary education free? How can it be achieved?
(g) Health: What are the aspirants’ positions on health at all levels of governmental authority?
(h) Local Government Autonomy: Aspirants should declare their position on this very important issue.
(I) Agriculture: What would be the position of aspirants on the issue of agriculture, food security and small-scale industries in Kwara State?
The above and many others are very germane for the emergence of credible person as the next governor of Kwara State. Aspirants should address issues including the strategies to accomplish the programs. We need governor with compelling vision, dream, mission and passion to make Kwara State great. We do not need the divisiveness which all the discussed variables represent. Instead, what we need is humanity and kindness that can unite Kwarans of all tongues, religions and stations in life. We actually need as governor, stateman/politician that think of the next generation and not politician that merely think of the next election. If we do not restrict our search for the next governor of Kwara State to issues-based politics, we shall be exchanging fundamentals for trivialities and thereby pave another road to underdevelopment and backwardness.
