By Dr. Isaiah Osifo
The title of this lecture , has been chosen by the Reliance Newspaper to headline its 16th year anniversary lecture . The title has a special resonance in view of the ongoing preparation for the governorship election in Edo State, Nigeria.There is no doubt that it is further demonstration of the commitment of the Reliance Newspaper to the development of Edo State in particular and Nigeria in general. This demonstrates patriotism and sensitivity on the part of the publisher and management of the Newspaper. From the choice of this topic, it is evident they are not only in the business to sell news and make money, they equally have the responsibility to contribute to a society that will be fair to all.The purpose of Democracy is to enthrone a government that will be fair to all.
Democracy is a popular word and the notion of a democratic government is often perceived or misunderstood and defined in different ways. The recurrence of the concept of Democracy in different political systems as a superior form of government that should be unviversally embraced ,or a utopia that should be rejected explains it’s dynamic mature.Democracy is dynamic because it is associated with human nature.
Different scholars have attempted to define Democracy from different perspective.I will not bother to go through the various definitions of Democracy.This paper will try to simplify and capture the essence of Democracy.
Democracy like other forms of government is about the people and the totality of the environment.The totality of the environment is connected to the biological life of the people, religion,the economy, social, philosophy, security,psychological well- being,etc.The pattern of the organization of the totality of the environment gives idea of the form of government.
Thomas Hobbes,”State of Nature” gives an explanation of the totality of the environment without a government.According to Thomas Hobbes,in the “State of Nature” life was Short, brutish,Solitary,Nasty and Poor.Government and it’s various forms were necessitated as a result of the desire to eliminate the nuisance that characterized the State of Nature.In other words, government irrespective of the form is to achieve the totality of an environment that will be free from the challenges of the “State of Nature”.
Democracy as a form of government and it’s response to the “State of Nature” has characteristics that define it’s essence.Democracy is about the people and a concern to manage the totality of the environment for the benefits of the people.This gave birth to the simplest definition of Democracy as government of the people,by the people and for the people.
In the Greek city State of Athens, Democracy was first operationalized by direct participation of the people.All adult citizens were invited to the city centre to debate and take decision on all issues concerning the society.With increase in population and attendant difficulty in bringing all the citizens to one venue,representative Democracy replaced direct participation.
The “Social Contract” by John Locke demonstrated the semblance between direct participation in a democratic government and a representative Democracy.The “Social Contract” will enable the right of direct participation,while conceding his/her authority to appear personally in a parliament or any arm of government to a Caretaker that will act on his/her behalf.
Citizens retention of the right of direct participation can only be achieved through the process of surrendering the right to a Caretaker and the management of the right by the Caretaker on behalf of the owner of the authority.The indices that define the retention of the right of direct participation through a representative Democracy are:(1) Free ,Fair and Transparent periodic election.(2) The Principle of the Rule of Law.(3) Freedom of the Citizens.Any Democracy without these indices is a fake and cannot be truly a Democracy.
Democracy In Africa.
Africa is a continent that is highly diversified with 54 countries.Part of the enormous diversity are the different languages and culture of the people.
Before colonialism,Africans had indigenous systems of governance which were communal and consensual ,or a coercive Monarchy.The system of government was a reflection of the culture of the people.
There is no doubt that colonialism brought changes to the African political life. However The traditional systems of governance were replaced with the Western form by colonialism. The transition in the African political system led to the introduction of Democracy as a form of government in Africa.
The enthronement of Democracy in Africa has been confronted with several challenges.Some of the challenges are connected with a belief that Democracy was imposed on Africans by the Western colonial powers and that Democracy was strange to the African culture.Others have argued that the African traditional mode of governance was superior to Democracy and was most suitable for the African culture.
The struggle for Independence in African countries was associated with the demands for Democracy for Africans.The post Independence period witnessed a struggle for a sustainable Democracy and a disatisfaction by majority of the people about the nature of Democracy in Africa.The poor management of the resources of the country,abuse of citizens rights,disempowering the majority of the people in favour of minority elites,etc,were some of the problems associated with the application of Democracy in Africa.
However,a return to multi – party Democracy in some Africa countries created a political environment for some opposition political parties in Zambia,Sengal, Nigeria, Kenya,Malawi,Ghana,etc to organize and defeat incumbent ruling political parties. Efforts to sustain Democracy in Africa have produced mixed blessings. In some areas, rapid development has taken place. In other spaces, there has been stagnation and a slide to authoritarianism and palpable state failure.
The frustration from the general failure of Democracy in Africa was recently expressed by former president of Nigeria,Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, when he stated that the Western type of Democracy was not working in Africa.He posited that a time has come when Africans should give consideration to African home grown Democracy.
I understand the frustration of former president Obasanjo arising from increasing failure of the African State as clearly shown from the weak and corrupt public institutions and poor response of government to the basic needs of the citizens.For example,is it not depressing that a trend of kidnapping of innocent citizens seems to have overpowered the Nigerian state. Recently,Dr Tony Aziegbemwin,the Chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic party,( PDP),in Edo State was kinapped.I watched a horrifying video of the maltreatment of the school children that were kidnapped in Kaduna State.The most disgraceful part of all these is that government – Local,State and Federal continue to claim ignorance of where these kidnapped victims are held and have no idea of the people behind these wicked acts against the citizens.
However, despite the failure of Democracy in Africa, Democracy remains a universal concept.To put it simply, Democracy is the same all over the world and there is nothing like an African variant of Democracy.What Chief Obasanjo is referring to is lack of the basic indices of Democracy in Africa.These indices have been mentioned in this paper and for emphasis sake, Democracy must have free and fair periodic elections.This is absent in most African countries, including Nigeria where INEC have shamefully refused to appreciate the importance of conducting a free and fair election for nation building.Democracy must have a rule of law.This includes equality before the law by all citizens irrespective of your social or political status.Supremacy of the law over all persons and institutions.Compulsory accountability of government to the citizens.Due process in government policy formulation and implementation.Independence of the Judiciary and it’s insulation from the interference from the executive and legislative Arms of government.Independence of the Legislative Arm and it’s insulation from the interference from the executive Arm of government.Citizens right, freedom and the protection of citizens and his/ her property from harm.These are absent from African Democracy, including the experimental Democracy in Nigeria.
It will be wrong to assert that Africans are not capable of a true Democracy.The greed of the elites and the ruling political class to hold on to power at the expense of the collective interest of the citizens is the basic problem that is frustrating the enthronement of Democracy in Africa.
It will be unreasonable to explain the infirmities in African democracy by pointing to Africa’s cultural uniqueness. The fundamentals of democracy are similarly applicable for the human spirit. No exceptions are sustainable. But it is however evident that moneybags are a desperate deterrent to the flourishing of politics and democracy in Africa and Nigeria. the politics of Nigeria.The despicable monetisation of political party primaries and main elections by moneybags poses a serious challenge to the survival of Democracy in Nigeria.
Since 1964/ 1965 Western regional election,up to the 2023 general election in Nigeria,moneybags have compromised the credibility of elections in Nigeria.The menace of moneybags has become a real threat to the political system.Fraudulent conduct of party primaries characterized by open purchase of political party delegates,vote buying,corrupting electoral officers and security agents that are assigned to conduct and supervise the conduct of election have become the preferred strategy by moneybags to win elections.
The origin of the monetisation of the electoral process is traceable to the failure of the incumbent governments in the delivery of effective governance and the dividend of democracy.The desperation to hold on to power in the face of a failed government led to the inducement of the electoral officers to compromise the integrity of the election and direct purchase of votes from the voters.The opposition political parties in response to the moneybags in the ruling political party decided to adopt a competitive approach of counter inducement of the electoral officers and purchase of votes.
The influence of moneybags on political party primaries was negligible in the past because of the discipline of political parties leadership and membership that was rooted on sound ideology. With the increasing dependance of political elites on government as the main source of livelihood,moneybags converted political parties and government to business ventures. The investment in the political party leadership was no longer intended to foster the ideological basis of the party, but to have control of the party structure in order to influence the process of the nomination of candidates for the general election and to influence the outcome of the general election.Success in the party nomination and victory in the general election was a sure high return on the investment.This agenda of the moneybags on investment and return is the major factor responsible for the non performance of successive governments that are produced from the investment of the moneybags.No matter the amount that was invested,the investor was sure of the returns after the victory in the political party nomination and in the general election.To the political election office holder that was put in office by the moneybags, return on investment was more important than the prudent allocation of public funds for the benefits of the citizens.
In the pre- independence struggle and the early post Independence government,the political leaders were usually not rich people.The political leaders were respected members of the community who had sufficiently demonstrated patriotism in the struggle for the general welfare and well-being of the community.Character and Education were the major requirements of a political leader.The candidates of the political parties for the election were usually selected on merit.These include contribution to the development of the political party, loyalty to the ideology of the political party, evidence of community service, education as a basis for knowledge and effective representation of the interest of the Constituency.
In the 1978/ 1979 governorship primaries of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria,( UPN),the two gubernatorial aspirants were teachers.Prof Ambrose Alli of the University of Benin and Air Iyare was a Secondary school teacher.Ambrose Alli won the primaries and won the general election to become the governor of Bendel State in 1979.Prof Ambrose Alli didn’t have a personal house.He was living in the Staff quarters of the University of Benin at Ugbowo.After the primaries ,he left the staff quarters in UNIBEN and the UPN leadership rented an apartment for him behind Ogbemudia stadium.It was from the rented apartment that he moved into government house as the governor of Bendel State.At the time Prof Ambrose Alli passed,he had only one bungalow apartment in his home town of Emuado,in Esan West LGA in Edo State.May the Soul of this Saint Continue to Rest in the Bossom of the Lord.I am particularly glad that he has been immortalized not by the pronouncement of successive governments, but imprinted his name in the consciousness of every Edo person and his good name continue to linger on for generations to come.
The politics of moneybags are far from politics of service to the community and service to the citizens.The dominant nuisance in the present politics of Nigeria is the politics of moneybags and the dirty ambition of the godfathers.The only criterion that is relevant to the godfathers in the selection of political party candidates is how much money the aspirant can pay to the godfathers and pay to the delegates.Character, antecedents of good conduct, records of community service, etc,are no longer relevant.
In the 2023 presidential primaries of APC and PDP,the nomination fee was 100 million Naira.In the 2024 governorship primaries in Edo State,APC nomination fee was 50 million Naira.PDP was 40 million Naira.Labour Party was 30 million Naira.My party,the All Progressives Grand Alliance,( APGA) was 15 million Naira.The question that is important to ask is , how many Professors in the University, Secondary school and primary school teachers,journalist,civil servants,etc, can afford these prohibitive nomination fees? I strongly believe that these nomination fees are deliberately placed on by the godfathers to exclude qualified person from asking to be elected as the governor of Edo State.I am particularly grateful to my friends and family members that assisted me with the nomination fee.I begged to be assisted to pay the nomination fee in order to defeat the agenda of the godfathers from excluding competent persons from contesting for the governorship of Edo State.
It must be noted and recognised as particularly scandalous that the Labour party,a political party that was formed for the workers and the masses of Nigeria decided to turn against their Constituency and joined the moneybags with 30 million Naira nomination fees to prevent workers and other competent masses of Nigeria from contesting for the governorship election in Edo State.
Money is now the game of politics in Nigeria.If you don’t have money, stay away from politics.If you have money, irrespective of the source, you can buy the nomination of a political party, buy the electoral officers and buy the votes to assume the political leadership of the State or the country.Iam not surprised therefore that candidates of some political parties in the 2024 governorship election in Edo State are not resident in Edo State. They are not known to the members of their political party or the voters, they have never voted for anybody in Edo State and have never paid tax in Edo State.The only reason why a political party will select such a candidate is the power of the moneybags and the influence of the godfathers.This is dangerous to our political system, political culture and sustainable development of the State.
Moneybags are in politics for business to make profit, not for service.The citizens must know and should be vigilant to identify those that are in politics for service and those that are in politics to take the resources of the State for their personal use.A people or an organization that places emphasis on money,over good character is bound to fail.Developed Democracies of UK,USA,etc, see the monetisation of politics as criminal and impose a severe punishment for who ever is culpable of such act.The law against moneybags in politics in developed Democracy is strict because of the danger it poses to the survival of Democracy.This is not to say that money is not spent in developed Democracy, but it’s application is regulated to prevent the inducement of delegates,voters and the electoral officers.Cash and carry Democracy will eventually slide into authoritarian regime or degenerate into a revolution if the alienation of the citizens continues unchecked.
The rule of money as the only tool for Democracy in Nigeria is unhelpful to the prosperity of the nation.It promotes extreme personal interest and a shameless sacrifice of merit and competence for the nomination of party candidates and the election of governmental representative.I am personally alarmed with the disgraceful mentality of some political elites supporting a candidate not because he is competent,but because they think his political party will rig the election,or the candidate will give them money. This dangerous phenomenon has eaten deep into the political system without a consideration for the future generations of the country.
Moneybags politics should not continue and should not be encouraged.There is hope because of the political awareness of the majority of Nigerians.The 2023 general election has demonstrated that the evil of moneybags can be defeated by the collective will of the people.Peter Obi, without spending money won the presidential election in Edo State and many other States despite the huge financial inducement of the moneybags against a transparent process.The media,NGOs, religious leaders, traditional rulers should intensified their campaigns and socialization of the citizens to be more interested in the electoral process of the country and take a strong stand against the agenda of the godfathers and the evil of moneybags.
The response to the political dominance of moneybags in Nigeria should be voters consciousness and participation in election.The electorates will assist to promote a transparent conduct of election if they turn out in high numbers to vote for the candidates of their choice.Voters must de- emphasize political party platform and vote for the competence, character and antecedent of the the candidate.The Edo/ Nigerian youths must know that their future is tied to the defeat of moneybags in politics.When merit and competence constitute the basis of electing a candidate for government,the aftermath will be efficiency of governance that will take the welfare of the people as a priority, not a return on the investment of the moneybags.Vote and defend your vote, not by violence, but by collective Will of the people.This will send a clear message to the agents of moneybags,INEC officials and the security agents that enough of their nuisance that have destroyed the country.
From the resources of the oppressors, the oppressed will utilize for his/ her freedom.The voters should accept money from the moneybags because the money is part of your collective wealth that was stolen and it is not by coincidence that the money given to the electorates is only when there is election.It simply means that the moneybags is only interested in an investment that will yield profit.The offer of money only during election is the mentality of the enemies of Democracy.They believe that human beings are commodity that should be purchased for a trade that will yield profit.
Nigerian electorates should reject the neo- slavery business of the moneybags and vote for candidates that will respect and represent their views after the election.Continuous high turn out of Voters despite the talks on the plans of rigging the election and threats from the agents of the moneybags will give victory to the people over the evils of the moneybags.
Dr.Isaiah Osifo is the
APGA Governorship Candidate for Edo 2024, Lecturer, Dept of International Relations and Diplomatic Studies,
Ave Maria University, Abuja.
Email –isaiahosifo@gmail.com