There is hope. Nigerians are learning fast! They are changing too. My message is that we must sustain the tempo. We have a duty to change the narrative. We have a duty to confront elected representatives and ask for robust representation, responsibility and accountability. Your country is as you make it. Whether you like it or not, it is part of your identity.
The spectacle playing out in the Eighth Senate has removed any reasonable doubt that a vast majority of elected politicians in Nigeria are dishonourable and a disgrace. There are few exceptions who have guiding principles and a desire to serve the public, but they remain exceptions. Without any sense of shame or duty, elected office holders in Nigeria have become parasites who drain the lifeblood from our nation, destroying whatever is left of our lives. They claim to represent Nigerians but they represent no one but themselves, and they have more in common with each other than they do with us the unfortunate ones who bear the pain of their infestation. From military regimes to civilian rule, the elite have systematically destroyed much of what was good about Nigeria, either through stupidity, the selfish desire to advance their own interests at the expense of everyone else or both.
There is absolutely nothing to cheer in Nigeria today. The country is facing untold hardship brought upon us by those we elected to save us. It is shameful that a major producer of oil in the world is dealing with severe scarcity of what comes from its own soil. People are suffering, salaries are not paid and people feel very insecure in their own country. When President Buhari was sworn in, he did not appoint ministers for months! He must have felt it would be easier to work with civil servants. By now, the budget padding fiasco among many other subtle infractions would have taught him valuable lessons. The civil service and the associated bureaucracies of the local authorities are hopelessly politicised. The scale of looting among them is at par with that of the political class. They exist to make the wishes of politicians take precedence over any consideration of the public good. The politicians have played nice in return by creating a lot of well paid bureaucratic posts which add nothing to the welfare of the people, but the absurd agenda and dictates of the ruling party.
Everyday, the country is confronted with its own institutional failures. Hard work has been devalued and education has failed. Uneducated and unemployable graduates are churned out, at alarming rates. Young people do not know history. They have no idea why things were done and what they should learn from the mistakes in the past. It appears the rulers and policy makers do not encourage the learning of history because they do not want people to remember their errors. It has helped in decimating our values and letting the young grow up without a sense of who they are, where they are coming from and where they are headed. In a little over a generation, education has been destroyed across board, such that young people graduating from universities are barely educated. Within the last thirty years, the ridiculous insistence that everyone should go to the university has bred a whole generation of young people who gain degrees that are of no real use in finding good employment in the workplace. No one is learning a trade anymore. Trade schools are desolate and abandoned. Apprenticeship schemes, which once provided a pipeline to technical jobs, and artisanal skills, have been largely destroyed. Thanks to the confederate of thieves, the Nigerian Army, once a source of pride, has been reduced to a joke and a rag tag army that could not face the internal threat of Boko Haram until thousands were slaughtered or displaced. Nothing good can be said of the Police and other forces. Nigeria has the unique misfortune of having a force that cannot investigate burglary conclusively but pursues and beats anyone who dares to drive side by side a VIP convoy.
We got the kind of Senate we have because we had to choose between the stupid and the useless. Until we can filter out the stupid and the useless, we will continue to get an insensitive Senate that subverts an institution for a single man, a Senate of forgers and appropriators of our commonwealth, a Senate of catch me if you can, a Senate of do your worst, and a Senate that will buy luxury cars at grossly inflated prices when workers earning pittance have not been paid for months!
What choice do we have? The major reason why we are saddled with stupid politicians is because our choice is limited to the stupid as a reward for embracing mediocrity as a way of life. In the last two weeks, many have called their Senators urging them to do the right thing by leaving Saraki to face his trial for false asset declaration, money laundry and sundry crimes, not amend the constitution or receive the questionable Land Cruiser SUVs. But what did they get in return for calling those they elected? They got insults! Senator Olujimi from Ekiti even confessed to buying the votes that got her into the Senate. Peter Nwaoboshi threatened to shoot one of those who called him. No one is surprised. Politicians have no respect for voters because they are used to taking those who got them there for granted. Once they distribute cash, food and cheap fabrics to get elected, they let the electorate meet the cost and burden of electing them. They exploit the widespread poverty they created, they lie, they steal, do not take responsibility and do not feel accountable to anyone.
Politics is a circle. Most often we cast our vote for the less stupid among the stupid. The ballot paper only helps us make the best decision in a bad situation among bad choices. We got the kind of Senate we have because we had to choose between the stupid and the useless. Until we can filter out the stupid and the useless, we will continue to get an insensitive Senate that subverts an institution for a single man, a Senate of forgers and appropriators of our commonwealth, a Senate of catch me if you can, a Senate of do your worst, and a Senate that will buy luxury cars at grossly inflated prices when workers earning pittance have not been paid for months!
Apart from who we vote for, we must begin to think about growth, about how we produce, the way we produce, what we produce and what we should produce. Organise! Support the right people to elected positions. Then do more than vote. Organise yourself around important questions and create your own platform in your locality and pressure those you elect to champion your cause. Filter out the stupid and the useless! Filter out thieves! Start today! Start now!
There is hope. Nigerians are learning fast! They are changing too. My message is that we must sustain the tempo. We have a duty to change the narrative. We have a duty to confront elected representatives and ask for robust representation, responsibility and accountability. Your country is as you make it. Whether you like it or not, it is part of your identity. Even for those of us who live outside Nigeria. When a native born meets us, the first question is; “where are you originally from?” When you identify as an Nigerian, you are bombarded with questions on poverty, Boko Haram, corruption, advance fee fraud, inequality, illiteracy and all that ails Nigeria despite its potential.
That is why we cannot allow those who determine our collective destinies to continue their trivial and silly trade. We must deny them the ability to gamble with our lives and the future of our children. Soon, 2019 will be here. In our localities, we must begin to hunt for good people who can capture the imagination of the public. The answer to this is to look at the bigger picture. Apart from who we vote for, we must begin to think about growth, about how we produce, the way we produce, what we produce and what we should produce. Organise! Support the right people to elected positions. Then do more than vote. Organise yourself around important questions and create your own platform in your locality and pressure those you elect to champion your cause. Filter out the stupid and the useless! Filter out thieves! Start today! Start now!
Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú, a farmer, youth advocate and political analyst writes this weekly column – “Bamidele Upfront” for Premium Times. Follow me on Twitter @olufunmilayo
