It is almost becoming a norm around developed and developing countries especially those that have a relatively stable democracy to have contestants appear on TV programmes to articulate their manifestos and also convince the electorate on the need to vote in a particular direction.
I am not so versed with democracies around the world; I may begin to consider taking a second degree in International Relations and History to balance that aspect of my life; I am however comfortable with my knowledge of the Nigerian brand of democracy and have a fair idea of its slips. A particular trend I have observed in our own kind of democracy is that political parties don’t necessarily make people; individuals stand out to prove whether or not to they are fit to hold any given office save rigging and other induced electoral anomalies.
Let me in passing cite the gubernatorial debate held at the Muson centre yesterday March 2nd, 2011 as an instance, beyond the respective party each individual represented, most comment and reactions that have trailed the debate have mentioned more of individual names that parties. It is therefore not enough to be a member of PDP, ACN, ANPP, CPC or whatever it is the party is called but being a clearheaded person. The ability to demonstrate administrative acumen, leadership skills and the understanding of the servant leader concept of governance would to a large extent speak more volume than the colours of your party.
Even at the level of students’ union elections in Nigerian universities, that of OAU, I am so sure of, debates are specially held for contestants well before the elections. The essence of this is to allow for the electorate to have a first hand idea of how grounded their aspiring leaders are. You, as an aspirant, would not be expected to know everything you are asked; that confirms the human aspect of you, but certain questions should be considered a piece of cake for any man who under whatever guise is being slated for elective posts.
I would not expect to see a contestant dumbfounded when asked how he intends to combat poverty or job creation; it has nothing to do with the number of books one has read but so much more with how aligned is has been with issues bothering on people’s welfare. That way, a man can represent his own ideas and opinions, merge same with the overall party agenda if any truly exists and then put forth a pragmatic road map we can fairly call manifesto.
As usual, so many organisations would come up with time table for debates at different level but trust Nigerians; we know which of these different debates to watch out for. By chance, NN24 seem to have won the heart of many Nigerians and we can’t but wait to see our four major presidential candidates slug it out on issues of national and international interest.
May I quickly add that, the outcome of the debates may not necessarily determine the eventual winner of the elections but it guides people’s decisions. This in my own idea of a people oriented democracy.
What then could be so mischievous in the eyes of the Jonathan-Sambo campaign organisation that they are threatening not to participate in the debates slated for March 8 and 18? Such stance would only further confirm the mediocrity that pervades the camp.
The representative of PDP, Dr. Doyin Okupe, made two very interesting demands; that the advance copy of questions be made available to candidates. It also requested an outright stoppage of the studio audience from posing questions to the candidates.
Do I have to say anything more on these? Really I should not and I want to guess you understand why.
There is nothing democratic about demanding that people are not allowed to talk or ask questions. Where is the place of accessibility and accountability?
To demand an advance copy of the questions is in itself a reflection of how shallow our leaders are. Within the context of grammar, I have always asked if it would be right to refer to our own David Mark or Iyiola Omisore as a Senator if the like of John McCain is also referred to as a Senator in the United States. The gap is wide and almost irredeemable.
We have built our leadership structure of sheer show of masculinity and material strength way ahead of intelligence, selflessness, ideology clear-headedness, nobility, and local content. The person who in my opinion stands the greatest chance to hold the floor and spend so much time talking is President Jonathan being the incumbent; sadly, their fears are far from academic but performance related.
The whats, whys and hows that would trail the very many inflated and bogus contracts, judicial recklessness, abuse of office, insecurity, unemployment and wasteful spending is what stands between Mr. President and attending the debate without a fore knowledge of the questions.
Mr. President would rather hide behind his still profile picture on facebook than meet with us and debate with other contestants.
I am not so very disappointed; I have known this long before now what problems we have with our current President. My shame lies solely in the fact that while we are battling the menace of examination malpractice and favouritism in job interviews, our own Jonathan-Sambo camp are openly aligning with this decay. The same way they celebrated Bode George.
In conclusion, this is my verdict, it is better to keep silent and let people guess whether you are a fool or not than speak and clear their doubts. Mr. President and his boys are taking a clinically deft decision to conceal something that would in the final analysis embarrass the country and the good people therein.
On page 1 of the Tribune of June 14, 1958, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo said, ‘Democracy demands that the truth be told always. Charlatans and Saints should be called by the proper names.
God Bless Nigeria...
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