DEARLY BELOVED POLITICIANS
My dear brothers and sisters in the political arena, greetings to you all. I must remember to appreciate all you are able to do for the progress of our country Nigeria and as well assure you of my zeal to criticize all cases of deliberate failure that would be found among you.
As human beings, we are political animals [homo politikos] by nature; we cannot rule out politics from our lives. The society to which we belong needs to be ruled by people who seek the common good, in this sense we talk of politics as an act of governance. It does not exclude any Nigerian citizen because we must participate in it to bring a just and stable order to the society. All of us cannot rule at the same time; some have to lead while others follow. We elected you to represent our common interest by running the temporal affairs of our nation. This is the reason for which you are in these offices. In every case, both the rulers and the ruled have a role to play in building Nigeria.
Let me cast your minds back to Greek city states: Athenians came together to discuss what perturbed them as a nation in terms of existence and dignity. After the session, they reached a consensus through the authorities, to perfect and respect their common good. There is no gain saying the fact that Polis [which comes from the Greek city states] is the model for us in terms of democracy. This has enormous implications for you, leaders. First, you owe us [citizens] your mandate. Second, you are working for us, not yourselves because we elected you to political offices. Third, you are our fellow citizens, not extra-terrestrial citizens who need special treatment. Fourth, you have no right to shout us down when we turn to you, or confront you for being unnecessarily bureaucratic. Fifth, you should not impose yourself on us when we pass the vote of no confidence in you and decide that others should take your places. Sixth, you need character fitness in order to work for us. Seventh, you are subject to the law of our state… the list goes ad infinitum. In view of this, it is unlawful to smuggle in an immunity clause to exonerate yourselves from the “sledgehammer” of justice or make inexorable laws to retain yourselves in power.
Do not be disturbed by my seeming harassing and quarrelling voice. The aim of my letter is to reactivate the conscience and appeal for the better.
We the electorates elected you to various political offices. You stop us from demanding our rights after voting for you. You promised to deliver to us dividends of democracy but you fail to do exactly that. Instead, we get inflation in prices of commodities, especially fuel price hike and consequently, high cost of living that makes life miserable for the Hio-poloi. They are wallowing in abject poverty with either 0-0-0 or 0-1-0 scale. If one cannot even eat, where is the money to school one’s children?
Besides cases of incompetent and inefficient service delivery, ignorance, thuggery, character assassination and money laundering are found among you. It is unhealthy for you to possess these vices because they are not in conformity with character fitness. Not until I did a formal study in Political Philosophy that I realized most of you who parade yourselves as Statesmen could best be described as Demagogues. Many of you travel overseas for official assignments, which is okay. In the course of discharging your official duties, some of you smuggle our resources and money to foreign halls. This is a national disgrace for us, within and beyond the national boundary. How do some of you present our image before the international communities? Wherever there is celebration, there many of you are found. Many of you handed over empty treasuries to your predecessors, and there is no money to pay the workers. Some of you complain of cash crunch or zero allocation but there is something to squander on birthdays, solidarity visits, naming ceremonies, carnivals, Gala nights, wedding trips to London, United States of America, Germany, Dubai etc. Is it the cash crunch or zero allocation you spend on these festivals?
What else do we expect from our politics? It has become an avenue for amassing wealth and enriching your generations. Is this to be considered as a heritage for future politicians? Beloved politicians, four factors are responsible for your perpetual failure in government:
Godfatherism/motherism, Eternal fatherism/motherism, a cream of outdated cabinet members and Comic praise singers. Watch out for them! Some people have political mentors, now Godfathers or Mothers. This is good in itself since they need to introduce the amateur to politics. But when a godfather or mother crowns you at the poll and expects you to reciprocate his/her kind gesture with state money or with a slot in the cabinet, then it becomes something incredulous. There have been cases of Godfathers or mothers who have abducted their godson/daughter because he/she fails to cooperate with them. In order to settle the duel, the godson/daughter tries to appease the angry “gods” of their fathers/mothers through any means to the detriment of the State. Stay away from them! There are others who maintain themselves in power as long as the system of government exists. Some of you are among them. This is eternal godfatherism/mothersim. Growing up as a child I heard some of your names in politics, and some of you are still there as I am writing this letter. These sets of people believe they are the only ones who are fit to manage Nigeria as though it were their father’s garden. Please relinquish power to people who may even lead better, because it is not your birthright. Do not see it as opposition when a young man or woman comes to contest the same office as you. Do not send thugs to their houses either. Everyone is fit to serve us given the opportunity. The act of rendering service is not a matter of imposing yourself on us.
There is need to refurbish your cabinet members because most of them are outdated after many years of service. Consider those who have been serving in administration for over fifteen or twenty years. Ideas rule the world; get technocrats to assist you in the work, not just on the basis of party affiliations. Be careful with comic praise singers, they have ruined many administrations and may ruin many more. They can compose a hymn to flatter you in order to feast at your table. They do not tell you when things are wrong. Listen more to constructive criticisms that will help you make amends when mistakes are made.
Beloved politicians, let us reflect on the following questions: what is your concept of service to a nation? On what will the citizens feed if you refuse to give them their entitlements? Is politics embezzlement of public funds without being accountable to the people? What is your understanding of transparency and accountability? How just is our government when the majority are wallowing in abject poverty and penury? Why are you bent on second or even third terms? Why are you not prepared to listen to criticisms and observations from the public and even members of the cabinet? What legacy would you like to leave behind for future politicians and generations? Where is the rule of law that exercises supremacy/predominance over everybody; both the rulers and the ruled?
Our polity is still crawling after fifty six years. We are suffering because of inefficient leadership. What is more pathetic about our situation is that you do not learn from the past. If you do not avail of the opportunity to serve us well, it is your fault. Many of you are comfortable with the situation because of the benefits it brings to you and family members. That is the truth; if you feel nothing is wrong with Nigeria, why do your children attend the best schools overseas? Why do you go for medical treatments/checkups overseas? Or import the food you eat? Therefore, make it habitable for all of us now that you are still in power.
The best way to be student of history is by using the past to correct the present in order to guarantee a better future. Politics is not by hook and crook, neither is it a jungle war; else you will be taking survival of the fittest for a principle. It is not compulsory to win at the poll; it is wise to accept certain stable realities of nature, that victory and defeat cannot be yours at the same time. And if you succeed, try and help Nigerians of all classes; school dropouts, idle minds, social misfits and job seekers instead of using them as thugs. Despite difficulties, keep trying. We may be difficult to lead but do not give up.
Some have said, we cannot pray for those in authority wearing our knees in the process, while they continue to prey on the nation’s honey pot. I have some misgivings about such sweeping generalizations. Our leaders truly need divine aid.
Before I drop my pen, I would like to recommend a book titled The Republic. The part I feel will be more advantageous to you is the Ideal State. This is a master piece that would serve as a paradigm for you politicians. If Philosopher Kings are difficult to come by, at least we can have the closest approximation – True Statesmen. Why not try and be one?
I pray that God gives you the wisdom, knowledge and all it takes to serve us well hence, move our dear country to its egalitarian height.


KENNETH FERDINAND OORI

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