As a child, I and every other kid in my class, was going to be president one day. In my day, Lagos was the hub of all social & political activity; so growing up in Lagos gave me a good view of what Nigerian politics was really like.

Our teachers encouraged us to dream big; dream far; page long essays were written on the topic, ‘what would you do if you were president’.

For some, dreams of being the first lady were enough. But i was always on the road less travelled; being queen was never enough for me; i was going to be KING. My name was going to ring through history; children were supposed to read about me in school books and write about me in their civic education exams.

But they forgot to warn us; Our teachers failed to warn us; that there might be no place for our dreams of being presidents In Nigeria.

So here i am, far from a dreamer; steeled from the harshness of the Northern sun; accepting my fate; but refusing to back down. Hoping that word for word, sentence for sentence; i will change the world & make way for my dream; or the dreams of children like me. And so it begins.

In Nigeria, there is absolutely no group that is generally hated and criticised by the masses, like the political class.

We see them adjusting their agbadas & immaculately tailored kaftans;

We watch them roll up in long convoys; hiding behind the tinted glasses of black bulletproof machines;

Escorted even to the toilet by armed men of the uniform. Acquiring jet after jet; land after land.

Even more annoying than the men, are their wives. Claiming to be champions of the people; and launching NGO after NGO; with diamonds choking their necks and Gold adoring their every limb.

When we see them outside, we ‘dobale’ for them and stretch out out hands to collect naira notes. But behind their backs, we call them ‘thieves’, ‘ole’, ‘armed robbers’.

We know they divert public funds into their private accounts; and live like royalty; their children attend the best schools, abroad of course; and if they as much as sneeze, they will immediately be flown off to a hospital in London. But wait.

Let me now give you a different perspective.

A month ago, I was sitted on a couch, flipping through the newspapers; and I came across a breakdown of the cost of a nomination form to contest public office. And it is important to know that this form merely makes you eligible for the primary elections. Which if you lose; you lose all your money;

State House Of Assembly- 1.2 Million Naira

House of Reps- 2.4 Million Naira

Senate- 4.4 Million Naira

Governorship- 11 Million Naira

Presidency- 22 Million Naira

This is only for the PDP by the way, the cost of the nomination forms for the other parties, are not very different.

Nigerian elections; are an investment. The amount of money you invest in your election is directly proportional to your success rate at the said elections . So we get a system dominated by an unqualified elite; or one that is swarming with super rich godfathers; running the nation; via the pawns they have sponsored into office.

Yes we want change. Let us carry placards in the streets and take to twitter; and pump out hashtag after hashtag; But real change is one that is channelled right.

As a nation, we need a clear, transparent, form of control on electoral spending. We need bodies to regulate it; both the legit spending; and the millions passed at the back, to political thugs. A system driven by money; cannot give us the quality of leaders we so desperately need; hence our nation is currently in this mess.

Political office should not be the exclusive preserve of only those who can afford it. This is why we only get recycled leaders. People who made their money off government; and want to spend such money acquiring more power.

We want more young people in politics; yet how much is the average youth paid?

So how many youths can afford to as much as buy a nomination form; talk more of afford to fund the regular Nigerian electoral process. If Obama were Nigerian; I assure you, he would not be able to afford to be president.

Yes we argue that making politics strictly elitist, makes for politicians who are already rich; and do not need to embezzle public funds. Typing that even makes me laugh.

In the same vein, Where is election debate in our electoral process? How many of this our so called leaders can appear on international television and inspire an entire continent to move towards change? Or even give a well articulated speech in public; without disgracing our nation. How do we effectively differentiate between the mentally sound and those who just print beautiful campaign posters?

While they hop out from out bulletproof Mercedes to the next; we sneer and secretly envy: But do I blame them?

If it were you, what would you do?

Let me be frank with you; If I spend an average of 200 million naira; getting myself into political office (which is probably a realistic figure, considering the fact that the actual nomination form is the cheapest thing on the average political list). My first act in office, will be to recover my money; with interest. The people i have been elected to serve and all my campaign policies, will be a mere afterthought.

So While we throw sticks and stones at them; let us sit back, relax and critically examine the society (of which we are a part of) & the system that produces these thieves; as we so fondly refer to them.

Until we get a system based solely off merit; where only the fittest can survive in the political game; With or without billions of their money; in quick circulation; we will continue to kid ourselves every 4 years, without fail.

Thank you very much for this thoughtful post. The problem of electoral funding is a major barrier for a lot of people who would have wanted to be part of the process. Though I must say, elections are not cheap in any part of the world, but there are rules that can be made towards streamlining the costs and also what a single individual can contribute to an aspirant in order to checkmate godfatherism. Still a long way to go!!!

Well written

Together We Victims of a Sick System

Sad.

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that's why this country will never progress