Nigerian elite and ‘mess’ of governance

To come out and speak truth to power is actually the best way to address the lingering poor leadership that has bedeviled Nigeria at all levels of governance in recent times. After reading an account of former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, at the recent 2022 Workers’ Political Conference, organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja, I came to the conclusion that he is not alone in the bold submission that elite in governance have not only hijack democracy, they have been reckless with the nation’s fortunes and with impunity too. It is hard to determine the exact point in the nation’s history at which it became imperative for a privileged few to seize governance for selfish purposes.

To say the least, the elite’s recklessness has jeopardised the future of the majority of Nigerians, as unemployment has seen many young people delve into nefarious activities. While painting a gloomy picture of the sad situation in the country, Jega noted that Nigeria is at a point in history where the mis-rule by this tiny gang of elite has devastated the country to near collapse. Over the years, political analysts have argued that Nigeria has been quite unlucky with the kind of elite leadership that continues to cross its path. Yet, one cannot take it away from the elite since they championed the ‘bloodless’ fight for the country’s independence. However, it is important to state that, the sad aspect of that generation is that they never had the time to come out of their mis-steps or exorbitance before the military changed the narration and the subsequent anarchy that ensued during the civil war.

The political elite are less interested in ideas to tackle the country’s looming insecurity challenges. Insecurity now slows down every aspect of development and growth of the economy. At the moment, the government has become less effective over its failure to look inward. The condition of the economy is beyond explanation as prices of essential commodities continue to skyrocket. The black gold that always saw the country through the worst of times no longer holds sway in the international market. Aside from poor leadership, the criminality of the elite is a big concern today as drug barons have infiltrated all levels of governance. Even election campaigns have become the horse-race often anchored on religious or ethnic sentiments and not on issues to uplift the country. In the face of all these recklessness, to put Nigeria on a path to growth and greatness as earlier noted, a broad alliance of progressive forces is absolutely required to rescue the country.