by Chris Okotie
This democracy was purchased at a very high price,
essentially because aside the blood of several innocent Nigerians that were
shed, we sacrificed a popular mandate: the June 12, 1993 Presidential election,
still adjudged the freest and the best ever. That historic mandate was scuttled
and the man who secured it, Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola, was killed. We must
always remember that.
It is now about 16 years since the current democratic
journey started but we are so far from the destination. Our hard-earned
democracy is still a very slow work-in-progress. Notwithstanding, even before
we cast our vote this weekend, God-willing, we have already won something
significant: Our politicians now know that our mandate can no longer be taken
for granted. Those seeking elective offices are being asked questions about
their record of public service; about their integrity; about their competence
or lack thereof and about some of the views they held in the past. It is a
whole new ball game; a far cry from some previous elections when the outcomes
were generally well known even before the first ballot was cast. Not anymore!
Therefore, as we head for the polls come Saturday, nobody
can predict with any degree of certainty who our next president will be, and
for me, that is the beauty of this election. Some pessimists have called it a
make or break; I call it a breakthrough because, at last, politicians have
suddenly realised that the power to make or break them down, now truly resides
with the electorate.
Just three weeks ago, America marked the 50th anniversary of
the historic first protest march organized by Black civil rights leaders to
press for voting rights for African-Americans. Thank God, that great struggle
led to the election of the first African-American (Black) President of the
United States, in Mr. Barack Obama.
It was a fitting tribute to this noble cause that Obama, the
44th President stood there to give a commemorative speech in the little town of
Selma, Alabama, near the bridge crossed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. and
other compatriots, as they headed for the protest march in the course of which
some of them were felled by police bullets.
It was okay if “Black Sunday” produced the first Black
President, and forced the constitutional amendment that gave blacks the right
to vote. At least, it ensured that African-Americans are now part of the
American Dream! If our democracy succeeds, it means MKO and all the heroes and
heroines of June 12, like those of Black Sunday, did not die for nothing. If we
fail, God forbid, it will mean that the death of our heroes past has been in
vain. We must not allow that to happen.
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| Chris Okotie (Photo Credit: Lawrenciaudife.com) |
The message of the day is clear: Our politicians are only
overheating the polity purely out of the fear of defeat. Yet, in every contest,
there must be winners and losers. My charge therefore to all Nigerians, young
and old, is to eschew violence, go out and vote, defend your vote; and to you
politicians, you must grant your opponents the right to differ. For elections
to be free and fair, we need not spill the blood of innocent citizens. The June
12, 1993 presidential poll did not consume the lives of Nigerians, yet it
remains the benchmark for credible elections in our country.
With about 48 hours to the presidential poll, what
particularly bothers me is the propensity of our politicians to set the country
on the edge each time we have elections. I have written in previous essays that
this is not acceptable, especially when nations like Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda,
the population of which compare with that of some states in Nigeria, have
conducted credible elections without major incidents.
The dire consequences of our inability to organize credible
elections on the economic prospects of our country are painful enough to
dissuade war-mongering politicians from blowing the opportunity that a peaceful
transition offers. As the largest economy in Africa, based on the recent
rebasing exercise, we cannot enjoy the benefits of our upgrade in the
continent’s governance hierarchy, if the 2015 general elections fall below
expectations. Foreign Direct Investment won’t flow in as expected; the economy
may shrink, rather than expand and the nation’s GDP, projected at 5.8 percent
this year, could remain a mirage.
Our GDP per head of $3,280 at Purchasing Power Parity is
$6,350; but if we are able to diversify and create new drivers for the economy,
rather than oil, these figures could improve. Much more than just figures, we must
see impact-driven growth and the evidence of our rising economic profile on our
citizens. What we demand from our politicians is how to revamp the economy to
achieve a strong, private sector-led growth; not how they would tear the nation
apart if the elections don’t go their way.
Certainly, that’s not the reason Nigerians will be trooping
to the pooling booths to cast their vote this weekend. Millions are going to
vote because they want their lives Changed or Transformed, not because they
expect to die in the exercise. Therefore, in victory, our politicians must be
magnanimous and in defeat, they should be gracious. Elections are not an end in
themselves; they are a means to some meaningful end: a functional, all
inclusive and truly representative democracy.
We demand no less from every single Nigerian involved in
this process. From the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
officials to the security agencies to the political parties and the
presidential candidates themselves, the interest of our country should be
paramount. They must imbibe the spirit that every election comes with the
redemption that there is almost always a tomorrow. So, no one should hit his
head against the wall, or cause the nation to boil over because of a loss at an
election. That is not the name of the game.
16 years of uninterrupted democracy is a record here in
Nigeria, and we can proudly say we are making progress, regardless of what
others think. We will therefore be doing ourselves a great disservice if we
keep allowing external forces to determine the parameters of our success as a
sovereign nation. We must set our own goals and try to achieve them at our own
pace and in our own way.
Nigeria is not about to disintegrate as being speculated by
those who misinterpret the global forecast of a document by the United States
National Intelligence Council, which only presented its conclusions on our
country like it did on other nations, based on certain probabilities. It is
left for our politicians and policy formulators to heed the warnings contained
in that document titled: “Mapping Sub-Saharan Africa’s Future”, so it does not
become a self-fulfilling prophecy. That said, we must never be slaves to
foreign thoughts or the opinions of International Policy Institutes.
My take is that, no matter who wins on Saturday, Nigeria
will survive and ultimately thrive. But we must be wise in making our choice.
We are generally a good people and there is an end time plan by God to preserve
this country, in order for us to fulfill His purpose.
It is not for nothing that we are the most populous black
nation on earth. And that point was most eloquently underscored by President
Obama’s special message to Nigerians during the week. Despite sub-par economic
performance over the years, the resilience of this nation is amazing. Our
recovery rate from national crises is second to none. While the world panicked
over Ebola, we overcame it as if it were a common cold, even with dilapidated
health infrastructure. With world class facilities, imagine what we could
accomplish.
However, for us to develop and achieve our full potential,
we need an effective mechanism to change our leaders by constitutional means.
No other means will be acceptable. Every Nigerian must therefore hear this loud
and clear: go out and vote; and equally important, respect the outcome. Let the
politicians receive this with equanimity and philosophical discernment.
Finally, to President Jonathan and General Buhari, you have
done the best you possibly can and now I leave you with the immortal words of
former American President Theodore Roosevelt which was quoted by another US
President, Mr. Richard Nixon, both in his victory speech on November 6, 1968,
as well as in his resignation address to the American people, following the
Watergate scandal, on August 8, 1974. “Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes
I have failed,” Nixon said, “but always I have taken heart from what Theodore
Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena…”
According to Roosevelt, “it is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of
deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is
actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who
strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is
no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the
deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in
a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring
greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat.”
Regardless of who wins on Saturday, it shall be well with
Nigeria.
Reverend Chris Okotie is the Founder of the Household of God
Church. He writes from Lagos.
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