AS Nigerians mark the New Year festivities today, it is trite to say that governance has not actualised its raison d’être, namely a means for actualising happiness for the people. This goal is encapsulated in the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s credo of Life More Abundant. On the contrary, in the outgone year, governance served as an effective vehicle of sorrow, despondency and despair. Critical state institutions, including security agencies turning on the people they were paid to protect and mowing them down, were abused at will: the country’s electoral umpire failed to advance the cause of democracy, statistical organs were ordered to alter their findings in order to reflect the preferences of the government, and even examination bodies shirked their independence and became sucked into the vortex of power abuse.

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As a matter of fact, the repressive apparatuses of the state turned on other organs of government, with the Department of State Services (DSS) invading the National Assembly on two separate occasions and making a mockery of the sweat, grime and blood of Nigerians who gave their all to enthrone democratic governance in the country. The mace, the symbol of the National Assembly, was stolen in broad daylight, but the police, intent on a continuing role in the political arena and unable to hide its disdain for the leadership of the National Assembly, refused to investigate that potent threat to the country’s democracy. As a matter of fact, the Inspector General of Police told a befuddled nation that the country’s highest legislative organ had no authority to ask him to appear before it. Effectively, state institutions abdicated their responsibilities and became the megaphones of the government of the day.

Trapped in appalling economic and social conditions, the populace experienced untold agony. For the most part, workers in the public and private sectors remained unpaid for months, insecurity worsened across the country; power supply was either negligible or thoroughly bogus, and, as if to compound the misery, even those who had power generating sets often could not afford to buy fuel. As usual, Nigerians paid through the nose to experience steady darkness, assailed by shylock distribution and generating companies and the docility and incompetence of the regulatory agencies. However, even with the country’s unemployment and poverty statistics, the government stuck to its narrative of progress, thus raising the question whether or not those in the corridors of power had shelved their humanity.

It is no wonder then that across the country, the indices of underdevelopment, including a poor economy, weak institutions, abuse of human rights, poor infrastructure and, of course, poor leadership, remain poignant, the facile postulations and prognostications of the Federal Government notwithstanding. As  a matter of fact, rather than advance the development narrative and praxis, the administration has been bogged down by its unwillingness to see governance as a continuum, fixation with past errors, lack of innovative ideas, and wholesale embrace of propaganda as a vehicle for statecraft. Sadly, the situation at the centre has not been noticeably bettered at the state level, where governance has been essentially farcical, marked by incongruity, derision and automatism. Governors caught on tape receiving bribes remain in office pontificating about the country’s future, and democratically elected local government leaderships have been dismissed without any repercussions by governors acting outside their constitutional mandate. As a matter of fact, youths who engaged in s3xual perversion on international television were made state heroes.

Given the foregoing state of affairs, it is apposite to warn that the situation must not degenerate further. This year’s general election provides an opportunity for Nigerians to put in place a government of their choice. Thus, if for any reason they cannot be better than the 2015 elections, the presidential/National Assembly elections scheduled for next month surely cannot afford to be worse, and ditto for the governorship/state House of Assembly elections coming up in March. Already, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is facing serious scrutiny by local and international observers following last year’s governorship election in Osun State which was widely adjudged as a sham. Thus, the commission has to demonstrate that it intends to up its game.

Besides, we expect the security agencies to conduct their affairs professionally and dispassionately. On no account must the police, military or the paramilitary agencies be used to truncate the people’s will. On their part, politicians must not destroy the fragile peace in the country with their inordinate ambitions,  which is why all forms of electoral malpractices, including vote buying, must be punished swiftly and decisively. Currently, ethnic and religious fissures have morphed in the country and if the general election fails to meet international standards, there would have been an open invitation to anarchy.

The year 2018 was not happy for Nigerians and for this year to be better, significant changes are required. This is why, beyond the elections, the country must be restructured for optimal performance, while the populace, civil society and the media must demand and ensure greater accountability, transparency and commitment by elected politicians. A free and fair election, a restructured country and better political leadership are some of the components of the irreducible minimum that Nigerians must demand for. They are not negotiable.

We wish Nigerians a happy New Year.

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