Thread by @MoghaluKingsley

#BIGVisionNigeria #MoghaluSeries

VISION 5: INSTITUTIONS AND WHY THEY MATTER

To understand the state of development of any country, just look carefully at its institutions. Do they exist? If so, how strong and robust are they? Institutions are the foundation of modern statehood.

By institutions we mean the structures of social order that organize and govern our individual behavior in a society, the conduct of the political leadership and government, and economic activity: the judiciary, military, security agencies, @cenbank , @inecnigeria etc

Institutions matter for four main reasons. First, because their basic function is to secure the security and stability of the state. They are meant to guarantee internal order and cohesion, and even protection from external threats such as military aggression. In today’s

globalized world, external threats of course include things like cyber security from foreign or internal hackers, global pandemics like the Coronavirus, etc. Second, institutions matter because they guarantee, in the words of the French political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu,

“a government of laws and not of men”. They do so, or OUGHT to, by checking despotism, untrammeled power of the political head of government, and by ensuring the rule of law. This is why there should be a separation of powers between the executive, the legislature, and judiciary.

Third, institutions matter because they are essential for sustainable economic growth, economic development, and economic transformation (note that these three things have different meanings - for another tweet, later in this series). Institutions are vital for economic progress.

Virtually every country operates a capitalist economy in one form or the other. Under the classic theory of capitalism developed by the political economist Adam Smith in his famous book The Weath of Nations, property rights and free markets create the wealth of nations. This

process can’t happen if there are no institutions that protect these rights and regulate the market effectively. Nigeria and many African nations are poor, unable as yet to achieve broad-based, inclusive economic growth from capitalist economics because they are yet to understand

what makes capitalist economies successful.Strong, independent institutions that underpin efficient markets are vital for development. Where such institutions exist in Nigeria, they are today weak and immature, an appendage of the political parties in power at federal/state level

Fourth, institutions matter because they protect democracy. How real is a “democracy” in which the impartiality or effectiveness of the electoral umpire is questionable? All the processes of democracy, from voter registration to voting logistics to the integrity of voting results

require strong, impartial institutions such as electoral commissions and the judiciary. The case of the presidential elections in Kenya in 2017, and Malawi in 2019, where the supreme courts of those countries annulled controversial presidential election results, demonstrated

the independence of those institutions. In Kenya’s case, President augury Kenyatta took the decision as a personal affront to him and his Office.

*President Uhuru Kenyatta