Here are some insights I've gathered about politics so far. Caveats: I only actively engaged Nigerian politics from like 2018. Before that I was a passive onlooker/critic/average citizen.
I also have a minor in Pol Sci but that's neither here nor there.
I also have a minor in Pol Sci but that's neither here nor there.
Most of these observations have been from just paying attention to people and what they do, not what they say. (So it might not be original). But The most important observation I have made is that politics can never be separated from IDENTITY.
You cannot hack it. People want to be governed by people that are like them. That's the most important consideration. Before ability, before experience, before skill, before qualifications. The most important consideration in choosing leaders is: can I see myself in this person?
"Are they like me? Are they SUFFICIENTLY like me that I can delegate decision making about my interests to them?" If the answer is yes, easier to gain support. If the answer is no then any support they give is tenuous until someone else comes along who is more like them.
Identity politics is a misnomer. Politics is always identity politics. The question is what the identity is built on. Which leads to my second observation: identity is always downstream from culture. Culture creates identity.
America for instance liked to pretend it was a country built on ideas of freedom, liberty and the American way. But it was built on WASP culture, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture. Freedom of speech, right to bear arms, civil debate, Protestant work ethic, idealism and
the idea of progressive history can all be traced back to the culture of a certain class of British, Dutch, German Protestants. They held cultural dominance of America until the 60s. Since then identity in America has slowly diversified and their politics with it.
Clinton was the last truly centrist president. Bush II was evangelical blue collar base, Obama was white liberal and African American base, Trump is blue collar white and hard right ideologues. Biden (naturally centrist) is being pushed left because the base is really AOC now.
Which brings me to Nigeria. First off we have not had democratic elections in this country since at least 1970s. Other than 2011. Maybe 2015ish.
No one in Abuja can ever sufficiently represent the whole country. Multicultural societies are hard to govern for this reason.
No one in Abuja can ever sufficiently represent the whole country. Multicultural societies are hard to govern for this reason.
Centralized power in a multicultural society is always going to lead to Chaos. Centralized power in Nigeria is always going to lead to chaos. There's no way around that except to decentralize power. The president is always going to be from somewhere.
And everywhere else that he or she is not from will never fully see themselves in him or her. And this leads to insecure presidents which is why DSS will always exist. Devolving power to the regions, and making sure regional governments include minority tribes in their structure
will go a lonngggg way in creating political stability. At the Federal level, parliamentary systems based on coalition size is also the best. But our constitution was written by the military.
Obasanjo was handpicked. He handpicked Yaradua. Jonathan was an accident. And Buhari was a North/SW ethnic coalition. It's a feature, not a bug. Culture drives identity, identity drives politics. In a country like Nigeria where identity is defined by ethnicity you cannot have
a centralized government in a multi ethnic society. You need decentralized, multi ethnic government system. So we really need to write the rules ourselves not copy and past western rules.
That's where I'll end this for now. It's Sunday but I have work. If you got here, you try.
That's where I'll end this for now. It's Sunday but I have work. If you got here, you try.
LET ME ALSO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO MKO ABIOLA.
He had the singular distinction of being one of the few men whom almost every category of Nigerian could see themselves in. Old, young, Christian, Muslim, Rich, poor, educated and not. He was so relatable.
He had the singular distinction of being one of the few men whom almost every category of Nigerian could see themselves in. Old, young, Christian, Muslim, Rich, poor, educated and not. He was so relatable.
Even the army and the civilians. He could relate to all of them. That's why Hope 93 stands out as the most representative and also one of the biggest missed opportunity in Nigerian electoral history. If only just to know if he would've governed as he lived and campaigned.
