Nation building, elections and governance in Nigeria

Having served in multiple positions as a Servant Leader in nation building, I feel compelled to comment on what is currently happening at the leadership levels in Nigeria today. According to the National Geographic Society, a Nation refers to a group of people who shares a history, traditions, culture and, often language – even if the group does not have a country of its own. This means that nation builders are all those who share the characteristics of the group. While they include all members of the group, some members such as parents, teachers and all those who are care givers and educators of children and youths must be specially recognised because they are the ones who pass on to future generations the values that are required for a nation to survive and make progress. In other words, there must be inter-generational human resource development.

Therefore, the first perspective that I would like to offer is that of a Nigerian citizen – a daughter and a parent – who has utilized the opportunities that were made available during her formative years by her enlightened parents in order to get not only herself educated but to contribute substantially to the education of tens of thousands of children including her own biological three.

With hindsight, she was able to do this because, several generations before hers selflessly developed the enabling environment in terms of material infrastructure, appropriate human resource and a positive group psychological orientation. She and her surviving peer groups have since largely tried to give back to the country the ingredients for sustaining the correct attitudes, knowledge, skills and moral compass that should empower subsequent generations to continue to build on their efforts. Unfortunately, the outcomes of years of dedication to such a philosophy do not appear to be as favourable as had been predicted or expected. Hence, my attempt to join others in seeking solutions for the reduction in the present level of ethical and moral decadence towards the alleviation of unnecessary suffering and loss of lives.

In view of the progressive changes in the structure of relationships among countries over the last century due to the necessity to adapt globally to increasingly more complex geo-political structures, it has become equally necessary for the developing nations to redefine and re-prioritise those goals that will ensure the survival and development of their own nations taking cognizance of their opportunities and challenges. In order to do this in Nigeria, there must be an agreement among the various groups, each of which qualifies as a nation, that Nigeria can operate as one Nation under one Constitution that guarantees equity of opportunities for all its citizens. Herein lies the conflict of perceptions among the various diverse ethnic and religious groups.

This brings us to the issue of who is a citizen of the Nigerian Nation?

This fundamental question can only be answered from its definition as stated in the Constitution of the Nation. The Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (rev. 2011) defines clearly how any person becomes entitled to the Citizenship of Nigeria. It is based on the birth of the person, the parents and/or grandparents anywhere in Nigeria. For those who are born outside Nigeria, there are additional considerations before they can be registered as citizens of Nigeria. These are clearly spelt out in Chapter III, Sections 25-32. The Fundamental Rights of Citizens are also extensively listed in Chapter IV, Sections 33-46. So also, are their obligations.

The Nigerian Constitution states under its introductory General Chapter that governance is based on the principles of Democracy and Social Justice. It recognises the diversity of its people and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among the people of the Federation. Hence, its Motto is Unity, Faith and Progress. Armed with the constitutional provisions as highlighted above, every Nigerian citizen of voting age is entitled to participate in the Electoral process of his or her choice, as long as he or she has fulfilled the stipulated administrative electoral requirements.

The causes of disruptions during the recently concluded elections can be classified based on the “push” and “pull” factors.

The push factors on the part of the electoral candidates of the ruling party are centered around an overwhelming desire to control the electorate in order to sustain power rather than to engage them in order to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty as stated in the Nigerian Constitution. This, of course, would lead to abuses of power, usually in form of bribery or intimidation. The necessity to invest in engaging the electorate has arisen as a result, over the years, of the development of an increasingly complex demographic pattern across board. This changing demography was recognised by at least one of the opposition parties and the pull factors were mainly utilized by aligning themselves with the yearnings of the people at large thereby promoting their confidence in the possibility of the occurrence of a free and fair election. Unfortunately, those who rightly adopted this strategy did not have the benefit of the longevity of the favourable group dynamics required in order to overcome the various physical and psychological attacks made on them along ethnic and religious lines. This led to their fragmentation and disenfranchisement in many instances. The solution is for the parties who believe in promoting the engagement of the electorate thereby promoting the unity of the country to coalesce, recognise and make appropriate use of the leverage that the diversity of people is able to contribute towards Nation Building. They must begin by promoting a sense of belonging and loyalty to the Unity and Progress of Nigeria starting with their participation and investment in the positive socio-cultural practices and services of the people of the Local Government of their residence, their birth or both. This makes governance at Local Government level the most basic and the most important level for the development of a National Governance that is based on Democracy and Social Justice.

The processes and outcomes of the recent elections have shown that we need more than the pronounced Goodwill of a president at the federal level to have a democratic election that protects the true choices of the people. Many of the voters are therefore naturally disappointed that, in spite of unprecedently large turnouts of citizens at all the nation’s polling stations, and in spite of the assurances by INEC that it had the capacity and the Will to ensure that everyone’s vote would count, it would appear that several glitches allegedly encountered might have interfered with the dream of some of the electoral candidates. The bantering and violence that accompanied voters’ efforts to claim their legitimate mandates are signals that reliable democratic processes need to be foundational, expansive and continuous. The enabling environment for achieving this is easiest at the local government level where the people have been sharing ideologies and working towards a common purpose in peace and harmony.

Since the building blocks for sustainable democratic development must be laid at the local government level, it is imperative that the investment for this be made available at this level. The recent signage of some relevant Bills by the President in order to ensure the direct disbursements of funds to the Local Government is a good beginning for making possible the participation in nation building at the grassroot level. Planning for this form of development must begin with the accurate topographical and demographical mapping of the area under the jurisdiction of the local government. These baseline statistics are required in order to assess the availability, adequacy and quality of infrastructures and services such as for primary education, primary healthcare, subsistence farming, marketing, information services, and other infrastructural needs. It should be remembered that the local population is changing daily as a result of new births, deaths and migrations. All these must be captured with birth and death registrations and through censuses. The more resource-intensive interventions should be embarked upon by the State Government in partnership with the Local Government. It is at this level that any individual or group who is interested in nation building must first make inputs in order to gain recognition as a potential national leader. The National Youth Corps Service should be revamped in order to provide the opportunities for fulfilling this obligation. Other pathways for meeting this obligation should be created for the participation of all stakeholders in the development of the Local Government. Thus, the quality of leadership at this level must be such as to demand of him or her non-partisanship, high integrity, patriotism and mutual respect among partners. The operation, regulation and supervision must be governed by the application of the Rule of Law under the framework of community policing and an equitable justice system.

The House of Assembly at state level has a big role to play in governance at the Local Government level. Hence, the representation must be democratic so that it can provide the required checks and balances for the Executive and the Judiciary arms of Government at both the local and state levels. In this case, the executives include those governing at the state and local government levels formally. Those participating in governance informally will include traditional rulers who have been certified as authentic, progressive and patriotic. All must have independent means of livelihood and must be supportive of the legitimately elected government. Their role is the promotion of unbiased community cohesion through their support of positive socio-cultural practices.

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All members of the three arms of government as well as the functionaries of the local government must be equipped with the requisite knowledge for governing in a way that will lead to unity, peace and the development of their local government and their state. They must be engaged in learning, and re-learning. There must be regular assessments of their individual and group performances. These should attract rewards or sanctions as deemed fit. An example of a group of functionaries that has been systematically developed at the local government level is the group entrusted with the administration of the Primary Health Care service delivery. The development of an empowered local government administration will provide the enabling environment that is needed for the enhancement of this important sector of the health system.

There should be frequent and regular reports of natural and interventional occurrences at this level by the mainstream and the social media. There should also be townhall meetings. This will provide the avenue for the voice of the people to be heard both in their local languages and in English which is the adopted national language. There should be an enabling environment for the key personnel who provide information services to the people thereby making it possible for the people to become equipped with facts, skills and earned livelihoods so that they can participate continually in the democratic processes at local, state and national levels.

Urban local government areas are more heavily populated and will need to be managed primarily at ward level by the Local Government Council through their ward appointees who should be the people’s ward representatives. The diversity of urban population groups demands an even higher level of skill, transparency and accountability in governance in order to promote equity, fairness, justice and peace. There will be more revenue generated through local tax collection. This will assist in dealing with the peculiar problems of the urban population. These problems will include challenges encountered in commuting and maintenance of the rule of law for which direct State involvement will be required. The goal of governance in both rural and urban areas is to ensure equity in prosperity, opportunities and peace so that there are always informed and non-acrimonious elections for all positions free from tribal, gender, partisan, religious and any other sentiments based on social and economic characteristics. In this way, a sustainable Nigerian Nation will develop organically from the amalgamation of myriads of ethnic groups that will participate equitably and confidently in the determination of their own structure and the character of their leaders at all levels of governance.

*Professor Adenike Grange is a former Minister of Health, former President International Paediatric Association (IPA)Chair, Board of Trustees, Nigeria UHC Actions Network and Founder and CEO, Adegrange Child Foundation.

Prof Grange anchors the column “Thoughts on Nation Building with Prof. Adenike Grange” in The Frontier.