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As Nigerians file out to cast their
ballots for the political office seekers, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, Dean,
School of Postgraduate Studies, Imo State University Owerri and a delegate to
the 2014 National Conference speaks in this interview with Uzo Chikere issues that voters should considere in making their choices as well
as the hate campaigns that have dominated the build-up to the general
elections and other salient issues
What do you make of the hate campaigns that have
characterised the build-up to the 2015 general elections?
The concern with the issue has become prevalent in the
last weeks, especially since the new dates for the general elections were
announced. We also observe heightened public commentary and adverts in the
media. Clearly the elections this year, especially at the presidential level
is more competitive and therefore more emotive. Not surprisingly the major
competitors and their supporters are agitated and therefore may be saying
things that may be perceived as hate campaign.
But whether those comments can truly qualify as depicting
hate is debatable. When and by whom that commenced is also debatable. Some
would say that since the last election in 2011 those who did not win never
relented, and by commentary, may have incited parts of the country against
those who emerged. In this political school are those who even attribute the
escalation of terrorists’ activities in parts of the country to such
campaigns. Some others see it a very recent development, and see one side in
the election worried at the prospect of not winning and desperately trying to
smear those they think are getting better public acceptance than hitherto the
case.
What could have informed why the candidates for the
various elective positions are not focusing on issues ahead of the polls?
On the contrary I have seen a lot of attempts by the major
presidential candidates and the governorship candidates in some states
present issues they believe should be priorities in governance. However I do
not see the public listening. Perhaps that has encouraged the politicians to
move on to issues which might interest and influence the electorate as
majority of Nigerians are not tuned to the issues we could attribute to
historical and socio-cultural reasons. In an election such as this where an
incumbent is contesting, it ought to be a referendum on his performance. Has
he done well to deserve our votes? If he has done well, then he gets
re-elected. Where will you be looking for the evidences of his good
performance? You find that in the security of lives and properties that is
the first duty of the state.
The second should be in terms of citizens well-being and
that you seek in food security and poverty, education and health, and others
impacting on day to day living. You then move on to basically other issues
under the MDGs including women empowerment. After this, you look at other issues
like ability to carry and serve the entire country without discrimination and
not being a divisive personality in the polity. On the other hand, if it is
perceived that he has not done as well as we desire, what factors account for
that? Is his major opponent a credible alternative who should be supported?
If that opponent has held public positions in the past, you look at what he
did. Do you like what you see? You do not necessarily focus on what a
politician says but what he does. In this case the simple question you answer
is going by his antecedents and character exhibited as an adult, which is not
easy to change, is this opponent an ‘angel’ that we can say will be better
than this ‘devil’?
What do you think are the issues that should shape the
discourse, especially as it concerns the presidency?
The key weakness of the democratic and electoral process
in Nigeria is with the Nigerian people. Hence the politicians try to meet the
electorate at the point of their availability and interest, which seems not
to have risen significantly above the mundane levels of pre-independence era.
A key issue that is currently in discussion is what to make of the report of
the National Conference. A section of the leadership in the South-West zone
has made that a central issue and basis for choice of support, and one of the
presidential candidates is engaged with that zone of the country on that
basis. The other perhaps does not see that as sufficiently worthy of
attention or may be is assured that the zone will vote for him nevertheless.
The South-West is of course Nigeria’s most sophisticated and vibrant zone.
In the South-East, a section of the leadership sees the
key issue perhaps as the period which each zone of the country has occupied
the presidential seat and therefore prefers a candidate whose zone has spent
less time at the apex of political power in Nigeria. For the South-South
zone, it appears the issue is seen more in terms of our son. For the
North-East and North-Central, the issue seems to be who can provide security,
while in the North-West, it seems the key issue of interest to the political
class is an understanding of power rotation and the belief that the
North-West should get what it wants politically and when it wants it.
What would have informed that position of the
South-East, when other zones seems to be looking beyond primordial factors
before expressing their support for any of the presidential candidate?
Surprisingly when you look at the zones where the current
Federal Government has spent most of the capital expenditures since the last
six years they are also zones the government seems to be having great
difficulties in electoral chances. You would expect the North-Central (35 per
cent) which is clearly the most favoured in terms of Federal Government
capital projects followed by the North-West (21 per cent) and South-West (15
per cent) to be very enthusiastic about the incumbent, but that seems not to
be the case.
On the contrary the South-East (five per cent) which the
government has made abysmal capital expenditures since the last six years is
perceived as the zone with the most solid support for the incumbent. We can
only assume that those other reasons are more important to most voters in the
South-East than such capital projects. Even for the North-East, if I was from
there, I would take the National Conference report even more serious than the
South-West.
My understanding of the circumstance of some sections of
the North-East is that freedom should precede economics, and that is with
respect to the recommendations of news states. If for instance I am from
southern Bornu, that would be my priority and in that case I would be guided
by the same core question in the South-West, which is, who is likely to
implement the National Conference report. I would be desirous of the creation
of Savannah State from Bornu, and Amana from Adamawa, and if from southern
kaduna in the North-West, a Gurara State, and if an Idoma in Benue State in
the North-Central, an Apa State.
Do you see the hate campaigns inciting the people after
the elections, whichever way the results go?
I would say yes. We saw that in Northern Nigeria in 2011.
Further back in history we saw that in the North in 1945, and in 1966. Many
persons say that if the incumbent is announced as the winner of the coming
election, there will be riots in the north of the country. There are also
persons who say that may also be seen as what has been engineered by a
section of the political elite in parts of the North and has been so since
2011, basically as a result of the emergence of a president who is considered
to an outsider to the received knowledge and expectation about political
leadership of the country.
In fact some persons believe that the only basis for the
emergence of the major opposition party is a common disdain for change to
that historical order as in terms of content and character, there is no
difference between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives
Congress (APC), but that this disdain is so strong that even on such issues
as ratings on the corruption index which the APC has made a key issue is not
considered internally within the party, hence persons advertised as snow
white are at the same table with those advertised as brackish waters.
The other side to the violence expected is coming from a
section of the South-South zone. What I see driving this is the ‘its our turn
to eat our thing’ mentality which is colliding with the ‘we are born to rule’
mentality, mostly embedded in the psyche of mostly persons in a section of
the North-West. Hence, the presidential election has become a North-West
versus South-South contest with the rest of us finding a basis to support one
of them.
To persons in the two zones, it’s therefore neither
performance nor better alternative but at such mundane level of ‘we eat our
thing which they have been eating, and this is our birth right.’ Sometime
while at the airport lounge I enjoy the swagger of our brothers and the
excitement of our sisters from the South-South. Something good is happening
to their psyche. I truly enjoy it when I see them. Incidentally, also some
persons in the South-South feel it is unfair of the North-West not to allow
them enjoy a little longer, considering the historical role they believe they
played in helping the North dominate the political and economic space in
Nigeria especially since 1966. What also has disappointed some sections of
the North and I believe must be a wonder to the South-South is the South-East
support for the incumbent. It is against expectation.
What should be the role of the political class,
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and even
the media in stemming this tide?
INEC and the security agencies should be guided by the law
and act within their mandates. That is all they can do. The media should be
cautious and patriotic and appreciate what their various reports could lead
to, especially given the demographic conditions of the country and the way
most Nigerians have been ill-socialized. To the political class, I will
simply say that they should see the larger picture and make sacrifices for
the Nigerian people and Nigeria state.
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