A political scientist and Dean of Arts, Management and Social Science at the Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Prof. Femi Otubajo has opined that politics in Nigeria is not driven by ideas but money.
He stated this recently while fielding questions on Channels TV. According to him, there are younger generations of politicians with great ideas but cannot compete with the financial resources and structures of the older generation of politicians and hence the continuous recycling of leaders.
Prof. Otubajo said, “The people who have been in power and who have created the connection, network and resources over the years will continue to come together to take over power. That is why you find in Nigeria that politics is a revolving door within the same group, moving from one party to another. This is because there is simply no idea involved; they are the personalities that are visible. They have the resources to talk to the people – you need resources to talk to the people. I was reading one senatorial candidate who said when they go on campaign, it is not what you want to do that makes people gather to listen to you. The first thing they want to see is money for their entertainment. They want to see that you are prepared for them by first serving them water and drinks before the packs of rice. The leaders of each group will wait to see what you have brought. All the promises of development in the health care, education and road infrastructure, among others, are irrelevant to them.
“That is why the Ekiti modem (vote buying) was very effective. The people want instant gratification. No need for promises. When you see the pattern of campaigns in the United Kingdom, France, the electorate go all out to listen to the ideas their would-be leaders have in store for them. In essence, political campaigns should not be a jamboree as it is in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the candidates take advantage of the ignorant position of the electorate to say all kinds of things.”
He also highlighted ignorance on the part of the electorates as a major challenge for generational shift in leadership. He noted that politicians over the years have taking advantage of widespread poverty and ignorance in the land to hang on to power.
“Honestly, I do not see that possibility of youths just taking over because generations do not shift for other generations, except they are pushed; unless we have a young leader with a clear vision and well-articulated programme that will appeal to the majority of the people like we find in the countries of Europe such as France and Austria. The old generation argument is based on the false assumption that politics in Nigeria is driven by ideas, vision and ideology. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Politics in Nigeria is competition for power; it does not matter how that power is attained. The electorate in Nigeria is not only largely illiterate but largely ignorant, let us not deceive ourselves. You can have illiterate and ignorant people; you also have people who are literate but ignorant. Those in the last category do not read enough, yet they are literate, particularly when you are talking of a country where the illiteracy rate is high. When you are looking at a population that is predominantly illiterate, ignorant and cannot even assimilate the basic elements of political debates and ideas, you cannot talk of generational shift. Over the years, people have developed cynicism about politicians in Nigeria because they know that they make promises and do nothing. Do not expect that they would wait for you to come and make promises and be enthusiastic about your vision. They only want to see the money,” he said.
