‘For the People, by the People’

Imagine Nigeria, a report put together by the federal government of Nigeria and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), attempts to chart a course for the uncertain journey ahead. Amongst the report’s key insights is the importance of public trust in governance structures in Nigeria. Unfortunately, decades of deceit and doublespeak from politicians and elected officials means that building this kind of trust will be an uphill task. What would it take to get the average Nigerian invested and engaged in Nigerian politics? The answer might be to give us politics that are worth getting engaged in; politics that resonate with the big questions on our minds in these uncertain times.

Nigerian politics have never been a dull affair. The escapades and antics of politicians is a source of public entertainment, if not amusement. Sadly, these antics also distract from issue-based politics. Public service administration and politics ought to be about ideas, but Nigerian politics have long suffered from a dearth of ideas, let alone strategic and actionable plans. The evidence of the vacuous nature of political campaigns in Nigeria is seen in  party manifestos, where parties rarely present distinct policies to set them apart from their competitors. The Nigerian citizen is cheated of the opportunity to debate core political questions like ‘what kind of society do we want?’, ‘how do we get there?’, and ‘who gets a say?’. Instead, every four years, we get personal popularity contests, ethnic bigotry, and empty rhetoric. Why does it work this way, and what are the consequences for governance and engagement?