Not Too Young To Run: A Greek Gift

Age and the underlying issues.

When President Muhammadu Buhari gave assent to the Not Too Young to Run Bill and signed it into law on May 31^st, 2018, the action was greeted with a lot of excitement and cheers for the President for yielding to the clamour of the young people who had carried out a robust campaign and pressured the National Assembly to pass the bill. The bill sought to amend sections of the constitution to reduce the age limit for seeking election into political office from 40 to 35 for Presidential, 35 to 30 for both Governorship and Senate, and from 30 to 25 for both House of Representatives and State House of Assembly membership. All in a bid to increase youth participation in politics and governance.

In the midst of all the excitement, some of us postulated that it was not yet Uhuru for youth participation in politics and the actualisation of good visionary leadership. At the time I asserted that age is not necessarily the major issue affecting leadership in Nigeria and indeed Africa, so merely reducing the age limit for seeking leadership doesn’t solve and wouldn’t solve the problem of leadership in Nigeria. Few weeks ago, I watched the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo make an impressive address at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference, and he further proved that age isn’t an excuse for poor performance or lack of it, incompetence is the reason for our leadership failures. The Ghanaian president left everyone in awe, that the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said “I’m not particularly a fan of septuagenarians, but President Nana Akufo-Addo has shown that age isn’t quite the problem.” To further give credence to that, the youngest in the current crop of governors, has been said to be incompetent by many. This is not to suggest that young people are unfit or lacking in experience to govern. Donald Duke, a former governor of Cross River state, became governor at 37 and we all know the legacies he left in the state. So beyond age, we need to look at the quality (character and competence) of individuals seeking elective positions.

We’ll recall that when the President signed the Not Too Young to Run bill into law, he asked the young people to shelve their presidential ambition till 2023 and not run against him in 2019. I personally saw this as the president acknowledging that there’s a possibility that he would lose to a young person if fielded in 2019 if the youths rallied round one of their own as they tenaciously did to get the bill passed. A society where private citizens are held to higher standards than their leaders is a dysfunctional one and is bound to fail. How do you explain to a rational person that tertiary graduates ought not only to have their school certificates, but must have acquired the National Youth Service Corps certificate to get jobs in civil service, but the Nation’s chief civil servant, the president and all other political office holders only need to have basic SSCE certificates, irrespective of whether they passed the exams or not? This is not only ridiculous; it is an insult to our common intelligence as a people and has been the foundation on which we’ve sacrificed excellence to elevate and celebrate mediocrity. For things to change, we have to cease to be that nation where the best of us, are governed by the least qualified of us.

Nonetheless, it's election season and party primaries, nomination processes and all the politicking synonymous with the season are upon us. Most political parties have announced the sale of forms for those seeking nomination, and from the amount of these forms, you can tell that there’s a deliberate attempt by these political parties to deny young people the opportunity of getting into the race. While the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party(PDP), which appears to be the most sought after bride leading up to the 2019 election is selling its expression of interest and nomination forms for 12 million for presidential, 6 million for governorship, 3.5 million for senate, 1.5 million for House of Reps. and 600 thousand for House of Assembly, the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is selling theirs for 45 million for presidential, 22.5 million for governorship, 7 million for senate, 3.85 million for House of Reps. and 850 thousand for House of Assembly respectively. These rather preposterous prices mean that many youths with good leadership character and competence can’t participate in the 2019 elections, as they may not be able to afford the nomination fees. That means the purpose of the Not Too Young to Run bill which was to give young people the opportunity to run for office has been defeated as the window which was opened to them by way of reduction of age of participation, has been shut by an increase in the cost of running for same office.

Political parties and the cost of their nomination forms.

I was particularly disgruntled last week when someone from the APC came on national television to defend the party’s decision to sell its forms for those exorbitant prices, saying it was a way of screening the calibre of aspirants as only the serious ones will come forward and purchase the forms or get people to believe in them enough to purchase the forms on their behalf. What this suggests is that, the litmus test for recruiting leaders for Nigeria in 2019 is by the depth of their pockets, which implies that a person lacking in character and competence, who can dubiously come up with funds to purchase forms and run for election is more qualified and likely to get elected than a young aspirant who has both the character and competence to provide effective leadership but lacks the financial power to compete in our highly monetised political space which contravenes our electoral laws.

In a society where vote buying, stomach infrastructure, and several forms of inducements seem to be the order of the day, the man with the deepest purse, the highest bidder is bound to take it all. And regrettably, this man is hardly ever a youth. For the young people, as we realise that it’s actually not yet Uhuru, and that the signing of the Not Too Young to Run bill into law was merely a Greek gift from this administration, which was aimed at scoring political points and gaining more support from young people whilst blocking them from the process by suppressing their chances of participation with exorbitant fees, we must remain resolute in pushing for more reforms in our polity that will lead to the actualisation of the Nigeria we desire and indeed deserve. The success of the Not Too Young to Run advocacy is proof of what we can achieve when we come together with one common goal. In that action, we’ve shown that the people in power are not as powerful as the power in the people and that there is strength in numbers. I therefore suggest that young people who are ready to run in 2019, should seek the nomination of other parties like KOWA who have made their nomination forms as affordable as it can get, to encourage participation by all. We agree that these parties are not as viable as the APC or PDP, but who knows, you just might be the “3^rd Force” Nigerians are yearning for. We must stick together and take our country back from the shackles of mediocrity that is further plunging it into global obscurity by electing visionary leaders that will place Nigeria on a path of sustainable development.

Igbo Enwe Eze: A Nation Divided Among Itself

From time immemorial, the Igbos have been known to be a very resilient and self-aware or as contemporary people will say, “Woke” people. The determination of an Igbo man to survive on his own, independent of any external force is very evident in the busy markets of Ariaria in Aba, Main market in Onitsha, Ogbette market in Enugu, Alaba International in Lagos, and even Wuse market in Abuja. The Igbo man always strives to get for himself what he needs. He never wants to be seen as a dependant of anyone, because being indebted to anyone, leaves you at the mercy of that person. This idea of being lord over one’s self, though it has resulted in financial emancipation for the Igbos, has restrained them politically, as there’s hardly ever a common voice on issues as it affects Ndi Igbo (Igbo people). And this has left us at a loss politically for decades in the governance of Nigeria.

That intrinsic nature of the Igbos to not want to be subject to anyone, has caused us so much leadership misfortune in the politics of Nigeria. I remember watching a political interview of Pete Edochie sometime early last year on ESBS TV (Enugu State Broadcasting Service Television) while in Enugu on a business trip and he was asked about his opinion on the lopsided appointments of President Muhammadu Buhari, and he said “Ndi Igbo No Nma” meaning “Igbos are well placed”. He went on to say despite the fact that Igbos are seemingly not holding positions in the government of today, it hasn’t stopped them from thriving economically. And its indeed a known fact, that despite the political woes we’ve suffered, we’re known to be doing well in business all over the country and around the world. This has been reflected severally in human development reports with the South East always recording the least number of people leaving in poverty.

While pondering on this subject, I realised that I know the names and faces of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’adu Abubakar, and the emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and also know the circumstances in which they ascended to the throne, but don’t know the title or name of the traditional ruler of my town, let alone the Obi of Onitsha, who is seen as the foremost traditional ruler in the South East. For the Sultan, his predecessor Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido died in the ADC airline plane crash of 2006, while the emir of Kano got on the throne after a tussle with the then president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, following the demise of his grand uncle, Alhaji Ado Bayero in 2014. Before you start throwing stones at me, please find out how many Igbos out there know who the Obi of Onitsha is. I can actually make bold to say I know how he looks at least. This is a sad reality, and as an Igbo person, I don’t take pride in this. Why you may want to be quick to blame me for not knowing so much about him, you should understand that it’s not entirely my fault. Generally, the idea of every man for himself, has led to the relegation of the Igbo traditional institutions. We don’t place as much importance to them as the Hausa’s and Yoruba’s do. While this is my perception, it could also be that, I’m familiar with the Sultan and Emir more because I was “born, bread and buttered” in the North and they tend to get so much media coverage here as opposed to their counterparts in the South.

The need for the Igbos to have a common voice on regional and national issues as it concerns them, gave rise to the formation of organizations like Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Ohaneze Youth Congress, etc. It can be said that these organizations haven’t achieved their objective of forming a single voice to advance the political aspirations of Ndi Igbo. This failure created a lacuna that gave rise to the emergence of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) as the voice or should I say the ‘messiah’ of Ndi Igbo. The rise of Nnamdi Kanu to such level of influence and the massive support and solidarity the IPOB movement got in Ala-Igbo (Igboland) in such a short time, shows that the Igbos are in need of political direction. A political direction we’ve so far been unfortunately deprived of by our political elites for self-serving interests.

The importance of traditional rulers in the society, especially in socio-political matters cannot be overemphasized. In Nigeria, traditional rulers are held in high esteem and are considered as part of the governance structure. While the traditional rulers in the North and quite frankly the South West wield a lot of influence, shape popular opinions and command so much respect from both their followers and the government, their counterparts in the South East are more or less seen as ceremonial monarchs. In northern Nigeria, the opinions of the Sultan and the Emirs are held in high regard, they’re considered sacred. This level of loyalty has helped northern Nigeria hold its own in the politics of the nation. They so easily form a consensus and this can be seen with elections and their outcomes. You’ll hardly hear of a case of northern politicians going to election tribunals to challenge election results. If the Sultan comes out to say “we’re all going to vote for Mr A”, it becomes more or less sacrosanct. In the southeast there’s hardly ever any consensus on any matter. Everyone simply wants to have it his/her way. This may largely be because of the high literacy level.

Ala-Igbo can easily be the most developed region in Nigeria, If the Igbos can come together to make it happen. Our small landmass can be an advantage in this respect. I’ve always said it that state creation is not a problem of Ndi Igbo, it’s a problem for the ruling class, who just wants to have access to more resources. I mean Niger and Borno states are each twice as big, in terms of landmass than the entire 5 South Eastern states as we currently have them, so why exactly are the political elites clamouring for the creation of additional states, if not for selfish reasons.

However you choose to look at it, It is evident that for the Igbos to make any advance politically that will bring about massive development in Ala-Igbo, we must come together as a people, to define a collective purpose, chart a cause of action and put in the work required to build Ala-Igbo and ultimately a Nigeria that will be an envy of nations and a pride for generations yet unborn.

WAKANDA: Leadership Lessons for Nigeria

My reply to Atiku's tweet that sparked up a social media frenzy. 

I’ve heard so many people make comments like “It’s just fiction” “Come back to reality” “Don’t use movie to judge Nigeria”. Yes, Wakanda is fictional and Black Panther is just a movie, but it was written, directed and acted out by humans with real life experiences and ideas. Let’s be true to ourselves, Wakanda is all Nigeria has been said and envisioned to be and more. Every Nigerian reading this can look back to the earliest memories they have of childhood, up until now, we’ve always heard talks of Nigeria being the ‘Giant of Africa’, something we all believed to be true about the country as kids and could argue it out with any and every one that dares to hold an opposing view.

It happened that on the warm evening of Saturday the 17^th of February, I made a conscious decision to go see Black Panther with a friend and really, it was well worth the hype and the money, you’ll want to see it again. Usually, the first weekend is when a movie with such hype makes the most money as movie freaks or ‘enthusiasts’ as we’d rather be called throng into cinemas to be among the first set of people to see the movie and go on to post spoilers with all the shenanigans, while others just want to watch it to be free from spoilers. Indeed cinemas cash in ‘bigly’ on opening weekends, as virtually all screening times gets sold out and this was exactly the case as we couldn’t get tickets for the time we wanted and had to wait for the next. Black Panther did not disappoint on its opening weekend as it grossed well over 300 million dollars in global sales, surpassing its production cost by almost double.

Wakanda, a fictional African nation, is portrayed to be the most technologically advanced nation in the WORLD. As in, the whole wide world, with Asia, Europe and America expressly included. It achieved this status through visionary leadership which traded off minute amounts of its abundant mineral resource, Vibranium, and secretly sending its best brains to go study abroad, only to come back and develop the nation. Virtually everything in the country is made with some amount of vibranium, a very powerful mineral with multifaceted capabilities. Wakanda was able to achieve all that in isolation and independent of any foreign aid.

Nigeria however, a country based on true life experiences, blessed with so much natural and human resources, has refused to take its ‘rightful’ place (I say this with full consciousness of the abundant natural resources and human capital packed in the most populous black nation, with a huge diaspora network of very qualified and competent professionals in all fields of human endeavour) as the ‘Giant of Africa’. All that resource base is seemingly becoming more of a curse than a blessing. From massive corruption and mismanagement of state resources, to the steady sacrifice of competence and merit on the altar of sectionalism (tribalism & religion) and nepotism (man-know-man) to all the several other ills which I don’t need to bore you with (because we all know them), Nigeria has been reduced to naught. It took T’Challa (The leader of Wakanda) and his forces to go to Sambisa Forest to ambush Boko Haram and rescue Chibok girls from their captors.

From the movie, we got an idea of two generations of leadership, T’Challa, the present day Black Panther and his predecessor and father, T’Chaka. While T’Chaka, a ‘conservative’, believed that existing in isolation from the rest of the world, was the best way to build Wakanda and protect it from invasion of other nations with intentions to manipulate and exploit it of its rare and valuable resource, Vibranium, T’Challa, a young and more liberal leader, owned it upon himself to atone for his father’s misgivings. He believed that Wakanda could use its very advanced technology to help the world in solving some of its very many problems. Wakanda, just like Nigeria, is a multicultural society consisting of 5 tribes with the lords of each tribe sitting on the king’s council. The fifth tribe, led by M’Baku actually spoke an Igbo dialect.

A picture of Wakanda that depicts equality with women in positions of leadership.

In Wakanda we saw a nation that didn’t limit women to the kitchen, living room and ‘the other room’. We saw the women of Wakanda leading and making exploits in its Technology and Defence Institutions. As we celebrate the International Women’s Day today, I can only hope that Nigeria shatters all the glass ceiling and provide women with equal opportunity to compete and thrive in all spheres of society. Wakanda, though fictional, paints a clear picture of what Nigeria could be with good leadership. So far, especially in the current democratic dispensation, our growth as a nation has been largely inhibited by one bad and incompetent leadership after another. What’s even more saddening is that, the old crop of leaders with archaic, if not obsolete ideas, have refused to give way for a new generation of, not just young, but visionary leaders to steer the nation towards rapid development and advancement in all strata of human endeavour.

Yes, it is true that being young alone, does not necessarily make one a good leader (a certain ‘youngest governor’ comes to mind), another very important truth that most Nigerians have refused to acknowledge is that, this country will not cease to exist if we retire the old crop of leaders and embrace a new breed of very competent and capable Nigerians, who are bursting with cerebral and physical strength required to take this nation out of its current mediocre ‘shithole’ status and set this self-acclaimed ‘giant’ on the path of becoming, not just a regional power, but a global force to be reckoned with and respected as such.