2015: Choices that will make or mar Nigeria By Okey Mbonu

As a member of the Nigerian-American community, a community that provides upwards of $21 Billion in material support to the Nigerian nation annually,

I have carefully observed the cacophony of Nigeria’s presidential electioneering of 2015, in Sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous and influential nation, and largest economy.  I find the signs troubling. I’ll preface this article by stating that to whom much is given, much is expected.  Therefore, for majority of the world’s black population, Nigeria remains that beacon of hope that someday, Africa may truly emerge as a significant world player, given the regions vast resources. However, for Nigeria to truly emerge, Nigeria needs the right kind of leadership.  A leadership with vision, not surrounded by praise-singing mediocrity, and a leadership that actually recognizes corruption as an impediment to growth, and not as a minor headache that will go away on its own.

The world expects plenty from Nigeria and its leaders, especially, given that Nigerians already compete very well in other more sophisticated environments outside Nigeria. The current campaign between Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari for Nigeria’s top-job, leaves plenty to be desired, and it is not the panacea for Nigeria’s emergence in the world stage.

The Limits of Goodluck Jonathan First, let’s start with Goodluck Jonathan as the candidate to lead Nigeria.  If there’s any lingering proof that education can be overrated, then one should take a look at former president of Brazil, President Lula, da Silva (2003-2011).  Lula as he was popularly called, left school at the 5th Grade (primary or elementary 5), and went to work fulltime at the age of 12, because of his family’s poverty.

Lula went through various political tutelage and eventually became a powerful orator, served in the Brazilian Congress, won presidential elections for two terms, and became one of Brazil’s best presidents ever.  Lula left office with a 90 percent approval rating.  Lula performed most of his feats in his first term, earning respect worldwide, and raising Brazil’s profile to enviable heights.

But  Jonathan is no Lula. Second, a President does not have to be the smartest person in any country; he just has to have good judgment, so that he will surround himself with competent people, not mediocre.  After-all, a president still takes credit for his team’s work-if he makes the right judgment  and can decipher between good advice and bad advice. Jonathan may be a humble fellow, even a good person.

However, that Nigeria has faltered in every category, under Jonathan’s watch, is clearly a manifestation of nothing but lack of the right judgment call, in at a minimum, picking the “right team” that would help solve Nigeria’s myriad problems.   Jonathan has been in power for about 6 years, a lengthy time in any democracy.

If Jonathan cannot make appreciable difference in six years with his 1st eleven “team” in place; then another four years with the same kind of leadership, will actually make the next four years worse; because Jonathan has nothing to prove any more.  Granted that Nigeria’s Constitution gives room for mediocrity, by requiring a minister from each of the 36 states, however, the President could have found himself a crack team of special advisers that could work closely with him, to put the puzzles together; and deliver impactful governance in every agency.

Any under-performing minister could have been assisted by presidential initiatives, coming directly from the Presidency, where the president is on top of his game.  Jonathan did not possess the right gravitas to make these judgment calls. I realize that many Nigerian’s have dug in on ethnic or regional grounds, in supporting a particular candidate.

However, all these petty politics aside, votes cast based on ethnicity or regionalism, without careful forethought, is like getting your accident-prone cousin to drive you for 4 years. That cousin’s inability to make the right decisions, as he drives you, might be the difference between your surviving that journey, or whether you’ll become a statistic on the highway.

Similarly, not many Nigerians will enter an airplane, knowing that it will be flown by a half-baked pilot, even if the pilot is their cousin.  Why then should anyone put their fate and their children’s fate in the hands of a medicoere, in the name of politics?  The choice is entirely ours, regardless of how geographically close we are to any given candidate. Buhari’s background as a retired military officer is not necessarily an automatic qualification for competent leadership, in Africa’s most complex country.  First, Buhari’s antecedents evoke mixed reactions from Nigerians. On one hand, as a highly disciplined officer, with a disdain for corruption.  And on the other hand, as an autocratic rigid officer, who at one time, bent the rules to favor persons he perceived as worthy of soft treatment; while been unduly harsh with persons he alone played judge and jury with.

A good example was when Buhari, upon seizing power via a coup, locked up a vice president (Alex Ekwueme) who had limited authority, in a dungeon called Kirikiri; while placing a president (Shehu Shagari) with full authority as commander-in-chief, on a comfortable house arrest in an apparent show of double standard.  Buhari must address whether the above action (among others) was a one-off poor judgment call, for which he owes Nigerians an explanation and apology; or whether that is classic Buhari 101, a lover of his own kind, at the detriment of others. Secondly, in most other contemporary climes, a man of 72 years, is approaching his retirement from public life; and settling into the role of a statesman, with sufficient respect in the polity, to proffer advice to current leaders.

However, Buhari may yet win this election, because of the exasperation of Nigerians  with the lacklustre performance of President Jonathan. Nigeria needs a change in leadership, in order to begin to manifest its true destiny, as the leading nation in Africa.  However, neither of these two gentlemen presents a panacea, which will enable Africa’s giant to rise to its challenges.

Nigeria needs a better candidate, in order to rise to a 21st century economy. Neither of these two candidates has demonstrated that they can perform the required surgery.  In the absence of a third candidate, with world-class exposure, who meets 21st century standards, and readiness for the complexity of this office, Nigerians must look very closely and make a choice that will at least not lead  them to political chaos.

•Mbonu is Executive Director of Nigerian-American Leadership Council (NALC), Washington, DC