GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

I remember just before the 2007 general elections, when colourful campaigns took over our streets and television screens, in which rootless manifestos were chanted like ancestral eulogies.

I remember leaders, both in the executive and legislature - who had done nothing in their first terms promising ‘heaven on earth’ if elected for a second.

I remember I wrote this…

NO SECOND CHANCE

‘A little while’ they said,

So we waited

‘Give us time’…

 They pleaded,

And with open arms

We cooperated.

And when it didn’t go well,

‘Give us another chance’…

They requested

We gave in,

But later regretted

For at their coming we were excited,

Feeling that something good had started,

But from their good start they deviated

They promised to replace our rags with riches,

Instead they took our rags, and left us naked

More power they lusted,

And by their greed they were blinded,

Into a ditch of corruption they fell,

And there they were all gladly accommodated

Once again, they asked for our mandate,

They begged to be voted

So each of their wrongful deeds and empty promises we recounted,

Told them how instead of being happy and elated,

We are left sad and frustrated,

With our poverty well aggravated.

Now with our eyes open and the mist cleared

We’ve labeled them inept and wicked

It’s time to seek better people to place in their stead

A people capable and committed,

A people that can be trusted

Almost a decade later, after repeatedly electing leaders we thought were capable and committed, we are still left sad and frustrated; as each set has continually shown that they cannot be trusted.

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

“In a democracy, people get the government they deserve.”

-         Alexis de Tocqueville (political thinker and historian)

I feel this quote puts a lid on all complaints of the average Nigerian – complaints of how the government is not pulling its weight, constant cases of corruption, how apathetic and detached the government is from the people’s plight, and most of all, how the people still do not feel the dividends of democracy aka Stomach Infrastructure.

So the people complain, complain and complain, until the end of their leaders’ tenure, when they vote again, only to complain throughout the entirety of the next dispensation. This cycle of voting and unending complaints suggests that the people apparently aren’t getting what they voted for – perhaps not, but they are certainly getting what they deserve.

Is there a disparity between what the people voted for and what they deserve?

A clear example that espouses this thought is that of Ekiti state. The electorate voted for stomach infrastructure, a one-time-meal, a package that came only with an eccentric governor; after all, they couldn’t eat parks, pipes and power projects – they wanted the proverbial porridge, so they voted for its only purveyor – one who they deserve and will have for the next four years.

Any grounds to subsequently complain about the government there? I think not.

If people shouldn’t vote for a government because of stomach infrastructure, why should they? What then is the role of government in their lives?

I remember John Locke, a famous philosopher once said:

“Government rests on popular consent, but rebellion is permissible when government subverts from the ends for which it was formed”

So what exactly are the ends for which government was formed?

History replies that it was to provide security and public order - an opposition, or what I prefer to call a drug, to control rather than eliminate the disease called anarchy.

Anarchy threatened to destroy the people, as every man for himself would lead us to extinction of the human race.

So man decided to constitute by diverse means, a government, where its leaders where conferred with the responsibility of restoring order and providing security.

According to Thomas Hobbes “people, as rational animals, saw submission to a government dominated by a sovereign as preferable to anarchy”

These elect or sovereign group, had authority over such states or groups. They created laws, guidelines, rules and regulations to be strictly adhered to. They provided security for their citizens, something anarchy could not.

This however, was not free, government imposed taxes and levies upon their citizens in exchange for the social privileges and rights they were granted.

Security, Rights and Social Privileges… These are needs we have as a people, paid for via taxes, but never demanded from candidates seeking our mandate. Rather we exchange votes for helmets, stationery, recharge cards, bags of rice and other staples. In exchange for these consumables, we can only get the kind of government an electorate with large stomachs and short memories deserve.

And yet we complain…

What about those who don’t partake in this feast of fables? Those who’ll rather sit it out on the sidelines?

They complain about the leaders they did not vote for, forgetting that they did not even make an effort to vote for those they believed in, or identified as outstanding. They folded their arms and watched from the sidelines, hoping that somehow whoever gets into the seat will be benevolent enough to have their interests at heart.

If they feel their leaders are bad, it is because they refused to elect those who weren’t. The people are more powerful than any government, and it is their responsibility to ensure that the right leaders are given the mandate to rule over them. 

When the electorate stand up to candidates who despite having failed as leaders still seek reelection, the exchange should sound a bit like this…

 We thought we fed the people,

Yet they say they hunger

We housed them didn’t we?

Yet they say they suffer

“You maltreated us terribly”,

This they continue to mutter

“Get out!” they say,

We cannot take it any longer

Our voices get less audible,

As theirs’ get louder

“But what did we do wrong?” We ask

In confusion we wonder

Then we begged for patience

Saying, “Hard times’ll soon be over”

“Just give us another chance” we said,

“All loopholes we’ll surely cover”

We continued to calm the people

Stilling their temper’s thunder,

“We promise to do better next time” we said,

But they reply, “don’t even bother”

So we saw our sand castles crumble,

By the winds, put asunder

Down went our excuse for a legacy

Our fault for not making it stronger

Democracy is government of the people and by the people - but remember, it is also government FOR the people… It is the people’s responsibility to keep the government in check. If you can’t do that, then you shouldn’t give any candidate your mandate.


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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

Image courtesy tribuneonlineng.com


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