One depressing feature of our democracy
is how a few good men and women who have shown interest in running for
public office have been continually shut out or messed up by a system
that encourages mediocrity rather than competence. How come then that we
still continue to complain about the failure of leadership at all
levels of governance in the Fourth Republic? However, this tragedy of
our political development is nothing new. It has, sadly, been a
recurrent factor in our political history where the quality of leaders
has been directly linked to our underdevelopment. The seriousness of
this national malaise caught the attention of the late literary icon,
Chinua Achebe, who in his seminal work, The Trouble with Nigeria, blamed it on the failure of leadership.
But the situation has since become worse
The crisis of leadership which began in
the years after independence heightened during the years when untested
military officers ran the affairs of the country with fiat and took
decisions in the inebriated confines of their officers’ mess. Their
civilian counterparts on the other hand subjected the choice of leaders
to the narrow prism of zoning and godfatherism. The effect of these is
that competent leaders with the capability to lead never emerge.
Instead, our country especially in the Fourth Republic has been
administered by incompetent leaders-products of zoning and godfathers’
impositions. The mess of this anomaly lives with us today because
fourteen years after democracy berthed in our country; the dividends
still elude Nigerians.
Another major reason for Nigeria’s
leadership crisis is the role money has played in our politics. The
political dynamics of the Fourth Republic is such that have ensured that
only moneybags politicians or their candidates occupy elective offices.
They have often deployed huge resources to corrupt the electoral
process. Those who genuinely seek to run for public offices are often
deterred from doing so because it is an expensive venture. Picking a
governorship ticket, for example, can be the most expensive venture in
the world. The money politics at the heart of candidate’s selections in
the political parties is the bane of our politics today. Many of the
victims of the system have subsequently adopted the ‘’siddon look
approach’’; while those that cannot beat the system have blended to
deepen the culture of mediocrity. In the former category are the likes
of Dora Akunyuli, Pat Utomi, and many others with genuine intentions but
without the backing of a godfather or the financial wherewithal. Sadly,
the former governor of Central Bank and a serial governorship candidate
in Anambra State, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has joined the growing list
of technocrats who are the victims of our warped democracy. His dream of
becoming the governor of Anambra State continues to be a mirage.
I consider the political circumstances
that deny the likes of Soludo as a tragedy for his state and the nation
in general. Given his credentials, Soludo is the pride of our country.
He should thus be courted by any political party he has chosen to
actualise his ambition. That he decides in the chaotic Anambra politics
while he could have returned to many of his international and high-
profile jobs must be considered a privilege. I believe the state stands
to benefit from a man like that. It is a pity that political players in
the state do not realise the danger of excluding candidates like him.
Given its human and material resources, Anambra is grossly
underperforming. It needs the like of Soludo to turn its fortune around.
This is not to forget the good works of the incumbent Governor Peter
Obi. Since 1999, the state had been the theatre of violence perpetrated
by unscrupulous politicians. The godfathers of Anambra politics with
ties in Abuja who sought to forcefully control political power turned
the once prosperous state into a theatre of violence. In the height of
their infamy, a sitting governor was kidnapped in broad daylight. The
chaos that dominated Anambra politics stalled development. In my
estimation, the state should be doing much better today. But it lost
almost a decade of development to the brigandage of politicians. Most
parts of the state are still underdeveloped. Infrastructure are in short
supply. This is not to talk about the ecological monster of
environmental degradation. The emergence of the outgoing governor, Peter
Obi, however, brought sanity to once chaotic political environment.
Anambra State was denied development by godfathers whose allegiance was
to Abuja to the detriment of their state. Anambra is a paradox. The
state is also home to some of the best brains in the country. It is also
populated by very hard-working people. The historical city of Onitsha
is the centre of commerce.
It is thus ironical that such a state
has allowed its mediocre politicians to dominate its affairs. That is
why its people must work for its transformation by encouraging their
best brains to govern the state. The state is too important to be left
in the hands of political jobbers. The year when the former governor,
Chris Ngige, was abducted by political gangsters in broad day light is
the picture that comes to mind when one talks about political
development in the state. The interregnum of peace that defined Peter
Obi’s years should be maintained. But that atmosphere of peace and
development can only continue when the right leaders are allowed to
emerge at all levels of governance. In this wise, candidates such as
Chukwuma Soludo and others must be encouraged to realise their political
ambition. This makes the news of his disqualification a terrible blow
in the quest to develop the state. The excuse that the ticket has been
zoned should not explain why a candidate of such stature as Soludo
cannot contest the election. I believe the disqualification of Soludo is
political. There is no reason why a candidate of his stature should
struggle. APGA should consider it a plus that a candidate like him
joined the party in the first place. This might yet be their greatest
undoing in the November election.
Given his academic and public service
achievements, Soludo is a proud export of the state As a governor of
Central Bank; he started the financial restructuring that led to the
banking consolidation of that era. The success he recorded as Central
Bank governor was validated by the internationally renowned Bankers Magazine, one of the world’s leading magazines on global banking published by the Financial Times
of London. In 2005, he was named the African and Global Banker of the
Year. Among his many achievements in the Nigerian financial sector was
his effort at reforming the Nigerian banking industry. The prescription
of new capital requirements led to an unprecedented and successful
consolidation in the banking sector.
The restructuring and reorientation of
the sector hit 3billion dollars. About 500 million of the fund came from
abroad. It was on record that no policy has raked in so much investment
into Nigeria’s non-oil sector within a period of one year in the
country’s entire history. The impact of the reform boosted foreign
interest in the Nigerian economy. In the years Soludo was governor, the
share of the banking sector in the market capitalisation of the Nigerian
Stock Exchange was about 24 per cent. But it rose to 50 per cent making
banking sector stocks the preferred stocks in the exchange. Soludo is a
leading light and proud son of Anambra who should be encouraged to
bring his wealth of experience and international contacts for the
overall development of the state. The travails of the former Central
Bank governor and many others like him across the federation are
unfortunately the tragedy of our politics today.
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