Nigeria in it years of existence as a sovereign and independent entity has seen the emergence of various presidents who has led that nation at one point to another. The practice of Democracy sees the people who are regarded as the electorate elects their choice of leaders. The Nigerian presidents rules for a period of four years each with a chance to seek re-election once, making it the duration of eight years at the maximum for a democratically elected president in Nigeria. This depends if the said president wins his re-election bid.
The advent of President in Nigeria is always one which is always characterized with national jamboree, from the instance of the primary elections within political parties to the place of campaign rallies across the 36 states of Nigeria, including the federal capital territory. There is so much side attraction which are often attached to presidential elections. Right to the election date and the eventual declaration of the winner, the Nigerian situation has often times portray its preferred presidential candidate as the messiah. That is someone who is coming to save them or restore order to a state of despair or abnormalities. Adherents of the Christian faith can easily relate to this comparison.
Within the Nigerian situation and its irregular realities, the political classes have a way of adorning and dressing the various political aspirants that seeks to contest any political post on its platforms as the one who possess the magical wand that will sweep with a thud all the various challenges of the nation.
It is always easy for the people to buy the high fables given on sugar coated mouths of their sellers during these campaign periods. They call themselves sons and daughters of Obafemi Awolowo, offspring of Nnamdi Azikwe, direct descendants of Tafawa Balewa. They come with the sounds of the trumpet, they dance with the clang of the cymbals, in flowing garments cloaked in the colors of their parties with compliments of the green white green of the national flag; they would always paint themselves as the direct image and representation of Nigeria.
They find it easy to leave their highly elated cubicles where pleasure and riches abound in no small measure to relate and talk to the commoner as they lock themselves in a frantic race and tussle to identify with the masses who are already improvised and will do anything to cling on to any small ray of hope to sustain them for the days to come.
It is no secret that many Nigerian without the access to basic amenities to sustain them, lives purely on the strength of that which is not, a reality yet unseen made possible through Hope. Hope they say is a dangerous thing especially when it is been held on to by the masses with no substance to hold on to for the days to come.
It is not always surprising to see these various political Messiah fail, drifting away from the component of their campaign promises and manifestos whenever they eventually assume power. While the Nigerian setting in some light can be said to possess all that it needs to be liberated and be ranked among the best economies of the world. It has on the other hand moved the opposite direction as it various presidents based on the popular opinion of the populace adjudged to have failed.
The reasons behind the failure of the various numbers of the presidents which we have had over the course of our six decades of national existence is because of the fact that they were brought to power not on the interest or the need of the people who are the over two hundred millions citizens out there, instead they are brought to emergence on the need to sustain the relevance of a political party, to appease certain members of our society, to keep power locked in certain areas among other several undignified manner.
The emergence of presidents in Nigeria or other political positions and public offices are mostly influenced not by that pure and simple need to advance the nation, setting it on the path of sustainable growth and developments. It is one that is politically motivated to advance a course that does not involve the nation’s future.
This is why it is so easy to see our leaders redefine our national course of existence to a state whereby the basic rights of the citizens have been turned to privileges. A situation where a few group of people holds the future of the nation to ransom and the people in the midst of plenty settles for crumbs.
The reason why Nigerian President fails is simply that many of them do not possess the passion nor the basic interest of the masses at heart, hence they treat national issues with no sense of sincerity hence we see a reality where the smallest and the most insignificant of issues are treated with the ropes of politics and sentiments attached to them.
While many will disagree with my position on the basics that it is the electorate that votes for these political officers, hence the people must be hold responsible or their woes. Then I must again beg to disagree. Most political elections in Nigeria are always structured in such a way that makes it impossible for the honest and straightforward ones to thrive.
Many times, it is always the battle of the electorate to choose in between two devils, as the process has been filtered to only accommodate only those who can swim with the big fishes of the Nigerian political sea. If you cannot do the bidding of the party big-wigs who are mostly the leagues of the godfathers who has the final say when it comes to decision making, then in one way or the other you will find yourself booted out of the system. There is a need for an urgent change to this long standing system which has ruined the nation enough by adopting a system based on ideological framework; one that does not glorify financial ends or the place of power as the ultimate goal of politics. The ultimate goal of politics must be centered on the common good of all and not on material gains.