Beyond the euphoria that greeted the signing into law of the Not-Too-Young to Run, JOHN NWOKOCHA, while evaluating the fallouts, posits that this development should be a transition from the old to the young as well as from the past to the future
Not-Too-Young to Run Act
With effect from Friday, June1, the arguments about participation by younger Nigerians in politics and governance of the country ended with the signing into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Not-Too-young to Run Bill. So, from that day the Not-Too-Young to Run Act has come to stay. It is interesting to recall that the Bill originated from the House of Representatives, by Honourable Tony Nwulu.
Also, it is remarkable because its processes to becoming a law satisfied Section 9 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, which stipulates ways by which the Constitution can be altered by the National Assembly in collaboration with the various state houses of assembly and the president, despite the politics it had generated between the two major political parties-APC and PDP. But amidst the excitements over the signing of the bill is challenge of young Nigerians, who the act targets to benefit maximally from it.
Major paradigm shift
It is important for the young people to note that this is an opportunity for a major paradigm shift to bring suitably qualified younger persons massively into all cadres of leadership, governance and administrative positions. In the light of the challenge the young persons should begin now to make adequate preparations for leadership of the country.
Following the signing of the bill, a group of young Nigerians, comprising professionals of both sexes met in Abuja, last weekend and brainstormed on strategies to make capital of the act. One of their strategies is ventilating their agenda through the mass media.
A leading voice of the group, simply called Paul, in a memo articulated their plans, saying among other aspirations that they will continue to advocate for restructuring of leadership machinery of the country to accommodate the youth into whose hands the future of Nigeria will fall.
Few privileged politicians
They argue that since 1999 the political space has been contracting, instead of expanding, due to the egocentrism of a few privileged politicians who have appropriated, monopolized and taken over our hard won democracy from the military.
“What merely started as a happenstance following the circumstances through which democracy was wrest from the grip of the military has now become the norm”. The memo reads.
Expatiating further, the group said, “It would be recalled that in the 1999 presidential election, Nigerians was literarily left with two choices; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Chief Olu Falae of the All Peoples Party (APP). What does these two gentlemen have in common? Obasanjo was former military Head of State, while Olu Falae was former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) and former Minister of Finance. The seed was thus sowed that one must be a former this or former that, before being considered worthy of seeking elective political offices in the country. To be young and politically ambitious has become a taboo in Nigeria. Only the old, retired and tired are considered eligible to be lawmakers at the National Assembly by the political parties’ leaderships. The same applies to other elective positions.
Massive recycling of failed leadership
“It is on this score that the country is witnessing a massive recycling of failed leadership. These failed leaders who had become stupendously rich are perpetuating themselves, their families and their cronies in power in one form or the other”.
Continuing they said: “Have you noticed that if Nigerians are discussing potential presidential candidates ahead of the 2019 general elections the first thing that readily comes to their minds are former vice presidents,former governors, former ministers among others. This is happening at a time when the world are looking for those not tainted by politics to take over leadership and run their countries with professional touches. That is what the United States did when they rejected politicians like Hillary Clinton and went for Donald Trump who has never been in politics but well known as a businessman and real estate developer.
Similarly in Ireland the new Prime Minister is 38 years old son of an Indian immigrant, Leo Varadkar. He is the youngest prime minister of Ireland who was elected to drive new direction for the Irish. There is also the 41 years old President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who is a departure from the old order in France. Around the world citizens are changing the old political order that has failed them. Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind.
We don’t need to name, names, but go to our National Assembly, especially the Senate, and one would understand the country’s dilemma. What you have is a Senate that is populated with former governors and former permanent secretaries whose services when they were governors or in civil service was anything but salutary”.
For the group, the seeming hijack of the political space and governance by spent politicians is a vexed issue. They said, “after spending eight years as governors, most of them ‘retire’ as Senators. They are collecting pensions as former governors, while pocketing N30million monthly for their maintenance at the National Assembly. In some cases the former governors will be in the Senate, while their wives are in the House of Representatives. These things are happening at a time there are millions of professionals, middle class Nigerians from the corporate world and the academia, among others seeking for space to be accommodated to contest elections to serve the people and present new ideas that could move the society forward.
The situation has also been made worsened by the political parties who allowed state governors to hijack the political parties’ machineries. In most of the political parties in the country, especially the leading ones, the governors are said to be the leaders of the parties
in their various states. Where the party is lucky to occupy the Presidency, the President becomes the national leader of the party, never mind that the party also has a national chairman. Under this faulty arrangement, often backed by the parties’ constitutions, several Nigerians have been shut out of the political process, in terms of seeking for elective offices.
Marginalisation of professionals, youths
On what they call marginalisation of professionals, youths and women in politics and governance, they said it was regrettable that after eight years in power, only the persons anointed by the governors can emerge as the parties’ candidates to take over from them.
“All other contenders are shut out. Often times it were the best brains, those that would not do the bidding of the outgoing governors that are victims. The governors gain by installing their stooges or puppets, who they expect to cover their corrupt tracks-as most of them are very corrupt, while the states and the nation lose the quality services that technocrats without Godfathers could offer”.
Cautioning on 2019 general elections, they said; “And as the country moves closer to the 2019 general elections most state governors whose tenures are coming to the end of their maximum eight years term are nursing plans to go to the Senate. There is even the case of a governor who was a senator before he became governor. As he is about to finish his tenure as governor, his posters are everywhere indicating that he wants to go back to the Senate. This should be unacceptable.
Absurdity in political system
While insisting that the time has come a real change in the country, they cite an absurdity in the political system saying:
“Recently, a sitting governor and a member of the ruling party at the centre got the shock of his political life. Even though he is the leader of the party in the state, before ‘his very eyes’ the rug was pulled from under his feet. What was his offence? As his eight years in office is coming to an end next year, he has decided to take his ‘retirement benefit’ at the National Assembly as a senator, while insisting that the next governor must be the husband of his daughter.
Don’t forget that this governor if he succeeds in his plan to go to the Senate, he will in addition be entitled to his pension as former governor, which is usually huge and burdensome to the state’s treasury. By his actions he has lost grip of the party in the state and his party is likely to lose the state in 2019.
“The treatment meted to this state governor should be the model for the sit-tight politicians who do not want to give way for new ideas and new people to enter the political space and chart a new course”.
The campaign for a change from the old order of cronyism, nepotism and Godfatherism, to a new order of leadership recruitment based on competence and capacity, is gaining support. Unarguably, people put in their best in their youth. And going by the nation’s population records the youth form the majority of the population. In the light of this, it will be a welcome development to give professionals a chance to salvage this country from moneybags and political spent forces, actively participating in elective positions in governance at all levels.
