In every cycle of elections in Nigeria, none fails to deliver some sort of narrative and provide an enduring image. Yes, in Nigeria, we are a very forgetful lot. Our attention span is usually very short. This is not ideal for a nation that wants to grow, because growth and development often arise from the pain and annoyance of previous experiences. Still, some images refuse to go away.
So, last week, a video went round of a trailer, fully loaded with bags of rice being distributed at the Alausa secretariat in Lagos. What’s very poignant about this video is that the bags of rice were actually being thrown at civil servants of the State. So, one thing is very clear, this group of people are actually employed. They have jobs, but all the same, they are poor, desperate, impoverished, beggarly, indigent, and deprived.
The video shows about 10 men on the top of a trailer throwing bags of rice. Conservatively, those fighting, struggling, and desperate to get a fraction of the bags of rice could be as many as 3000. Obviously, it depicts survival of the fittest. The distribution is not even, nor systematic. It certainly was not based on some sort of criterion. From the clip I saw, I have no way of determining the number of successful people, but it’s hard to justify the indignity suffered for the sake of a bag of rice.
From the video, there are many dimensions to understanding the precarious situation we have found ourselves in. One of those dimensions is certainly in relation to the interplay between power and poverty. Indeed, the video depicts the relationship between power and poverty in the worst form. Worse, these affected Nigerians are not street urchins but civil servants of the State. But they reinforce the argument I have made before. The majority of Nigeria’s civil servants, both in the States, and in the federal government, are largely a form of social service. It was not intended so, but it has become so. Majority of those employed in the civil service are employed for the purpose of receiving some sort of salaries, and not for an exchange of services towards the State. In essence, there is an unwritten contract that the State pays whatever it can afford, while they do the barest minimum necessary. There is no accountability, matched with responsibility.
They are poor, but most of them also know they are not competitive outside of the civil service. Most of this group of civil servants are found in the very lower cadres. They have no hope, nor ambition of rising to the top. But the other group, and you will not find this group in the video, are destined to or are at the top of the civil service cadre, and they decide the future of the State or appropriately, share the proceeds left by political office holders.
At the root of this are ignorance, injustice and poverty. Essentially, the video is symptomatic of the dynamic interplay between power and poverty in Nigeria. It is fuelled by ignorance, but sustained by injustice and poverty. It played out also in the recent presidential elections. President Muhammadu Buhari clung to power after expanding poverty and ignorance. And I wonder, what is the essence of power if not for the purpose of eradicating ignorance and poverty? Rational expectations would be that those that expand ignorance and poverty will not have the opportunity to do so again.
But Nigeria is not in an ideal situation, except that I expect that every leader should transcend beyond the shallow thinking of the generality of their followers. But those leaders are also not ideal here in Nigeria. The ones here expand poverty and ignorance, and use the same for the purpose of wining elections or usurping positions. They realised, more than many of us, that when you are too poor, you are also not able to think about how you became poor.
So, in relation to poverty, three explanations can be made regarding the presidential elections. Except in the South West, there was no clear pattern that poverty (economy) was the number one priority for Nigerians. In the South East and South South, that distinction was not clear because they have always voted the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), so it’s not clear whether poverty was a concrete issue this time. In the core North, they have always voted President Muhammadu Buhari. Though his main challenger was a Fulani Muslim like the President, there is no concrete evidence that poverty consideration was strong. My take therefore is that only the South West provided evidence that the weakness in the economy was a strong factor.
So, as poverty expanded considerably in the last four years, no matter the extent of the poverty, many clung to him. I had thought poverty does not recognise Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa, but every time, we are proved wrong that the main problem is ignorance and not poverty. It just so happens that most people that are ignorant are also poor. It is thus in the interest of our politicians to keep majority ignorant, and poor in order for us to continue to have the nature of results we had last week.
So, while I think poverty should matter, and the dignity of Nigerians should matter in our elections, I believe I am in the minority. The others see relationship between power and ethnicity, and religion, underpinned by ignorance.
I thank you.
Ogho Okiti
