Growing up in the 1980s, my first contact with what Nigerian politicians describe as progressives was the establishment of 400 secondary schools by the then governor of old Oyo State Chief Bola Ige in 1980. That singular decision expanded access to education for thousands of children in the state. Now, to better understand the ramifications of that policy, I need to describe myself a bit.
As my name will probably suggest, I was born to parents from the old Bendel state. My dad is from Kiagbodo in Burutu local government of Delta State, while my mum was from Benin. We migrated to Ibadan after my dad got a job at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) as an accountant. Mind you, he applied for the job from Benin, following an advertisement. Very quickly we settled, and joined many other growing number of Nigerians from other parts of Nigeria that started to settle in Ibadan.The University of Ibadan, at the time, was especially a melting pot for academia, irrespective of where you were from. But it was not only the university that attracted skills from outside the city and region, other research centres in Ibadan, multinational companies, and enterprises springing up in the city also did.
I gave a little bit of my history and background to demonstrate that, as a young man, I was really enamoured by the politics of the South West, the politics of the Yoruba. The politics and the quest for power was interesting, and it was interesting because it was for a purpose – transform the lives of people. In school and in life, I understood the role played by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was larger than life, and regarded as the father of the region and the country’s progressive politics. And as a young man, you must be an ingrate not to understand the weight of the achievements of this powerful politician. The first television station, Liberty stadium, the most ambitious secretariat of any kind in Nigeria (even compared to the recent one built in Abuja), Cocoa House Ibadan, and the Odua Group of Companies are all to his credit.
Now, times change, and my economics may not even take me in the direction of Chief Awolowo today, but there are two ingredients that he embodied that makes one wonder if what APC that christen themselves progressives today actually understand what it means. The first is that, Chief Awolowo demonstrated that a progressive politician must be ambitious. We are not referring to ambition by the number of convoys or the size of their security vote. We are referring to ambitions to take people out of poverty. Ambitions underlined by serious and sustained appetite for excellence.
The second point about being progressive is inclusiveness. Read through the history of the Awo era and his adherents that followed in Oyo (Bola Ige), Lagos (Lateef Jakande), Ambrose Alli (Bendel State) etc, they were comfortable in their skin in the quest for excellence, not only for themselves, but for others also. They were so particular about the role of education in the prosperity of nations that they were the first to set up universities, including Ondo, Ogun and Bendel (now Ambrose Alli) State Universities.
So, while there is no doubt in my mind that those ambitions seemingly left our politics following the disastrous reign of the military in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a slight hope that the progression of those that have labeled themselves progressive politicians will change the fortunes of Nigerians when they arrive at the centre. To buttress their progressive credentials, their manifesto included the amendment of constitution towards the devolution of powers to states (but alas 4 years is too short for them), strengthen INEC to reduce and or eliminate electoral malpractices (but we are now told the bill is too close to election), restructure government for a leaner, more efficient and adequately compensated public service (they will not even sign off on minimum wage), and begin widespread consultation to amend the constitution to enable states and local governments to employ state and community police (but they are arresting people for cybercrime). Today, they are so ashamed, so they only promise us Next level (whatever that means).
Now, take their most important policy – trader moni. This is the most pedestrian and shallow policy towards the reduction of poverty. This policy is selective, given that not all those that fulfill the criteria actually receive it, extremely biased, with the focus on areas it can be used to bolster their support for 2019, and incredibly non transparent, and so its anyone guess the magnitude of loophole for corruption. Worse, it is not tied to any form of production. But when some criticize this policy, they argue back that we allowed multi billions as loans to those that have access to government. However, no one will condone the access to multi billion loans just by the very few. Worse still, the progressives in power have done nothing about it in four years. Also, both the billion naira loans and the trader moni loans are underlined by insincerity of purpose.
In conclusion, their manifesto may be progressive, ambitious, inclusive, and exactly what Nigeria and Nigerians need. It may have truly been about change, but these politicians are not progressives, nor are they inclusive. They are what a friend described as “jeun jeun” politicians. If you do not understand what jeun jeun politicians are, ask a friend. They will tell you they are the ones without principles. They are not adherents of Awo principles.
I thank you.
Ogho Okiti
