Memo to retiring politician

…also published in Daily Trust

Now that the 2019 election season in Nigeria is over, and as has always been the case at the end of every election season, the winners are already celebrating while looking forward to starting their new tenure. They are also already being lobbied by lobbyists and aspiring political appointees lobbying for appointments as ministers, ambassadors, commissioners, advisers, assistants, etc.

On the other hand, the grieving losers are already coming to terms with their losses, though many of them are preparing to contest the election results in courts, in hopes of reclaiming what they rightly or wrongly consider their rightful mandates.

Invocation for election victory: Whose wish deserves to be granted?

…also published in Daily Trust

It is common knowledge that, towards and during election season in Nigeria, many, if not all, politicians engage the services of some so-called marabouts and prayer warriors under the illusion that they can somehow manipulate circumstances in their favour to win an election.        

This practice is, however, growing into a phenomenon in Kano and potentially northern Nigeria where contending political groups hold special invocation sessions in public, performing prayers, reciting the Qur’an and sometimes offering animal sacrifice, for the victory of their respective candidates.

Gandujegate: How posterity will judge Kanawa

Like their counterparts across Nigeria, Kanawa head to the polls tomorrow for gubernatorial and state legislature elections. However, for them in particular, this gubernatorial election is particularly important, for it determines how posterity will judge them, morality-wise, according to their collective reaction to governor Ganduje’s viral kickbacks-taking video clips.  

Apparently, a significant percentage of Kanawa underestimate the long-term moral implications of this scandal on their collective dignity, with many of them even wondering why bother singling out Ganduje for condemnation since, after all, kickbacks-taking is already a usual practice among government officials in the state and the country at large.

Election amid scarcity of kayan aiki

…also published in Daily Trust

Nigeria holds its presidential election tomorrow amid scarcity of kayan aiki especially compared to the 2015 presidential election when kayan aiki literally flooded the country’s political terrain. On the eve of that election, I wrote “The politics of Kayan aiki” (Daily Trust, Friday, March 27, 2015).

Quoting from that piece, the term Kayan aiki “… probably developed following the country’s return to democracy in 1999, and has ever since then been commonly used, though largely informally, in political context. Kayan aiki, which also literally means tools, stands metaphorically for the financial inducements doled out to the electorate by candidates with a view to winning their votes during elections.”

Unsurprisingly, kayan aiki-sharing formula isn’t only disproportionately lopsided but hugely exploitative as well, as every beneficiary literally grabs his share according to his real or perceived potential to influence election results in his constituency. The elite beneficiaries of kayan aiki, e.g., power brokers and other public figures at the local, state and federal levels always end up with the largest chunk of the amounts allocated to their respective constituencies leaving the voters with peanuts.

If I were to vote…

…also published in Daily Trust

Being admittedly apathetic when it comes to voting, I can’t recall the last and only occasion I voted in Nigeria, or even who I voted for, for that matter. Also, having never happened to be in Nigeria during any election for over a decade, I have not been in a position to vote in the first place. However, I have always hoped for the victory of the relatively good candidates regardless of their partisan affiliations.  

Apparently, my apathy towards voting is informed by an underlying assumption that there is never any significant difference between most of the candidates vying for various political offices, in terms of vision, competence and willingness to deliver. After all, after two decades of alternation in power among them, only a few of them have actually proved quite different in terms of real achievements.