Dr. Bitrus Pogu, National President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), shares his thoughts with ISAAC SHOBAYO on Nigeria’s 26 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, assessing its achievements, failures, and the path forward.
SIR, what is your assessment of 26 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria?
Nigeria has unfortunately regressed. The democratic institutions that should guide our development have not developed to a point where we can confidently say democracy has come to stay. For example, the institutions that we can use like the judiciary, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and even the security services have all deteriorated.
Before democracy, we never imagined we could have insurgency on our soil, yet today we have it. Instead of economic growth, we have witnessed continuous decline. Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, the economy experienced growth whether we want to believe it or not. The same can be said during the PDP administration. But with the advent of the APC government—fuelled largely by propaganda—things started falling apart. The economy worsens by the day, and our currency has been devalued drastically. When Jonathan left office, the dollar was around ₦200; today, it’s about ₦1,500 and fluctuating wildly.
So economically, we have gone down and even democratic institutions have also gone down hill. INEC has not improved. Rather it is the courts that determine election winners and not the [votes of the electorate in the] election itself. The situation is the same with the judiciary; judgements are passed in such a way that that even laypeople without the knowledge of law can tell something is wrong. We have degenerated to the level that unless something is done, we might go back to where we started, and that would be unfortunate. The security forces have been so compromised that everyone is now dancing to the tune of those in power. So we have not gotten it right; rather, we have degenerated to the level that we can say it is unfortunate.
You’ve cited institutional decay and insecurity. What is your view on the political class? Have they lived up to public expectations?
Not at all. The political class is responsible for the corruption of these institutions. They want to win elections at all costs, by all means, using either the judiciary or INEC. The corruption in these institutions resulted from the behaviour of the political class, of those in power who are manipulating these institutions for their benefits.
What about the lack of clear political ideology, especially with the frequent defections from opposition to ruling parties without due process?
That again is a failure of the political class. Impunity is the word. Many in public office behave like demigods. They obey the law when it is convenient for them. The constitution, which is supposed to be the authority, is sometimes set aside for selfish reasons. People have become winners based on court pronouncements rather than the ballot. The political class is responsible for the weakening of the Constitution. Today, even the Inspector General of Police plays the role of he who pays the piper calls the tune, rather than what the Constitution says concerning their duties and responsibilities to the nation. So we are experiencing all these because the political class has no clear-cut ideology. The Constitution and manifestos of the political parties are just there on paper; politicians don’t obey them. That is why there is [electoral] litigation all over the place. The truth is that the political class has not managed itself the way it should. That is why we have degenerated to the level we are.
What steps can Nigeria take to overcome these obstacles and get back on track?
I don’t believe political education alone can solve this problem; it’s deeply ingrained in the Nigerian psyche and it is unfortunate. Do we need a revolution? The revolution doesn’t have to be violent. But we need a turnaround, a turnaround in the sense that people would say we have enough of failure or wrong, and we need to right the wrong. For example, what is difficult in saying: “Let’s transmit the result!” Why are results being delayed? That should have been the easiest thing to do. Let every result be electronically transmitted so that nobody will go and change anything on the paper. What is difficult about this? But it has become a difficult thing in this country for some selfish and corrupt reasons. People know they can’t win, and they want to win by all means. So everyone has to get back to the drawing board to change the system or for a possible turnaround. Both the political class and the electorate must come together to proffer the way out of the abnormal way we are doing things. A good leader can be a trigger for this change, a leader that would say we have had enough of this mess and properly galvanize people for a genuine turnaround.
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Insecurity has worsened significantly. What can the current leadership do to address it?
This insecurity came with the political class; we started feeling it during administration of President Obasanjo in 2002 or thereabout when one group called the Taliban appeared in Yobe State. But because of the strong leadership [ we had at the time], it was nipped in the bud and crushed; it didn’t go anywhere. They traced them to wherever they fled and eventually decimated them. And that was the end of it.
But another [insurgent] resurfaced during President Jonathan’s era, and there was a buildup. Why was there a buildup? There was this argument that the leadership of the country had to come from the North, and the insurgency started to escalate. Things started getting worse and the political class or the insurgents were the driving force. Let’s look at what is happening now. The far North is challenging the government that they are short-changed in so many things, and suddenly insurgency scales up. The Boko Haram that had become a dormant group comes back to life again. For the first time across the whole world, I have never heard of a country where a whole brigade of an army was overrun by riffraffs and untrained insurgents. It has only happened in Nigeria. So with sabotage here and there, we are where we are today, and I think the political class is responsible for this mess.
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