The Nigerian politician is a rarebreed. At the level of a
governor, a legislator or even a local government chairman he has developed a
system that enables him to run roughshod over the electorate, keep them at his
beck and call even as he engages in activites and programmes that are not
necessarily to the advantage of those who supposedly voted him into
office. He schemes and plots his way to
perpetuity in office moving from one
position to another and a gulllble electorate that suffer from ethnic and religious
prejudices back him to hilt, even when he is hurting them with his selfish
principles. It’s a tragedy. But it
subsists in the Nigerian nation. Here is a break down of the common approach
that the politicians in Nigeria often use in winning elections and keeping
themselves in power.
1.
Look for a Godfatther: There are not many
politicians in Nigeria who do not have a godfather. The Nigerian scene of
political contest has replaced the mentor/protégé relationship that exists in
other climes around the world with something more crude and belittling in
godfatherism. A so called elder statesman holds the hand of a younger politician
who he has signed a pact with and practically tells the electorate that “this is
the person they should vote for”. The mentor’s approach to this is slightly
different since all the elder politician does is show his support for the
younger with the hope that his older breed of followers and loyalists will
follow suit in with their support. The Godfather
is expected to swing the nomination for his candidate within the party and help convince delegates and even induce them
to vote for the person of his choice. This inducement could mean outright bribery at times so the Godfather ought to have deep pockets.
2.
Once the nomination is obtained in the party the
next step is to campaign for and contest the elections. There are many forces
that could sway a candidate into office. Some virutally unknown candidates
would ride on the “coat tails” of a popular candidate and get into political
office merely because they are in the same party. We saw this play out a lot
during the Buhari 2015 victory in which many unknown candidates in the
legislative and even at the gubernatorial level came into office. Many of them
had merely taken the gamble to see what could come out of it. At the end of the
day, they do not take their responsibility seriously and are merely out to
enjoy the trappings of office for as long as possible. Elections can be won in different ways.
Politiicians in this part of the world work hard to influence the outcome of
the ballot. Bribing electoral officials, tip voters to vote in their favor,
nothing should be put past these desperadoes who would do anything to achieve
their goal.
3.
Once in office, its good to begin with a few
populists moves in form of projects or what we love to call “dividends of
democracy” to entice the populace and make them feel you are on their side.
Usually the opposite is the case. A few years in power and the real politician
will manifest. Many of them behave like the proverbial mad man who uses the hoe
to plough the field to his favor. During this stage of his political scheme,
the incumbent gets involved in as many projects or contracts as possible. The
idea is to have as many sources of returns or finance as he is able to. The
objective is to build a nest egg. Some of them virtually dip their hands into
the treasury and take out what they need. Others funnel the resources they need
through contracts to friendly companies or companies in which they have
interests so they can reap the benefits
directly.
4.
While building a nest full of eggs, its important
for the politicians to spread as many favors as possible around. Help people,
give contracts and carry your party members along so that you can build a
support base and when its time for you to leave office you have a support system
in place. If you have built enough wealth then this support system will last.
Money is the name of the political game in Nigeria, numbers help, but money
helps to garner numbers. Most political
office holders spend a full term or two terms unless of course they out play
the game and get schemed out in the whole process. If a governor , for instance, can carry all
the key party members in his state along, have the state house of assembly in
his pocket and continue to spread the money around the party members, he would
remain popular in the party even if he does not do much for the electorate that
voted him into power. Once the nest egg
is built you are ready to leave office. Leaving office could mean moving into
another political office, where possible, one that is juicy enough for you to
double dip. (Double dipping is a situation where a political officer holder who
has lived out his term receive emoluments from the former office as well as a
new office to which he has just been (s)elected.
5.
Often you may miss the opportunity to get
selected or elected into another position. If this happens, you are open to
litigation over the money you made away with in the former office. The best way
out is to hire legal muscle that would confuse the court and delay the case
into perpetuity, until its either
discarded or forgotten.
Many politicians in Nigeria have used this
strategy in various forms and situations and got lucky. They have enriched
themselves and their families into many generations to come with stolen or
embezzled loot which would remain irrecoverable forever.
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