By Onwubiko Agozino
Do you agree with anything or everything that Wole Soyinka said about the embarrassingly organised and badly marred 2023 elections in Nigeria in which he singled out one party for apparently undeserved harsh words? Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie expressed her disagreement with the ‘strong words’ that Soyinka used in describing one of the candidates, but Adichie did not point out if there is any area of agreement with Soyinka.
Baba Sho done old now. But no matter what he says, he will remain a hero for many; and whatever he says matters to most. We may not always agree with him; but even when we disagree, there may be areas of agreement with his views that must be pointed out in recognition of his complex narratives that are open to interpretation at different levels of analysis.
Personally, I agree with Soyinka that the slogan, ‘Obidient,’ is inappropriate for a democratic society or for a party seeking to be taken seriously by the people. Obedience is more correlated with fascist regimes than with democratic societies prone to debates and freedom of expression without fear. Perhaps, ‘M-Obi-lised’ could have been more grammatical to Soyinka but he is entitled to say that he is not Obidient to anyone. He could have added that he was not Batified nor Atikulated either. He should have said it better but what he said has progressive implications.
The Obidient movement is wider than the Labour Party and it is not an ethnic movement of the Igbo, contrary to comments that wrongly suggest, perhaps to incite Igbophobia. The Igbo voted more for Obasanjo than some Yoruba did. They voted more for Yar’adua than some Hausa and Fulani did. They voted for Jonathan more than some Ijaw did. Even when they voted against Buhari, some of them voted for him too. They did so even when there were Igbo candidates contesting against the candidates they voted for. The Igbo were not the only ones who voted for Peter Obi for president across the country. All parties should commit to offer apologies to the Igbo for the hatred and violence against them and offer them reparative justice.
The task of the Labour Party is to mobilise the masses of workers, farmers, traders and youth through a closer link with the organised labour that has offices already across the country. Peter Obi can commit his significant shishi towards building the party up by, for example, helping to hire full time staff, funding training and workshops for party workers, and helping to open offices across the country. The party can build beyond the organised labour and the Obidients and should mobilise to defend its mandate and be ready to contest every seat in every election going forward. Obi cannot always be on the ballot paper. Labour Party should organise beyond the colonial boundaries of Nigeria and mobilise across Africa for Union Government.
About 26% of the electorate were reported as coming out to vote. Perhaps this figure would have been higher if there were no voter intimidation, ballot box snatching, and violence. To raise this poor turn-out percentage, I have suggested elsewhere that there should be an INEC lottery at every general election. The voters whose numbers are electronically selected would win the prizes in their own senatorial zones. For example, if INEC budgets one billion naira per senatorial zone to be awarded to 1000 voters at the rate of one million each, I bet that the turn-out will be almost 100%.
Such an incentive to vote is small compared to the reported nearly one trillion naira budget of INEC. It is a small price to pay for increased voter awareness and against vote buying. Nigeria should consider abolishing INEC and allowing the state electoral commissions to run all elections, including the presidency and national legislatures elections. Just add the state governor and state assembly elections to the ballot for the federal elections on the same day. Allow voters to be identified with any government-issued ID and not just with the PVC. Allow early and absentee voting. Allow the Diaspora to vote. Allow citizens like Nnamdi Kanu to campaign for referenda of their choice without being locked up even after the courts freed him.
Nigeria should move away from the divisive imperial presidency model and adapt the presidential committee of Switzerland. Each geopolitical region should elect one candidate to the presidential council. Each of them will get a chance to chair the council for one year while serving on the committee, then there is another general election every six years. Any region that elects a male president to the presidential committee will automatically elect a female vice president from the region to the committee of vice presidents and vice versa. Proportional representation will allow smaller parties to be represented in parliament, as in South Africa.
Collective leadership may help to reduce the heat over which region produces the president and focus our attention on what matters. No matter where the president comes from, no region enjoys 100% literacy, poverty eradication, security, electricity, water supply, sewage service, garbage collection, healthcare, motorable roads, employment, gender equity, agricultural subsidies, etc.
Dr. Agozino is a Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
