Much of the rationale for the formation of a vast array of pressure groups in Nigeria, as elsewhere in the world, is based on the need for good governance – a pre-condition for vibrant, modern societies. That is to saythat pressure groups are the heart and soul of any healthy, people-centred political administration. Therefore, Nigerians should not make the mistake of handing over completely their destinies to the political class. It is too easily forgotten that the texture of man is woven with the threads of corruption. In this connection, political leaders are more prone to corruption than the ordinary people. This reality is neither eastern nor western. Nigeria’s march to progress is extremely slow because the followership including pressure groups have gone to sleep. Consequently, the Nigerian political elite are busy insulting everybody. Shamelessness defines the country’s political culture and this shakes the very foundations of our corporate existence.
But despite all these acts of political recklessness, gross incompetence, nepotism and other forms of corruption, it is not all doom and gloom for Nigeria if we are ready to take the bull by the horns. First and foremost, Nigerians must reject their current culture of docility and complacency. Political leaders must be held accountable for their misbehaviour that is capable of threatening Nigeria’s survival. Protests and demonstrations are some of the legitimate means of curbing the excesses of government. This approach becomes inevitable when the political leaders fail to appreciate and appropriate the multi-scalar and complex character of governance. Up to now, authoritarianism occupies a conspicuous position in the Nigerian democratic process. Such a scenario alienates the people from the government. Indeed, Nigeria is merely practising a caricatured form of democracy. The entire world is laughing at the sleeping African giant.
Interest groups/pressure groups are most desirable for any democracy to flourish. Therefore, Nigeria can only be an exception at its own peril. Pressure groups are organized bodies that seek to influence or modify government policies and their implementation. Contrary to the thinking of the political class, pressure groups are not trouble makers who want to pull down a government for selfish reasons. They build bridges between the government and the ordinary people by providing information and good quality advice to the former. Pressure groups are an outlet for individual and collective grievances and demands for the political leaders to take necessary action. The bottomline is good governance anchored to socio-economic stability- a pre-condition for a healthy society.
Pressure groups in Nigeria include Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Nigerian Medical Association(NMA), Afenifere(a Pan-Yoruba association),OhanaezeNdigbo, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. Issue groups include Amnesty International and Campaign against Censorship. They are broad-based and membership is open to people across the world. These are people who share similar attitudes and/or values. Their areas of interest entail environment beyond borders, human rights across the globe and peace promotion etc.
Nigeria’s democracy is a mere mockery largely because the available institutions in most cases are not operating within the framework of the rule of law. The political leaders have thoroughly disabled our institutions contrary to what exists in saner climes and cultures. This is an encumbrance to societal development. This underscores the reason why pressure groups are most indispensable in Nigeria. But curiously, Nigerians continue to celebrate their abusers. We hardly celebrate our genuine heroes/heroines like late Dr. Stella Adadevoh. Stella Adadevoh (of blessed memory)laid down her life so that other Nigerians would not be swallowed up by the violent stream of Ebola virus a couple of years ago.
Pressure groups in Nigeria can no longer be seriously trusted based on their antecedent actions and inactions. Avarice or unbridled materialism cannot be glossed over in this regard. They have abandoned Nigerians to their fate. Today, most union leadership members see themselves as an arm of government or administration. This creates a lacuna between the government and the ordinary citizens. Indeed, unionism is now a lucrative business. Consequently, union or association members take their leaders with a pinch of salt. Good governance is now a mirage as savagery becomes an important component of our political culture. Nobody cares a hoot!More and more Nigerians butcher fellow humans due to unprecedented material poverty afflicting the country. NLC and ASUU hardly question the government or their employers even in the face of recklessness including provocation. The fight against corruption appears to be a mere smokescreen and the so-called pressure groups are painfully silent. ASUU leadership should be issuing press statements on a regular basis about the state of the nation. It has to worry about such social problems and challenges as nepotism, cronyism, religious bigotry, double standard of morality, electoral malpractices, kidnapping including “adult-napping,” herders’/farmers’ clashes and abduction of school children in the Borno region by the Boko Haram insurgents. NLC and ASUU must be shouting from the rooftops about the excesses of governments at the local, state and federal levels from a non-partisan perspective. It is our collective responsibility to reject the humongous severance pay, new cars, houses and monthly pension for a retired governor and his deputy at the expense of workers and pensioners who are experiencing unprecedented poverty. This is after all the governors’ infractions of economic and financial regulations in their states. What a jungle country!There is no country in the globe that spends so much on governance as Nigeria. Posterity might condemn this generation for keeping quiet in the face of monumental maladministration that of course, pre-dates this current regime.Despite the fact, that we have an ailing economy, each governor still goes home with millions of naira monthly as security votes among other things. This is “legalized” corruption! Our political leaders are oppressive, imperialistic and primitively arrogant because they are stinking rich at the expense of the masses. But unfortunately, the “gown” (academia) has been torn to shreds by the barbed wire called “town”(society). Indeed, both the gown and the town are now moral equals. What a tragedy! Lust for power and unfettered materialism, at the expense of such statutory duties as supervision and teaching of students have crippled Nigerian academics.This scenario has serious implications for sustainable economic development in Nigeria. Therefore, union leaders who have sacrificed their conscience on the altar of materialism and the arrogant, unrepentant, spiritless members of the political class who are always inflicting pains on the Nigerian citizens are not significantly better than baboons in the wild. They need some spiritual rebirth so as to appreciate and appropriate the fact, that extra-materialism is the hallmark of healthy humanity. The Nigerian masses do not need to be blinded by the unpatriotic, hedonistic posturing of our political class including the caricatured pressure groups. The citizens should among other things pity them and begin to work for higher ideals in order to get out of the woods.
- Professor Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.
