When the citizen is his worst enemy

The declaration by President-elect Muhammadu Buhari that he would abide by traffic rules upon his inauguration come May 29 has continued to generate reactions of a diverse hue. Among other commentaries is a strand asking him to reconsider! In making this point, the purveyors cite the tragic circumstance of February 13, 1976 when General Murtala Muhammed was assassinated in traffic.


In their view this was only made possible on account of what they term, a similarly populist security disposition, ignoring the other facts that coups and attacks on other government functionaries had also taken place during administrations before and after Murtala’s and which had more paranoid security systems.


Indeed, the mere fact of citizens asking their leaders to carry on with the bewildering practice of willful violation of the law of the land – under the nebulous guise of ensuring their security – points to a deeper crisis of perverted psyche and mental dislocation. It is a stark demonstration not only of the very little value we place on ourselves, but also of how much down the road, we the people, have travelled to now be unconscionable accessories to our debasement and dehumanization.


I had not finished with my cogitations over this state of abeyance when I chanced upon a post by my friend, Innocent Chukwuma, who dared to make even more outlandish requests! Read him:


‘I woke up this morning thinking that the best symbol of true change the Buhari government can give Nigeria is to convert Aso Presidential Villa to a museum dedicated to study and reflections on how not to govern a country. In its stead, he should make the Defence Guest House, where he is currently staying, the State House. The Guest House is accessible, simple, elegant and presidential enough!’


Before those-who-love-their-leaders-more-than-themselves pick up stones to hurl at Chukwuma, let’s permit him to close his submission:


‘It is simply not possible to retain Aso villa (a city in its own right) and think that the gulf between political leaders and citizens in Nigeria can be bridged. Anybody who has been to the villa knows that it is not part of Nigeria though within the territory.’


That is the point. The first and real challenge of change in Nigeria today is not infrastructural, no matter how laudable that equally is. It is symbolism. Over time, the symbol of governance has been dictatorial, militaristic, alienated and oppressive. We got a military-contrived constitution fraudulently imposed on us. Our leaders take delight in not being like us. Governance is so strained, so distant, that the people really do not hope to get anything from ‘them!’


There is a sense in which this is historical. And here we flashback to the end of the colonial experience in Nigeria, and indeed Africa. According to Frantz Fanon and others who have studied the phenomenon intently, one of the factors that seriously retarded the development of the former colonies is the fact that the emergent ruling class that replaced the overlord was more concerned with taking up the booty rather than properly organizing self-sustaining societies that would last. Contrast the stories of Zimbabwe and Singapore and you will see what we are talking about.


The truth that must then be established is that there is a ringing connection between how we think and what we receive. If the people think more valuably of themselves, they will get better results.


The problem with Aso Rock to put it squarely is that it is too hollow and therefore not true. Aso Rock is a bloated piece of real estate, too opulent for its intended occupant and therefore takes too much resource to maintain. While this also has its direct antecedents in the siege mentality of our military past, it, like our blighted federal structure, is an anachronism that seriously impedes national security!


There is a second point. In countries around the world that encourage a more self-accounting infrastructure and which paradoxically continue to help subvent the bloated lifestyles of our leaders through foreign aid allocations, their state houses contribute substantial revenues to the national till. Tourists daily throng the White House area just as they do in 10, Downing Street. So why not the villa?


A final failing is what Chukwuma was talking about. Queen Antoinette was so alienated that when the rioters of the revolution-era France came protesting the high cost of bread, she instructed her aides to give them the substitute of far more expensive cake! Aso Rock as constituted today, and indeed our overall infrastructure of governance, encourages our leaders to be unfeeling morons. This too must change. I still believe.