1) Why do out-going Governors keep insisting on coronating their successors? The answer is simple: to protect their loot, saddle the state with Incompetent new chief executive and loyalty. Indeed the ex governors have been successful in protecting their loot and saddling the state with incompetent successor as record shows that no ex governor in the state has been successfully investigated by the successor for corruption. However, they have not been so successful in retaining the loyalty of their successors. Usually the new governor will maintain a semblance of loyalty in the first few months to secure his position and learn the art of looting and thereafter become a master of himself. The successor will then employ every tactics to out- loot the predecessor so as to be relevant in the scheme of things after leaving the governorship post. But what do we expect when the successor watches his predecessor enjoying his loot and acting as a king-maker after leaving office. So the vicious circle and competition for who will loot the most out of our treasury continues. 2) WHAT CAN ABIANS DO?: A) Support the fight against corruption/ restructure of our political parties. B) Be willing to express themselves and become active participants. C) Defend their mandate. D) Get to know the candidates and vote for a competent leader. First and foremost, for the avoidance of doubt, let me be clear and state unequivocally that Governors will continue to loot our public treasury with impunity as long as there are no adverse consequences to them for doing so. No society had moved forward when its leaders go unpunished for corrupt enrichment while in office. While we cannot prosecute sitting governors for corrupt practices, why have we failed to do so when they are out of office/power? Consequently, we can begin by electing the right persons into office and insisting that they bring ex corrupt officials to book. For us to fight corruption, we must start from disciplining ourselves and send the right message to our elected officers. I realize that It is difficult to fight corruption in an empty stomach. But nothing will change unless we are willing to make the necessary sacrifice. If not for ourselves, why not for our children?. Are we ready to continue to mortgage our children future for a token? Therefore, we must start to resist the little things/gifts from our leaders that corrupt our own minds if we must insist on our new leaders doing the right things. Closely related to the above is the urgent need to restructure our political parties so that election of party candidates will be based on popular participation of the people and not by an out going Chief Executive whose primary interest is to protect his amassed wealth from the peoples treasury. Secondly, our people have bottled up grievances over the years from bad governance, signs of which are every where. This is the time to freely express our selves. It is our constitutional right. Its is time to stand up in rallies and ask the candidates serious questions about our future. The current practice is that the majority of our people are busy sharing rice and chicken and money that they dont even know what happens in a political meetings and rallies. We get preoccupied with these minor things and forget the main reason why we were there in the meeting or rally. Consequently, we are taken for granted. Its time to express our anger at the way we have been governed so far. We have been sleeping for too long. Its time to wake. There are so many things we can do to express our collective disgust. I have seen raw eggs being thrown at the wind screen of motorcades of corrupt leaders. I have seen people shout ole in the face of their corrupt leader. I have seen multitudes sitting down and blocking every important public/ government offices, facilities, major roads, tarmacs etc in peaceful protest against corrupt leaders. But what I have not seen in other parts of the World is where people just sit and do nothing in the face of massive looting of their collective wealth by their elected leaders in a democratic setting. Additionally, we must insist and organize a state wide debates for the front runners and watch them sell their program and face serious questions from us during the said debates. Thirdly, because of their unpopularity with the electorates, the governors rely on rigging as a means of winning election. But let us remember that election rigging is done by human beings and human beings can stop rigging too. What is required is a watchful electorate determined to defend their mandate during election. We must therefore go out to vote in mass and stay back to defend our votes with all it takes. When the riggers of our election see the fire in our eyes and realize that we are determined to defend our mandate, they will retreat. That is the peoples power. Let us us exercise it collectively. Above all, we must vote for a competent candidate. For us to do this, First and foremost, we must put these candidates to the strictest test; dig deeper into their past and the sources of their acquired wealth, character and their program for the development of the state. This is partly what the Governorship Debate will seek to uncover for the electorate. A major reason we must insist on these debates anchored by professionals is to help expose the candidates past and gain insight in their programs and abilities to think on their feet . Investigative journalists and the campaign teams of these candidates should also be encouraged to dig deeper into the finance sources of these candidates and share their findings with the electorate in their newspapers and in their campaign tours/rallies respectively. A vote for a candidate with an unverifiable sources of wealth is a vote to loot our treasury again. Let us therefore make this governorship campaign robust, issue based and fact finding to help the electorate make a wise decision. An electioneering campaign of the above nature will help the electorate in their decision to vote for the right candidate who must be among other things: A person willing and determined not only to fight the looting spree but must also put our state on the path of sustainable development. A person who has track record and understands that there is more to life than this primitive accumulation of wealth and looting of public funds. A person of honor and strong will. A person who will confront the status quo fearlessly. A person with genuine desire for our peoples progress. A person who understands that the greatest reward for a public officer lies in the love of his/ her people for good governance and how many lives he/she positively touched. A person who will differentiate between loyalty and sycophancy. A person who truly fear God.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 09:30:26 +0000
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