March 28, 2015 –Read this before you vote

By Funso Doherty: Originally Published In Businessday Newspapers March 23 2015

Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

Do you know who you will vote for in the presidential election on March 28? It’s the billion-naira question of the moment. If you are one of the undecided, let me in this brief article suggest an approach to help in making the choice. If you have decided, and are sure you have made your own choice, I hope that after reading this article you will at least question that choice even if only to confirm it.

In the private sector, when looking to fill a job vacancy, we typically start with a job description, and in assessing competing candidates, we refer to the job description. The reason we do this is to ensure that the person we hire is a good fit for the need that we have and that by pinning our hopes on this or that candidate, we can attain the desired outcomes and results.

Consider then, if you will, the following job description:

Position

President of the world’s 7th most populous nation and the largest economy on the African continent, measured in terms of GDP.

Primary responsibilities

The successful candidate will have overall executive responsibility for the Nigerian nation. He will be provided with immense financial and other resources by willing contributors and the party machinery at federal and state levels to conduct a successful electoral campaign. Upon succeeding, he will, in close consultation with those who facilitated his success, make wide-ranging appointments to executive offices at various levels. In this regard, he may be compulsorily required to accept certain nominees regardless of his own assessment of their capacity for those offices, and in accepting to run for office, he will undertake to be so bound. His most important primary responsibilities shall be: (i) to ensure that his own interests, and more importantly, those of the key stakeholders that facilitated his election, are protected and furthered, and (ii) that appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure that power is retained by the party machinery upon conclusion of his term(s) of office. Most importantly in this regard, he is to ensure that sufficient financial resources are at the disposal of the party machinery to justify the immense investment made in facilitating his election and to prosecute the next round of elections. To ensure his ability to deliver on this mandate, he will inherit a severely weakened institutional and governance framework within which he will operate with great latitude. In particular, the independence and effectiveness of critical institutions of accountability like the judicial system, the attorneys-general (federal and state), the police, the national and state houses of assembly, and Federal Inland Revenue Service have been significantly impaired and, as a result, the successful candidate will enjoy a level of freedom and control that is almost never found in a modern democratic society. The successful candidate must have a deep understanding that, although not widely recognized, it is this weak institutional framework that is the key to delivering on his primary responsibilities, and fulfilling his obligations to his sponsors. He must therefore not be overly zealous in seeking or permitting reform of these institutions, as he shall be expected to bequeath their limited effectiveness to his successor at the end of his term.

Secondary responsibilities

Subject to, and generally only to an extent that does not threaten the achievement of the primary responsibilities outlined above, the successful candidate shall be free to work with the agreed individuals assigned to the various portfolios and offices, to address the perennial problems of insurgency that rages in increasing sections of the country, poverty, poor life expectancy, health and education deficiencies and decaying infrastructure. The candidate may, only with due and appropriate consultation and consent, temporarily de-emphasize the primary responsibilities in favour of these secondary responsibilities, typically in crisis situations where the maintenance of law and order appears threatened. Upon resolution of same, the usual order of priorities will be expected to be promptly reinstated.

Clearly, the preceding is not what most Nigerians want in a leader. Yet, many of our leaders have operated as though this is the very job they are employed to perform. Indeed, while this description may seem overly stylized for dramatic effect, it is, sadly, more the norm than the exception for Nigerian political officeholders, especially if we consider their aggregate leadership outcomes and results as they affect the average Nigerian, which, mildly put, have been disappointing.

It should be equally clear that for a small minority of us, the preceding description is exactly the type of candidate they want. We must also recognize that this so-called small minority is small in numbers only. They control vast resources and are very highly motivated to maintain the status quo. These are the infamous vested interests. And this is the key to understanding why Nigeria’s much-vaunted potential has remained mostly that – potential.

To move forward, we must first acknowledge and understand that we do not all share the same definition of progress. We must not be ignorant of the fact that there are those whose objectives are certainly inconsistent with, and potentially fundamentally opposed to ours, to our welfare and to the development of our nation.

Then, to overcome such interests, we must be acutely aware of our own strengths and we must play to those strengths. We may not have as much financial resources as they do, but they cannot have as many people as we do, and in a functional democracy, people-power prevails. We must translate those numbers into votes and the key to doing that is awareness, engagement and taking responsibility. The key is you and me.

As we go to the polls on March 28, the right job description is more like:

Position

President of the world’s 7th most populous nation, and the largest economy on the African continent, measured by GDP.

Primary responsibilities

The successful candidate will have overall executive responsibility for the Nigerian nation. If successful, he will be entrusted with the aspirations of over 170 million souls, the teeming majority of whom are weary and downtrodden but, in the true spirit of our great and resilient people, nevertheless hopeful. The successful candidate must have a deep passion for Nigeria and its people and be driven by a calling to serve, as the role will be greatly demanding, and may often be thankless. He will be expected to very quickly build, with commitment and competence as the primary qualifications, a team to work with him to: (1) Raise the life expectancy of the average Nigerian at birth from less than 55 years, closer to the developed nations’ average between 75 and 80, and reduce infant mortality from over 70 per 1000 live births closer to the developed nations’ average of less than 10 per 1000 live births; (2) Lift a significant proportion of the over 90 million Nigerians classified as poor on a multi-dimensional basis in 2013 out of poverty and work diligently and in good faith to improve the quality of life of all well-meaning, law-abiding Nigerians; (3) Ensure that all young Nigerians below the age of 25, who represent well over half of our population, receive education of a minimum standard that will make them, and consequently Nigeria, relevant in an advancing world; (4) Be an advocate for the average Nigerian, standing as a steward and staunch defender of our collective resources from continued annexation by a relatively small but powerful group acting with impunity; (5) Institute and preside over an orderly society in which the rules are obeyed, laws are fairly and justly interpreted by the courts and the consequences for breaking the law are enforced regardless of socio-economic status.

Secondary responsibilities

The successful candidate will understand that true leadership and lasting progress must go beyond the individual and involve building institutions that survive him and can be effective despite individual human failings. Accordingly, he will be committed to reforming and strengthening key institutions of accountability like the judicial system, the attorneys-general (federal and state), the police, Federal Inland Revenue Service and so on. It is expected that when the successful candidate leaves office, the scope for negative outcomes to be visited on the Nigerian people through the actions, inactions or ill-intentions of his successor(s) will be significantly narrower than at the beginning of his presidency. The candidate we are seeking will know that while his primary responsibilities are urgent and demand his immediate attention, it is these secondary responsibilities that are more important in the long run and that will ultimately determine the sustainability of Nigeria’s development regardless of who rises to power after his tenure. At the end of the day, this is what will determine whether his legacy will endure.

The defining difference between this latter description and the former is Character – the Character of leadership. It is less about individual competences because, after all, governance, especially in a democracy, is a team effort. In my opinion, character in, and of, leadership, is crucial for us as a nation.

It is against these yardsticks that I am doing my own assessment of the two leading presidential tickets (the candidates as well as their running mates) to determine who I will vote for on March 28. Can I ask that you apply the job description test and reach your own conclusions before casting your vote on March 28? We owe at least that much to one another and to our future generations.

And to the candidates, please know that the vast majority of us are trusting that, if elected, you will be a leader in the mould of the latter and not the former.

Data Sources: World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

Funso Doherty-

Originally published in BusinessDay Newspapers March 23,. 2015