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AS may have been expected, there were Nigerian-American winners during the recently conducted midterm elections in the United States. In all, a total of eight Nigerian-Americans won elections. The winners, including Segun Adeyina, Gabe Okoye, Solomon Adesanya, Tish Naghise and Phil Olaleye won their legislative seats as state representatives in their districts. Others are Carol Kazeem, who won the Pennsylvania State Representative election in District 159; Esther Agbaje, who was re-elected as Minnesota State Representative in District 59B, and Dr. Oye Owolewa, who was re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C as a shadow representative.
Understandably, Nigerians have been happy to tout and celebrate the achievements of the midterms winners as yet another indication of the capacity and ability of Nigerians to be successful wherever they find themselves. The excitement among Nigerians, including President Muhammadu Buhari who, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, congratulated the winners and wished them a successful tenure, has been palpable. The president expressed appreciation for what he called their invaluable support and partnerships over the years with groups affiliated with the ideals and objectives of Nigerians in Diaspora associations in the United States. On her part, the chairman of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, congratulated the eight Nigerians for making Nigeria proud at the polls. According to her, the performances arose from their immense hard work.
To be sure, Nigerian-born politicians winning elections in European countries, the United States and other parts of the world is not new. And, what is more, the trend is likely to continue given the presence of Nigerians in different countries and keen interest in political processes. Like other Nigerians, we congratulate the representatives just elected during the US midterms and their colleagues in other parts of the world who are also doing Nigeria proud as it were. We, however, believe that there are salient questions thrown up by the development, answers to which might help to place the defective leadership recruitment process in Nigeria in bold relief and to chart the path to a better democratic experience for the vast majority of Nigerians for whom elections mean nothing more than a seasonal ritual, and have little or no prospects of guaranteeing real changes in the standard of living and quality of life.
It is apposite to ask if the eight Nigeria-born US election winners would have won here at home if they had run for election here. Indeed, it is in order to ask if they would have been given party tickets in the first place. Elections in Nigeria, including at intra-party levels, are heavily monetised, fraudulent and susceptible to serial manipulations by moneybags and party hoodlums. On many occasions, contestants are not even aware that the primaries in which they are supposed to be contesting have been conducted already. Therefore, as they celebrate those “doing Nigeria proud” abroad, Nigerians need to equally reflect on the skewed leadership process in Nigeria that constitutes a criminal disincentive to quality candidates and quality representation. The truth is that voters in civilised climes such as the United States are comfortable to a great extent and do not need monetary inducement to vote. If Nigeria is to make progress, therefore, economic issues must be addressed to foster voter independence.
Nigerians must note how remarkably different the climes where the Nigerians in question have been chalking up victories and achievements are from Nigeria in terms of processes and structures. Just how could it have been possible for some of these Nigeria-born electoral winners to achieve the same feat in Nigeria where elections are for the highest bidders? The reality is that the recent primaries conducted by Nigeria’s political parties were noted more for the dollar payments made to induce delegates and make the outcome dependent on who had the biggest “war chest” than for any other factors. Such a distorted, pernicious process can never produce quality leadership and make the system one that citizens can be proud of. The conclusion, quite simply, is that Nigeria and Nigerians still have a long way to go in making the workings of the electoral system and governance in the country more responsive to the real interests of the people, such that Nigerians would come to be proud of electoral winners at home just as they are of Nigeria-born winners abroad.
Celebrating the victories of politicians of Nigerian descent abroad while making no effort to redeem the electoral process here at home is sheer buffoonery.
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