Out-going Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, set the tone about a month ago which now stokes the hope that things may not be the same again in this country, particularly in the political firmament.
Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, who was in the saddle for eight years, also did not leave anyone in doubt that he stood for accountability and lean governance, and declined to fritter away scarce resources in the name of occupying the office of the number one citizen of that state.
We saw what Obi’s austere administration translated into when he left office in March and the amount he left in state coffers which put his successor in good stead to pilot the affairs of Anambra.
In what looked like a mission impossible in Nigeria, given the desperation with which politicians seek electoral power, Fayemi lost to Ayodele Fayose (who came back for a second term) and congratulated him almost immediately the result was announced. Many were surprised.
It appeared strange, with many politicians and non-politicians alike thinking the road Fayemi travelled by congratulating Fayose was novel.
In Nigeria, the “right” thing to do after a politician loses an election, regardless of whether he lost fairly or not, is to proceed to court and engage in a winding litigation that lingers till, perhaps, the tenure of the winner of the election ends. In the end, the electorate suffer.
In most cases, the party, family members and other vested interests would goad the politician to borrow money to take up litigation to reclaim a “stolen” mandate. By so doing, they make millionaires of a few lawyers who will never tell the politician he will lose the case when the chips are down.
Therefore, when Fayemi congratulated Fayose the public quickly observed that what he did has the potential to deepen democratic ethos.
In the United States, where Nigeria borrowed its democratic system of government, immediately the winner of an election is announced, the opponent calls to congratulate him, and dismantles his own campaign structures to support the government in the public interest.
That is a luxury and costly venture in Nigeria. So, when Fayemi did the “unusual” he was not only seen by many as a hero of democracy, but as one whose action will have a ripple effect on our democratic environment.
His positive attitude rubbed off on Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, who demonstrated once more last week that there is no big deal holding unto political office.
Imoke said at his 53rd birthday lecture in Calabar: “It is only leaders who feel insecure and are looking for where to hide after leaving office that think of the next elective office while they are still in their current position.
“As the end of my tenure as governor continues to count, I look forward to it with joy and satisfaction. A lot of people keep asking me, ‘oga, are you not going to contest for an election when you leave as governor?’
“I tell them I will leave office with so much peace and satisfaction that I will not contemplate running for another office. It is only those who are insecure and are looking for where to hide that plot for the next office even when they are yet to serve out their current term.”
Another thing Imoke reportedly said, which got me thinking, was that leaders should deliberately build a new generation of leaders.
“If we keep running for or from one office to another without creating opportunities for a younger or new generation, then society will never evolve and there will be no purposeful leadership,” he reiterated.
It is unfortunate that the crop of leaders we have today, mostly politicians, are men and women whose middle names are selfishness, greed, avarice, wicked, impunity. Over the years, politicians have dominated the political scene in their areas without anything to show for it, yet they keep manipulating everybody to remain in one office or another.
Most of the 109 members of the Senate, some of whom are former governors, ought to be in their homes enjoying what they stole for years from public office, but they are still dominating the environment as if it is a curse to have the younger generation around them.
The same goes in other government offices, with faces that have been there for up to 30 years.
Is it any wonder that things are not working here because people who ought to provide direction spend time plotting the next office to occupy while holding tenaciously to an existing one? They spend more time looking for the next office than they do serving the people who voted for them.
I could not believe that Imoke, who was reportedly planning to vie for the Senate after serving out his term as governor, could take such a position.
What that means is that unusual, but happy moments are gradually returning to our system. The era when more leaders who have principle and integrity should come forth to be counted.
An era when politics and public office are seen as a service, and someone serves without bickering, manipulation, blackmail, slander and in most cases, shedding of innocent blood; all in an attempt by one man to satisfy his hunger for office.
I look forward to when politicians, as Imoke has demonstrated, will resist the pressure to seek office for the sake of occupying it – and more importantly, when representation in some offices in Nigeria will be voluntary.
Obi, Fayemi and Imoke have shown that a new crop of leadership is possible in the country. But we need to build on this new political lifestyle.
It is often members of the public who, as a result of greed, stupidity or even ignorance as well, give in easily to the inordinate ambition of politicians or make themselves available for politicians to use to get what they want. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I wonder what this country will be like if in the next few years more politicians emulate this new crop of leaders out to make a difference.
That is why the All Progressives Congress (APC) should back out of its plan to contest the Ekiti governorship poll in court.
Fayemi has already congratulated the winner, and that is a raw material the court must rely on to rule on the case.
