Nigerian political activist and civil society leader, Dr Usman Bugaje, has called for a radical shift in Nigeria’s political discourse—urging a move from the long-standing focus on North–South politics towards a model of democracy with development.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday on the need for a new narrative that combines popular participation with tangible developmental outcomes, Bugaje criticised North–South politics as both outdated and detrimental to national progress.
Reflecting on the past 25 years of Nigeria’s democracy, Bugaje remarked, “This is a very familiar conversation in the last 25 years, but I think so much has changed that that kind of conversation is actually outdated. Yes, politics is about popular participation. Yes, inclusion is very important. Yes, people need to make sense or have good reasons to be able to participate. But I think what has happened in the last 25 years is the fact that we have tried these kinds of models of North and South, and this and that, and the country is only going down the drain. So, I think it is time to start a new conversation, to start rethinking, how can we have democracy with development? We’re having democracy with all these things of North and South and East and West and whatever you have, and the country is not developing. If anything, it’s actually de-developing. It is going down the drain, all the indices of development are taking a nosedive.
“So I would rather say while yes, it is important that we recognise every part of this story and become inclusive, but I think we will be losing out on the challenges that are facing us if we continue, with all the problems we have, to start talking about North and South. I would rather be part of a new conversation that starts thinking about what team do we require that can fix this country that is about to break down, that is about to be run aground by reckless and irresponsible politicians who have held power in the last 25 years, and they are not ashamed of the fact that they have not performed well, and they are still talking about ambitions.”
Bugaje stressed that while inclusion remains critical to governance, it should not devolve into a fixation on regional representation. He asserted, “We have to recognise everybody, we have to include everybody, we have to consult, but this should not deteriorate to a level that we start looking at turn by turn presidency, or we start looking at, or become fixated with this formula of North and South.”
He further questioned the wisdom of electing leaders solely on regional lines, citing past experiences as evidence. Bugaje explained, “Buhari’s experience is a self sufficient evidence that this idea of putting somebody from one part of the country to become President doesn’t really work, it doesn’t make sense. Because what do you want him to do? To favour his own part of the country and to abandon others? This is very naïve to say the least. So, the point I am making is that you can achieve inclusion and not at the expense of development.
“One way to do it, for example, there is no part of the country that has any monopoly of competence. There are competent Nigerians among the South West, among the South East, among the South South, North East, North West, North Central. Why don’t you pick those competent Nigerians from the different parts of the country to fix and run your country? Why do you go for people who are barely educated, people who are crooks, people who clearly have no idea of where to take this country, who cannot engage the world, who don’t even understand, all they know is primitive consumption and primitive and accumulation and very perverse tastes and consumptions, and just simply running the country down.
“So, this is why I said inclusion is a very critical aspect of governance, and you can achieve that and still achieve development by bringing in more competent people. There are technocrats who can fix the energy sector, who can fix the transportation sector, who can improve all the infrastructure. The few that have come into government have been elbowed out, some of them have been chased out of government because corruption will not accept the kind of thing that they want to do.”
Bugaje also recalled Nigeria’s past struggles for democracy and argued for a model that values competence and knowledge in the 21st century. He noted, “We stood up to the military during the time of Abacha. We fought for democracy, but this is not the kind of democracy we want to see. We want a democracy that takes cognisance of competence and recognises knowledge in the 21st century, and try to mobilise them.
“Nigeria has a lot of these talents, has a lot of competent people. Why don’t we bring them into governance? Why don’t they lead the process? Why do we need some politicians who don’t understand the world in the 21st century, who have no record of doing anything competent anywhere, and all their life is life of sleaze and corruption, and because they’ve accumulated money through those corrupt practices, then they buy everybody off, and now we have a National Assembly that is literally for sale. They cannot stand up to the President on anything. So, this is the point. I say we have to change the conversation because we need a new narrative.”
When he was asked to share his thoughts on Nigeria’s current political landscape, Bugaje then said, “For me, the APC government from Buhari till date is a disaster for this country. And I’m not saying PDPD is going to do any better. In fact, at the moment, and I’ve said it severally, the APCs, the PDPs, the APGAs, the Labours, I don’t trust any of these political parties as they stand at the moment, I don’t. What I think would work for Nigeria is, like I said, a collegiate leadership, made of the best and the brightest.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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