Lessons From the Canadian Elections
From the rhythm of the narratives emanating from the recently concluded Canadian general election, it will be really difficult for one to ignore the lessons that are inherent therefrom for developing countries, like Nigeria, which are still nurturing their democratic institutions.
There is something striking about the election, which saw a 43-year-old Justin Trudeau of the Liberal party emerge as the new Prime Minister over the incumbent, Stephen Harper of the Conservative party. In my view, Justin Trudeau did not only win in an outstanding victory, as the election results revealed, he also put his name down in the sands of Canadian history. Firstly, he made history as the man who led his centrist Liberals from the third position in the campaign polls to victory in the general election with the (shocking) majority win of 184 seats out of the 338 seats in the parliament, which is approximately 40 per cent of the popular vote. Secondly, he made history as the man who (with the support of his Liberal party members) neutralized the jinx that has put the Liberal party in opposition for nearly a decade. Justin Trudeau needed only 170 seats to win the majority, but he added extra 14 seats, against the 99 seats won by the incumbent. The victory signals a massive turnaround from the status quo.
In another vein, Justin Trudeau did not win because he is the son of Pierre Trudeau, the former Prime Minister who led Canada from 1968 – 1984, rather he won because Canadians wanted real change and they voted for the real change which they saw in Justin Trudeau. Canadians blared their sounds of yearning for change in virtually all the province, as the votes for the Liberal candidates, particularly in Toronto and Quebec, revealed. The victory of Justine Trudeau over the incumbent is a clear narrative that the world needs younger minds to run the affairs of government and deal with the issues of governance. But this narrative seems to be elusive in many developing countries, particularly African countries. Nigeria is a typical example!
Nigeria’s historical experiences, which is similar to other developing African countries, have shown that old generations of politicians do not want to leave the political arena for the younger generations, even though they (old generations) started holding political positions at a very younger age. Today, across the country we see old politicians who are supposed to be resting in Aged Care facilities still being elected to govern the people. These old people have leagues! When these old politicians are elected into political positions, they select their fellow oldies to run the affairs of government with them. And nothing changes, rather things become worse.
For me, Justin Trudeau won the election, partly because of the Liberal party’s policy vision, and mainly because of his personal positive vision and commitment to the party’s vision. He believed in the power of positive politics, as he said clearly in his public address after his victory. His victory is no doubt a clear sign of what positive politics and a young person with vision can do. There are a lot of young people in Nigeria with strong vision and energy to make a change, but they are often deterred and frustrated by the recalcitrant old politicians who live by the mantra that “old soldiers do not die.” Some of them have even taken politics as a lifetime enterprise. This is why they continue to receive political prebend from the government in power. At any given chance, they often argue that the younger generations are not yet ready for takeover of the political arena.
Sadly, the younger generations tend, out of frustration, to surrender to the sterile notion of the older generations that they (younger generations) are not yet ready for takeover of political positions. All that the younger generations need is a platform within the political party to assume political leadership positions. The older generations have deprived the younger generations of this platform. Rather the younger generations are exploited and used as tools to win elections!
From the east to the west there are a lot of young people with great ideas and insights that can change Nigeria. And from the north to the south there are many young people who are hungry to make a change. These ideas, insights and hunger were evident in this year’s general elections. They should be encouraged and not lampooned. Old soldiers should, please, leave the political arena for the younger generations!