Time to develop antidote to Nigeria’s lesser-evil syndrome

its problems.

Talk of the economy, health, education, security and what have you, these candidates don’t appear weak or clueless as to what the country needs to move from a point of trouble to a destination of stability, before getting to power. In distinguished ways, they have it all mapped out and impressive but like a derailed train, they get paralysed on assumption of power.

When elections beckon, they romance our psyche with things like “is he not better than Dr. Lagabja who has all the education but could not manage the proceeds of oil at high level, allowed thieves to feast on N1.8 billion worth of oil daily and manhandled a handsome foreign reserve?”

One would also hear things like “what we need is someone who has the heart and integrity to sanctify the system of governance. Never mind the container (even when he can’t find his West Africa Examination Certificate), mind the content.”

So their advocates admit voting any of these candidates is a settlement for evil. Only that surviving the tenure of one evil could be less excruciating than the other.

But who should be blamed, the evils themselves or the sellers? They sold to people in 2007 and were consistent until 2015. They are back again in 2019 to tell that one evil is preferable, again dashing the hope of experiencing an outright good. But should we keep blaming the sellers?

What happens with a buyer who fails to recognise herself as a seller when she closes her shop for some hours to join campaign meetings where money must flow. She doesn’t care the source, but collects it along with face-cap, T-shirts, wrist- bands and begins to preach the gospel in the interest of her pocket.

The bigger and unconscious sellers are the ethnic bigots who have consistently limited the country growth on the ground that their sons and daughters must be considered for no other reason than being their sons and daughters. Hence, we have a situation where the sellers of mediocrity are also the buyers.

But it’s time for us to begin to generate the antidote to heal this lesser-evil conundrum in our national polity. At least, it is only good for generations to come that Nigerians today begin to think of good leaders worthy of their vote as those who not only recognise the problem but also pour strength to fix these problems.

The antidote should feature the ability of Nigerians of all classes to distinguish between an ambitious effort to hold power and a sincere will to move Nigeria forward.

The 2019 election events have remarkably been different with the vigour and expertise displayed by a fresh crop of contestants. They have clearly shown us what should drive a leader and equally taught what should motivate an electorate.

However, no one would liberate the Nigerian electorate from the lesser-evil syndrome but him or herself. Nor will democracy succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely as in the words of Franklin Roosevelt, former US president.