Insecurity and Election Malpractices: Bane to Good Governance

A general appraisal of the effect of insecurity and electoral malpractices on democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

By

COMRADE AMITOLU SHITTU

COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRACY AND RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE (CDRP) NIGERIA

Monday 4^th August 2014

Being the text of an address delivered at the annual workshop of Jama’atu Tahawunil Muslimeen in conjunction with Friedrich Ebert Foundation at Iwo Town Hall, Iwo, State of Osun.

INTRODUCTION

I am extremely delighted to be invited to deliver this special lecture at this occasion.

I am particularly pleased to stand before this distinguished gathering of academics, leading intellectuals and youths who are the molders of our tomorrow, to share with you my views on the state of our nation in relation to insecurity, election malpractices and good governance.

May I therefore first of all start by extending my special gratitude to Almighty Allah who spared our lives to witness this unique annual workshop. In addition, I am equally thanking the organizers of this programme for inviting me to come and present this paper at this historic gathering.

I found it most expedient and important to set aside all my official duties today in order to come here personally and deliver this lecture. I have chosen to do this for at least 2 reasons;

Firstly, the choice of the topic is both timely and appropriate considering the fact that the country in general and Osun State in particular is already in the transition mood. In fact, in the next 96 hours, general election will hold in this state. Therefore, I have no doubt in my heart that this gathering will open the eyes of many people to the dangers inherent in electoral malpractices in relation to good governance which everybody is yearning for.

Secondly, we all know that the past 15 years of democratic rule have been most critical in the history of Nigeria as we set for ourselves the task of building a durable democratic system based on the principle of justice, good governance and accountability. As an active participant representing Civil Society Organization in the current democratic experiment – I feel it is just right for me to use this special privilege to join you in appraising the democratic journey we all started in May 1999, compare notes and share ideas on areas where adjustment is inevitable.

Let me add a caveat, it is my hope that the organizers of this programme are not expecting me in this short paper to attempt to answer the fundamental but difficult question on why our dear country is currently insecured and why election irregularities are rampant? I belief my job is a simple one – to pose questions, to raise issues and to provoke debate on this rather contemporary issue of national interest and in the process, raise the quality of our intellectual discourse with a view to finding a lasting solutions to the challenges of our times. If I succeed in doing just that, then, my objective would have been achieved in coming to attend this workshop.

CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS

To enhance better understanding and appreciation of this chapter, I find it necessary to succinctly define and explain some concepts, namely insecurity, election malpractices and good governance before highlighting the nexus between them.

Insecurity

The word insecurity is taken from insecure, both are from the Medieval Latin word “insecurus”. The word insecurus in Latin is from “securus” which means safe or certain.

The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines it as “the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury”, Insecurity is also seen as the anxiety you experience when you feel vulnerable. The main descriptive phrases and words that are central to understanding what constitute insecurity include: a state of danger, anxiety and susceptibility to harm or injury.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it therefore implies clearly that wherever and whenever any situation presents itself with these factors in place, insecurity becomes the order of the day.

Election Malpractices

This word is usually used inter-changeably with political malpractices. It simply means illegal interference with the process of an election. In other words, it is an act of fraud that systematically affects the vote count which brings about an election result whereby a particular candidate is unduly favoured and another is depressed and suppressed using the apparatus of state power. In short, it is indirect way of turning an election into selection, unfortunately that is what goes on in Nigeria and man 3^rd world countries.

Good Governance

According to United Nation definition, Good Governance is a process whereby public institutions conduct public affairs, manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard to the rule of law. The good test of good governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of human rights: cultural, civil, economic, social and political rights.

The globally accepted key attributes of good governance are:

Ø  Transparency

Ø  Responsibility

Ø  Accountability

Ø  Participation

Ø  Responsiveness (to the need of the people)

NEXUS AND FRAMEWORK OF THE SUBJECT MATTER

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, from the above illustrations and definitions, one can rightly and unequivocally generalize that insecurity, election malpractices and good governance are all contradictory compatibility. To this end, I shall pinpoint one by one the effect of the former on the latter.

 

THE EFFECT OF INSECURITY ON GOOD GOVERNANCE

Permit me to take excerpts from the introductory statement of President George W. Bush when the bill for the establishment of Department of Homeland Security was presented to congress in June 2002. The American President’s opening statement went thus:

“The President’s most important job is to protect and defend the American people….. The changing nature of threat facing America requires a new government structure to protect American against invisible enemies that can strike with a wide variety of weapons”.

The basis for the above excerpts is to enable us first and foremost appreciate that insecurity in any form and many anywhere is a major challenge to good governance in one hand and admitting the fact that number one indices of measuring good governance is the provision of security on the other hand.

THE COST OF INSECURITY ON GOOD GOVERNANCE

Insecurity has attendant consequences and it is an aggregate of these consequences that makes insecurity to become a challenge to Good Governance. Some of the basic fall outs of insecurity challenge to good governance are in following areas:

v  Loss of Lives and Properties

v  Psychological depression and fall out

v  Economic Realities

v  Socio–cultural disaffection

v  Strain in Foreign Relation among others.

WAY FORWARD

This submission will be incomplete without attempt at suggesting a way forward to this menace which is a total overhaul of the security agencies in our country. There is no gainsaying that we have a poor level of national security preparedness. It is even evident in the number of personnel making up our security agencies, their contemporary knowledge, the skills and tools at their disposal to combat insecurity. Before I go further, it will be insightful to give you this tabular analysis it may shock us to know these facts and figures.

SECURITY AGENCIES	PERSONNEL STRENGTH	NIGERIA POPULATION	RATIO TO NATIONAL POPULATION
POLICE	400,000	160 Millions	400
ARMY	250,000	160 Millions	640
AIR FORCE	150,000	160 Millions	1006.7
NAVY	200,000	160 Millions	800

 Source: National Bureau of Statistics

From this table, we can see that our security agencies are grossly insufficient in number, more than just that they are also poorly motivated and ill equipped to meet the many challenges of insecurity in Nigeria.

 ONE BILLION DOLLAR LOAN ?

Based on data from National Bureau of Statistics, however inadequate one may argue, we can safely assume that Nigerian is secured but the data is not the true reflection of our security forces. According to Global Fire Power (GFP), Nigeria Military have Active Frontline Personnel: 130,000 and Active Reserve Personnel: 32,000, which are grossly below the National statistic.

Also in terms of Defense equipment, Nigeria Military have, 1,450 Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), 29 Self-Propelled Guns (SPGs),680 Towed Artillery, 21 Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems (MLRSs). Nigeria Airforce have  96 Aircraft, 10 Fighters/Interceptors, no Fixed-Wing Attack Aircraft,36 Transport Aircraft, 40 Trainer Aircraft,36 Helicopters,8 Attack Helicopters. With these statistics, we can safely say that Nigeria Military is dangerously ill-equipped.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me quickly discuss Defense budget, from 2000 to 2013, defense budget has be on the increase, as shows by the table below             

Year	Total Budget	Defence Budget
2008	N2,647,492,865,643 trillion	N444.6 billion
2009	N2,870,510,042,679 trillion	N233 billion
2010	N4,079,654,724,257 trillion	N264 billion
2011	N4,226,191,559,259 trillion	N348 billion
2012	N4,749,100,821,170 trillion	N921.91 billion
2013	N4,924,604,000,000 trillion	N1.055 trillion
2014	N4.962 trillion	N968.127 billion

•       Nigeria ‘s Defence Budgets Since 2008

Based on the obvious budget on defense in the last 7years, President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for $1 billion( about#165billion) loan to fight the insurgent group, Boko Haram is not only in bad faith but also in bad taste, indeed a lot of people and group have questioned the sincerity of such borrowing. May I quickly ask, what happened to the defense budget to warrant a supplementary loan of #165billion? it is time for international community to question the institutional looting of government of third world country.

Invariably and rightly so, the problem with our military is not more money, but bad management of previous budget to enhance and strengthen our military. May God save us from us.

THE EFFECT OF ELECTION MALPRACTICES ON GOOD GOVERNANCE

Ladies and Gentlemen, the resultant effect of election malpractices to good governance is more pronounced to insecurity. This is because there is no way one will talk about anything election without mentioning democracy. The main reason for this is the fact that the only factor that distinguishes democracy from all other forms of government is periodic election. Therefore, election malpractices put democracy, which births good governance, in serious danger.

Election malpractices give room to the following:

v  Loss of Legitimacy to govern

v  It breeds political apathy which is an underdevelopment tendency

v  Destruction of lives and properties

v  It promotes hatred, rebellion and impunity on the part of citizens

v  It is a gradual route to anarchy.

Let me say this, free and fair election is not only a means to ensure, confirm and re-affirm the legitimacy of a government through a regular consents but also provides fertile ground for democracy to exist. However, rather than being a political asset and legitimizing force since independence, election in Nigeria through election malpractices, have become a political liability and decay. The various experiences in competitive money politics and maneuvering gimmicks carried out by electoral candidates in order to gain access to office in Nigeria have brought the worst in political thugery, unmediated and unrestrained violence characterized by wanton abuse of fundamental human rights of the citizenry. I strongly feel it is high time we turned a new leaf in order to enjoy good governance which democracy promises. 

CONCLUSION

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me state that Nigeria is a lucky country, because we are one of the few countries in the world today that went through series of turbulent political periods and yet survived.

We have gone through so much in our 54years of nationhood, the era of operation “wetie” in the west, military coups genocide, a 30monthlong civil war, June 12, ethnic and often times religious and faith-based uprisings and currently Boko Haram. We have survived all and I believe we shall also survived Boko Haram.

As we move towards Osun and the 2015 elections, all Nigerians must put our heads together to ensure that the elections are held freely, transparently and peacefully. The political elite have the responsibility to pull back the country from the precipice on which it stands, to pursue politics of principle, politics of nationalism and politics of integration. We must avoid doing anything that will undermine or retard the progress we have made so far. We must remember that democracy and good governance are two side of the same coin; there cannot be one without the other. Let us all prevail on our political leaders at various levels to evolve a country that we can all be proud of. That is what we want, after all they claim to represent us.

Thank you all for listening. God bless you all.

Comrade Amitolu Shittu

Osogbo, Nigeria.

Cdrp03@gmail.com