"A country with a lot of resource revenues will need distinctive institutions and a great leader. You get a bad leader and they crash the society to the bottom of humanity. So citizens have to get sufficiently informed that they get on the right side. The crooks, the powerful will be putting out narratives that try to misinform and so its the business of ordinary citizens to get properly informed"- Professor Sir Paul Collier.How do you feel about the political system in which you live? The political system of a country is very important to its development and growth. It's the cornerstone to build strong institutions that will guarantee growth. A dubious political system undermines effective government by promoting weak institutions and poor leadership that becomes a moral burden on the economy and society . The Political system produces toxic polity and players. Change is the only thing that is constant. We must be willing to change the way things are. There must be a commitment to restructure the monstrous political system that promotes abuse of power, persistence of poverty and stagnation in Nigeria. Nothing happens until something changes, its as simple as that. The choice is very clear. Nigeria needs to choose between a federation and a unitary system of government given the sad experience of nearly six decades after independence. A new constitution is the only guarantee for a socially cohesive society and a better democracy in Nigeria, anything else is distractions. According to the Guardian Nigeria Editorial; "In no federal system are federating units treated like a military command system with the central government taking it upon itself to accumulate powers to the extent that it makes states mere appendages rather than autonomous federating units and partners with the central government" The time for change is now, not after the next election . The political system is everything. A faulty constitution undermines effective government as our experience has shown so far .Neither APC nor PDP is the solution rather the dismantling of the dubious military constitution that created the mess we're in. Ordinary people need to fight for liberty rather than succumbing to 'bribe and bullet', the totalitarian motto. Change cannot happen unless people do something, take action. Only when a country does the rational thing will it be truly free, adapt to changing circumstances. This is the great challenge. 19th century ideologies are no longer relevant in the 21st century. A rigid ideology needs pressure to crack it. A dubious political system undermines the efficacy of public institutions that are vital to growth, including poor election practices and 'political gridlock' . A dubious and dysfunctional political system is an obstacle to human progress, it must be dismantled! Politicians have always used deliberate lies to mislead ordinary people to enable them achieve and hold political power but the reality is different. The time has come to resist propaganda and political ideology of politicians of the by-gone age that has negative impact on our daily lives. According to Professor Michael Freeden, "propaganda persuades us to adopt political beliefs or behaviours that we would not normally embrace" . These politicians have proven that they are "irrational, blind, mad, not worth listening to, and indeed a nuisanse" and obstacle to our progress. Overhauling the monstrous unitary centralised political system is one sure way to help us build a new society of equality and plenty and a better future. Ordinary people need to put pressure on the politicians to do the right thing, restructure the country. Ordinary people have "nothing to lose but their chains". In the words of Professor Mattew Humphrey, University of Nottingham; "if they have nothing to lose but their chains, then they have nothing but chains" The path to freedom is escape from the conditions of exploitation and domination. The current political system is dysfunctional and simply legitimises historical exploitation and domination and risks expansionism as we are currently witnessing. Federating units need both political and economic freedom to achieve real human emancipation which the current system does not offer. A proper and transparent political system should guarantee the essentials rights that will enable the constituent units to achieve their true potential rather than controlling people and resources. Thinking needs to change. Lastly, the words of the wisest old Machiavelli still rings bell . In his words. "liberty is the product of a population's ability to fight", but this is not happening. Basically, the people will continue to remain in chains unless they do something, take action, demand freedom.
Uche Okeke.
Read More: http://www.theleadprojectfoundation.com/2019/05/restructuring-is-one-sure-way-to.html
