By Chekwube Nzomiwu
Anyone reading this article will definitely wonder the link between the presidential race in the United States of America (USA) and the EndBadGovernance protest raging in Nigeria. I think they are related for two reasons.
One, whatever happens in the USA, will likely affect the rest of the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, which marked the end of the Cold War, the United States became the sole superpower, holding a dominant position in the world economy and politics. The catchphrase “when America sneezes, the world catches cold,” underscores the importance of Uncle Sam’s country in global affairs. I am not unaware that some people are questioning the applicability of this assertion in the present-day, with the rise of new superpowers like Russia, China and Germany.
Two, Nigeria’s political system is tailored after the USA model, which is a democratic federal presidential system of government. In contrast, while the political system is meeting the aspirations of Americans to a considerable extent, the case of Nigeria is the contrary. Nigerians are protesting against bad governance today because what they are getting from the system is far below their expectations. This is, however, not to say that the system in the United States is perfect. Every system has its own challenges. What matters is how you confront them.
President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race marked a turning point in the race. Following Biden’s withdrawal, Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive candidate of the Democratic Party, one of the two influential parties in the country’s multi-party democratic system. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Harris will face the Republican Party candidate, Donald Trump in the presidential election, billed to commence on November 5. Unlike in Nigeria where the President is elected through direct election or popular vote, the United States President emerges through the Electoral College.
If Harris defeats Trump, she will make history as the first woman to occupy the Oval Office, the formal working place of the most powerful president in the world. Before now, Hillary Clinton, the wife of former President, Bill Clinton, held the record as the woman who made the closest attempt to occupy the Oval Office. As the Democratic Party candidate in 2016, she narrowly lost the presidential election to Trump.
Eight years earlier, she lost the Democratic Party nomination to Barrack Obama. Addressing her supporters after losing the nomination to Obama, Mrs. Clinton said: “Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it.” Obama who is of African descent eventually won the main election and became the first black man to rule America. He rewarded Mrs. Clinton with the position of Secretary of State, which she held throughout Obama’s eight years in the White House.
Today, the world is watching to see if Harris will make history like Obama to become the first woman President of the United States. A lot has happened since she became the candidate of the Democratic Party two weeks ago. She has gotten endorsements from President Biden and two former Presidents, Obama and Clinton. The interest of the American youth has been rekindled since she came into the picture. The young Americans were initially not fascinated by the candidatures of Biden and Trump on account of old age. The fact that Harris is almost 20 years younger than Trump is offering her more mileage in the race. She has brought in new energy and enthusiasm into the camp of the Democratic Party.
After surviving an assassination attempt during a rally in Bulter, Pennsylvania, the 78-year old Trump was almost certain of snatching the presidency from 82-year old Biden before the latter’s withdrawal for Vice President Harris who appears to be the “game-changer” for the Democratic Party. As of the first week of August, polls show that she is leading Trump in the race.
However, Trump is not somebody that can be written off easily. History has shown that he is capable of springing surprises. Since the inception of the United States of America, no presidential candidate has gone this far with a conviction hanging around his neck. Besides being a strategist, Trump has shown that he was not unaware of the role that age would play in the presidential election by choosing youthful Ohio Senator JD Vance, who clocked 40 years this August, as his Vice Presidential nominee.
On her own part, Harris chose 60-year old Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate. He is six months older than Harris who will clock 60 in October, a month before the commencement of the presidential polls. Although 60, Governor Walz, a retired United States Army non-commissioned officer, will definitely appeal to the youth, having served as a school teacher and football coach before making his foray into American politics. He once said that his students persuaded him to seek for office. This is unlike Nigeria where people seek for office either because they have deep pockets or think that it is their turn, or both.
As of the time of penning down this article, the American Presidential election is three months away. The Americans have entered a critical period in the season when the candidates are expected to market themselves to the electorate during their campaign rallies. The die is cast. Unless, the unprecedented happens, nothing will change the date of the election.
Looking at the journey so far, I think there are lessons for Nigeria. One, the time has come for Nigerian political parties to prioritise the age factor in fielding candidates for election in the country. Apart from ageless Donald Trump who is 78 years old, the other nominees for the United States Presidential Election are not more than 60 years old.
Political office is demanding. A contestant for political office should be an individual with the mental and physical ability to discharge the duties of such office. A political office, whether presidential, vice presidential, senatorial, or any other office, should not be a retirement home. I don’t see why we should make 65 years the retirement age for civil servants, and 70 for professors and judges, yet, politicians in Nigeria seek for political office when they are above 71 years. No country can move forward when it is governed by an individual who should be resting in the old people’s home.
If Biden were a Nigerian, he would have decided to seek re-election at the age of 82. It would appear as if it is an African problem, going by the experiences of other African countries, where leaders through constitutional maneuverings and the use of coercion, remain in office until they become very old. Some even die in office. This is not right.
Two, time has come for Nigeria to widen access for women to contest for political offices in the country. If it were in Nigeria that Biden withdrew from the presidential race, the Democratic Party would have dropped Kamala Harris to look for a man to present as its flag bearer for the presidency. From the First to the Fourth Republic, no major political party in Nigeria has nominated a woman as a presidential or vice presidential candidate. Men have dominated. Yet, the country is in a mess. The experience of the United States and other western democracies show that more progress is made in places where women and men have equal access to political office.
Finally, the election process in the United States is transparent enough that even from afar here in Nigeria, one could monitor the process. In our dear nation Nigeria, everything is done in a crooked manner. Under the nose of our electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies, votes are traded during party primaries and the main election. Such a comprised process catapults the wrong people into office. The after effect is bad governance, which inflicts hunger and hardship on the people.
So, in protesting against bad governance, hardship and hunger, Nigerians should not lose sight of the root cause. They should devote commensurate energy to fighting for the enthronement of a transparent, free, fair and credible electoral process.
• Dr. Nzomiwu wrote from Awka Anambra State. Comments are welcome via [email protected]