P
rophecy as defined by Thomas
Aquinas is; the certain foretelling
of a future event by a person su-
pernaturally informed of it and
supernaturally moved to announce it. This,
he added, comes in two ways; prophesy of
foreknowledge and prophesy of denuncia-
tion’. While the prophecy of foreknowledge
according to him, deal with what is certain
to come, prophesy of denunciation tells
what is to come if the present situation is
not changed; both acting as information
and warning respectively.
Similarly, in a presidential democracy,
monitoring un-elected officials, imple-
menting public policies, should be the
chief concern of leaders. By overseeing this
process, Kenneth Lowande, Professor at
the University of Michigan, submitted that
elected officials aim to prevent shirking,
corruption, performance failures and pol-
icy drift in bureaucracy.
Essentially, there are many issues at
present surrounding the nation’s political
discourse , but a careful review of these
two concepts -prophecy and democracy,
in Nigeria political sphere, will reveal two
striking sidelights.
By contrast, while public office holders
have abandoned the above role, and like
sheep gone their ways in search for new but
personal fields to increase their wealth and
well being, the masses, instead of maintain-
ing a strong policy that the government
cannot ignore or ask solution-oriented
questions, they, against all known logic,
build opinions based on blind hope, ideol-
ogies and spiritual proclamations devoid of
facts and reality.
Today! even as the watching world
lament the inability of Nigerians to identify
the problems and opportunities they face,
evaluate the options they have for moving
forward, and, make necessary trade-offs
and decisions about how to proceed, Pro-
phetic pronouncements on national issues
by spiritual leaders appear more alluring
to the vast majority of Nigerians than a
broadcast on national television over a
similar issue by an elected public officer.
This is the reality we face.
Admittedly, prophecy is important to the
nation, but, not at the fundamental levels
or in exchange of facts, figures or reality.
Nigerians need to keep this lesson in mind
that the validity of every political prophesy
(political or socioeconomic), is adjudged
by its compliance with the rule of law and
other democratic instruments.The citizens
has mutual responsibility to ensure that by
no means must faith based prophetic pro-
nouncements become alternatives to the
role of ‘eternal vigilance’ which the masses
have to play in democratic environment.
Particularly, when evidence abounds of
abridgments of freedom/rights of the peo-
ple via gradual and silent encroachment by
those in power.
In reality, we don’t need prophecies or
prophets to ensure that our schools are
properly funded, our infrastructure are in
proper shape and position, or to get leaders
take time and effort to gain full apprecia-
tion of their citizens, spend a good deal of
time outside their offices walking around,
listening and taking mental notes about the
challenges each individual, group, or com-
munities are facing, what we need as a na-
tion is not prophecy, new theory, concepts
or framework but people(both leaders and
followers) who can think strategically.
Take, as another example, Nigerians don’t
need prophecies or Prophets to spend time
and energy worrying about the impact of
government policies on the poor people
or show deep concern about how govern-
ment programmes can provide health care,
housing, social amenities, and financial
supports for the workers or ask the gov-
ernment for the economic scheme that
will usher in a better nation, what we need
are Nigerians with insight and inquisitive
mind that can help challenge the status
quo.
And, in a democracy, citizens don’t nec-
essarily need a prophet to recognize that a
just law is ‘a man-made code that squares
with moral laws and uplifts human per-
sonalities, while an unjust law on the other
hand is a code that is out of harmony with
moral laws’.
More important than the above, as some-
one who believes that religion is both hu-
man and angelic, I have come to a humble
conclusion that public order, personal and
national security, economic and social
programmes, and prosperity are not the
natural order of things but depend on the
ceaseless efforts and attentions from an
honest and effective government that the
people elect.
From this standpoint, what Nigerians
need in absolute terms is not prophecy but
a united and a determined group of lead-
ers, backed by practical and hard-working
people who trust them. And a religious
practice that is “true to its nature and con-
cerned about man’s social conditions. Re-
ligious practice that deals with both earth
and heaven, both time and eternity-reli-
gion that operates not only on the vertical
plane but on the horizontal’.
Of course, the question may be asked;
why successive administrations in Nigeria
failed to monitor un-elected officials and
implement public policies as noted above?
The answer may be found in history.
What many failed to remember is that
this sordid development has its root in,
and accelerated by the postwar settlement
structure which created another profound
division between the people and their po-
litical leaders.
Going by an account, for much of the
past 50 years, Nigeria has been governed
by the soldiers who won the war. For three
decades, the form of rule was direct; Nige-
ria was under military dictatorship. But
the passage to democracy undertaken in
1999 did not dispel the military’s hold on
the country. Military rulers were reluctant
to cede power to, or accept the demands
of civilian opposition groups that called
for national restructuring and devolution
of power to the state governments.
Instead, the generals engineered what
the civilian opposition criticized as an
‘army arrangement’ and ceded power
to one of their own-the retired General
Olusegun Obasanjo. Till date, the trend
persists and it’s responsible for why the
past records of the Federal Government
have not been encouraging as it is reputed
for; injustices, bad governance, discrim-
ination, and nepotism; with the system
having virtually no consideration for the
poor.
The same problem could be found in
the areas of infrastructural development,
housing, health, education, electricity
and fight against corruption.
To explain the above concerns begin-
ning with the last, it is worthy of note
that none of the current challenges (po-
litical or socioeconomic) bedeviling the
nation started with this administration.
For instance, corruption is, but a human
problem that has existed in some forms.
Its fights also dates back to Colonial gov-
ernments as they (Colonial Overlords)
sufficiently legislated against it in the first
criminal code ordinance of 1916(No15 of
1916) which elaborately made provisions
prohibiting official bribery and corrup-
tion by persons in the public service and
in the judiciary. Also at independence
on October 1, 1960, the criminal code
against corruption and abuse of office in
Nigeria were in section 98 to 116 and 404
of the code.
But while the situation then may look
ugly, what is going on now is a crisis.
And if truly a people- purposed leader-
ship is what we seek in Nigeria, if accel-
erated economy is our goal, if social and
cultural development is our dreams, if
promoting peace, support our industries
and improve our energy sector forms
our objectives, then, the solution to these
critical demands calls for overwhelming-
ly urgency. We must understand that lis-
tening to ‘political prophesy’ is important
but making our leaders understand that
it takes a prolonged effort to administer a
country well, is essential.
Nigerians must commence first with
mind restructuring. The primary concern
should be to work out modalities of insti-
tuting a reorientation plan that will erase
the unpatriotic tendencies in us as well as
usher in a robust nation. Nigerians must
accept that restructuring a political entity
called Nigeria is important but restructur-
ing our mentalities is not just essential but
fundamental.
Jerome-Mario (jeromeutomi@yahoo.
com), Writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
