Nigerian politicians and their vague promises

 PAUL ARHEWE 23/02/2011 01:26:00

Many vague and bogus promises are bound to be bandied across Nigeria as politicians campaign to win the votes of the electorate. The aforementioned may not be new to us, nevertheless, what many of us would find hilarious and a kind of mockery is, when politicians, having spent four years without much achievement to show us, come around to tell us when voted for another term, they would conjure paradise from heaven to Nigeria. Please, they should spare us such illusionary cajole and think of better ways to woo the electorate. The question a reasonable person should ask is: What stopped them from implementing in the first four years those fine ideas they are now peddling? Some of them would argue they need another term to fine-tune and complete projects they have started- If this is their stance, we should begin to see how poorly they have managed government business entrusted to them.
A good manager should know how to judiciously use the available time he has in executing projects.

Why embark on white elephant projects, when there are pressing ones that could be completed within the shortest time? It has been observed that politicians in this part of the world engage in many vague and bogus promises as their manifesto during campaigns; mundane promises of food, shelter, schools, hospitals and many others. It is high time we started asking our politicians during campaign details of the ‘hows’ and the ‘whens’ of any promise they make. We have reached a stage in consolidating our democracy where we begin to recognise empty promises and make demands for concrete details on how they would be executed. Governor Jonah Jang, when kick-starting his campaign for second term, tried to woo the traumatised people in Plateau State by promising to bring an end to the protracted restiveness there. Maybe he is saying he wasn’t elected in his first term, that was why he is seeking a genuine authority from electorates that will equip him in intervening fully in the state crisis. It is really funny that Governor Jang seemed to have forgotten that his status as the chief security officer of the state, though with some limited powers over security forces, will remain the same when re-elected except there is a constitutional reform by the Federal Government to change the status quo.

The question really is: What magic would he perform that he has not attempted in his first term? Jang is a fine gentleman who means well for his people, but what I expected from his campaign to his people should be what he has done so far in curtailing the crisis during his first term, those things he could not implement within the next three month (with May 29 being the expiration of his first term tenure) and those strategies or plans he will inject into Plateau’s system during his second term. Jang should not just be giving vague promises that are now an idiosyncrasy of many politicians in the country.

Any of his opponents could likewise talk of bringing peace and development to Jos and its environs when given the mandate but what should make the difference is the ‘how’ and ‘when’ this peace and development can be attained. When the latter becomes a pattern of campaigning in the country, the electorate would know when to hold politicians by their words when they are not fulfilling their promises. Politicians should learn how to expressly say and show what they intend doing for their people and lay all cards on the table to make the people know whether such promises will be fulfilled or not. Vague promises only lead to complications and make the people have false hope. Nigerians should, by now, be wary of those false promises from politicians and they should be prepared to ask questions, especially now that campaigns are at a crescendo ahead of the April polls.