ABUJA (Sundiata Post) As Claude Ake once said, although “our attention is always focused on the government in office,” the government in office “matters far less than the elite in power which supplies the government in office from among its factions” and who “share the same political culture and the same antipathy towards democracy.” Nigerian politicians are unwilling to curb the excessive powers of the executive because they want to wield such powers themselves. In a sense, Nigerian politics is a contest between despots in power and despots in waiting. What Frantz Fanon once said of the native is also true of Nigerian elites: “The native is an oppressed person whose permanent dream is to become the persecutor.” Nigerian elites who have suffered official impunity and repression would rather oppress others as they have been oppressed, rather than dismantle the infrastructure of oppression entirely. Nearly every politician’s ultimate fantasy is to enjoy the same degree of impunity and immunity as the president, hence the disinterest in curbing executive powers.”
banker of the day - FREE banker tips from experts