When the Personal Demands of Nigerians Outweigh their Communal Requests to Political Office Holders

 

As another election cycle ticks and political campaigns begin soon in accordance with INEC’s 2026 timetable, this publication becomes necessary and timely. I was at a gas station some weeks back, and as my car's tank was being filled, the petrol attendant spoke loudly to her colleague, expressing her strong desire that a current State Commissioner (whose portfolio was not mentioned in the open conversation) should not be returned by his second-term-seeking Governor come year 2027. Her curious listener asked why, and she yelled in pidgin English, “The man na stingy man; I send am invitation card for my mama burial, but e come there, and he no drop any envelope. Na only spray he spray me small money when we dey dance”. Her biased perception of that political officeholder immediately stirred my thoughts that most Nigerians forget that we all have unlimited individual needs and wants that no one man or woman occupying a political office can ever satisfy, and, in any case, they were neither appointed nor elected under a democratic dispensation to satisfy our personal demands.

While I was growing up, my medical doctor-cum-politician father was privileged to hold some public offices, and as I drove out of that gas station, I began to recall numerous personal expectations placed on my old man by his political associates, community tribesmen, church members, friends, acquaintances at social clubs, professional colleagues, family members, and so forth, when he was a political office holder. Through direct physical talks, phone calls, SMS, referrals, unsaid words, consultations, and sometimes confrontations, these requests – a mix of both financial and non-financial types - were mostly for the personal benefits of the requesters and rarely for the collective gains of the community or constituency which my father represented either as an elected official or government appointee. Of course, most of these unsolicited demands were purely outside the direct mandates of the various offices which he occupied.

Here are 15 common examples of several selfish demands that we Nigerians make of both elected political office holders, such as Governors, Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, Members of State Houses of Assembly, Local government Council Chairmen, and appointed political office holders such as Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers, and so forth. Imagine a political office holder receiving such requests from five people in a day, as shown on the screen.

Observe that only the last two of the fifteen requests above are communal. Yet, if a Senator or Commissioner was allowed to place the sum of one hundred million naira in a room and share the cash, the 92nd person in the queue after the first 91 persons have shared it all will yet complain that “this man is a wicked politician; I’ve never benefited from him”.  This is to say that political office holders can never meet the personal requests of everybody. Let’s stop pressurizing them to take more than they are legitimately served at the table. Let’s stop pushing them to steal in office. Let’s ask them about our communal interests that will create functional, enduring systems across all sectors for everyone’s benefit. Remember, when the personal demands of Nigerians outweigh the communal requests made of political office holders, the greedy mammon in the latter is unleashed, and only a few benefit directly from their official representation at the expense of the larger society.

In conclusion, personal demands may not be inherently bad, especially in a society far from just, fair, and equitable systems. However, they are dangerous partly because every time you ask that political office holder for personal help, you can be sure that several others are also asking him or her, placing undue pressure to fulfill personal needs or wants in place of official deliverables and communal benefits. Dividends of democracy should be more systemic than they are personal. I so submit!

My name is Adetolu Ademujimi, a Development Consultant, Medical Doctor, Healthcare Finance Specialist, Author, Reformer, Public Policy expert, and social entrepreneur, who can be reached in Abuja at adetoluademujimi@gmail.com. You can also visit my website www.adetoluademujimi.com.

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