SPEECHES

Consul General Brian L. Browne

Speech

Democracy, Good Governance and Local Government: Finding the Founding Fathers at the Grassroots Level

July 26, 2006
Abakaliki, Ebonyi State

First, I want to thank all of you for being here today. It feels good to be in Ebonyi State. It is a hospitable place. And if this assembly is any indication, it is a state populated with hospitable and attractive people.

With such an impressive assembly facing me, I should not waste time before getting to the crux of what I want to say. With such an impressive assembly before me, I also should make sure that what I talk about is a matter of importance. For when important people are gathered together it should be to discuss an important matter. I hope what I talk about today achieves this symmetry of people with purpose.

Today, I want to discuss elections, good governance and democratization. With the recent passage of the electoral law reported by the press, the election season is now formally upon us. If we are not careful, soon legions of eager politicians, office seekers and their acolytes will be scurrying here and there engaging in all manner of conduct and for some of them, all manner of misconduct in their energetic pursuit of office. People will soon be claiming that their opponent, whom heretofore we all thought was a relatively honorable man, now sits at the left hand of the Devil.

While they, being above reproach and errorless in everything they do, feast with the angels and sit at the right hand of God. Some politicians in their exuberance will shed all modesty and begin to extol their virtues to such an extreme that you start to wonder if they are seeking election to the office of the Most High. If possible, I am sure some would try. Fortunately, that office, is beyond the reach of mortal man no matter how large his ambition.

Now, don't misinterpret me. Politics and elections are not supposed to be staid affairs. The art of politics is a mirror into human nature and human nature encompasses both the sublime and the silly. A little drama and puffery are in the life blood of politics. Politics should excite the soul, and bestir the imagination.

But the real issue, is for what purpose does one take part in this drama. Being in politics for the sake of politics is selfish. One should only engage if one seeks to move to a more elevated and productive plane - that of governance. And governance implies public service. A politician who is not capable of governance is like getting into a new car that has no engine. While it looks good, it gets you nowhere. Thus, we should ask all potential politicians, "Are you a politician because you have something to contribute or are you involved because you are looking for something to take away. Are you there because you like the sound of the title and because the sound of sirens has become an intoxicant to your ears?

Or are you seeking office so that you can help the old lady receive her pension, help the young man find work to feed his family their daily bread and because you feel an unequalled exhilaration when you see healthy, well fed children smile as they walk, books in hand, on their way to school.

Now that the election season has officially begun, we all have a choice to make. Will our politics be small and selfish or will it be visionary and will it be beneficial to those whom we purport to serve?

These are the questions before us all. These questions are freighted with importance. Thus, may we answer them with all the wisdom we can summon.

Before I go any further, I forgot to warn you that I will not speak in the usual diplomatic subtleties. The day is short and precious hours have already slipped by. There is no time to waste on fancy phrases and witticisms that might leave you guessing whether there might be some hidden meaning different than what was said. My language will not be one of finesse but one that is plain and straightforward so that there can be no mistake about what I have said and meant.

There will be no double meanings or hidden messages so subtract nothing from what I say. Neither add anything to it. What is said shall be no more yet no less than what you hear. Likewise, do not jump to the conclusion that my presentation is to favor or oppose any person, group or organization. I came here not to oppose or support any one. I am here neither to condemn nor glorify any person, party or platform.

We all have done some good and we all have done some things that could have been done better or even done away with. Thus, this is not an occasion to blame or chastise. What I came here to do today is underscore to you the need to back away from politics as it has heretofore been played. I came here to underscore to you to use your talent and love of the land to build a political economy for which all Nigerians can be proud. A political economy that provides each citizen those services and benefits they deserve. As a diplomat, I am not partisan in favor of one. But as a friend of Nigeria, I will be extremely partisan in my belief in Nigerian's journey toward democracy. In the belief that all of you gathered here have an important role to play in that venture. Therefore, it is a time to join together so that Nigeria can move faster in its march of progress so that we can reduce the gap between what is Nigeria's current reality and its hopeful future.

Again, all of this I say as a friend. This is my third assignment in Nigeria and my fifth year living in this land. I have spent most of my professional career in West Africa having served three years in Liberia during the civil war and also having worked on West African issues in Washington, D.C. Thus I come to you not as a stranger but as someone who cares deeply about Nigeria and who has seen first hand the bounty that can accrue to a nation where good governance resides. But I have also seen the spoilage that can afflict a country when injustice, greed and bad governance are allowed to walk the land.

Because Nigeria is a recently minted democracy, your responsibility to hold credible elections and bring good governance to your people is acute. You may not face any greater collective responsibility for the remainder of your life. In an older democracy, the relevant institutions and political culture have had time to root themselves in the social fabric.

In such a situation, where the people err by electing bad leadership, the nation or community can endure because democracy has become a way of life. The dividends that has previously bestowed has built a reservoir of goodwill to see the people and this noble concept through the lean years.

When a democracy is young, however substandard, flawed elections or a period of poor governance can give a mortal blow t the democratic experiment. The process of democratization is not much different than the growth of a human being. Hardship an adult can endure may be fatal to an infant.

You, as leaders of your state and communities, are the appointed guardians of a precious infant, Nigeria's democracy. Like any decent parent, you must place the survival and well being of that child above your own narrow interests. No decent parent feeds himself until he can eat no more but let his child starve.

You elected officials, you as government officials, you as community leaders and stalwarts, are among Nigerian democracy's founding fathers. Be as good parents to democracy as to the children of your own flesh, fiber and blood. Don't let democracy be orphaned.

When democracy is new, that is precisely when it must prove itself to the people. If it does not produce noticeable fruits, the population, because it does not have a deep grounding in this form of government, may well decide the tree is barren and turn to something else that appears to have a more immediate yield. Cynicism, demagoguery, and selfishness creep in where faith and hope should reside. In such an atmosphere, democracy may be in jeopardy.

Here I will say something that at first seems to contradict what I have said before. Listen carefully so you get the full impact and import of what I will say. "Nigeria's history indicates that it can survive for some time without democracy".

However, history - and the large gulf that separates Nigeria's reality from its potential - is conclusive proof that a country cannot flourish in the long term without embracing political democracy and the economic empowerment of the individual that democracy implies. This thing called democracy is a complex, and at times, an ungainly animal. From afar, it looks like an inefficient form of governance; but up close, it is the most practical one.

Under a dictatorship, it is easier to render and implement decisions. One person and his cabal say yes or no, do or don't. Matters are settled by decree with lightning speed. Arbitrariness is the backbone of such an arrangement. No need to engage a legislature or worry about the courts and the legality of what is proposed. The minute a despot speaks, the matter is over.

Over time, this type of government leads to oppression, malfeasance and worst of all, the misdirection of a country's future. With government of such a capricious and closed nature, you reap that which you sew.

On the other hand, constitutional democracy and its associated checks and balances are the best form of government because they recognize the flaws in the human character. If we were all saints, government would be unnecessary. No, democracy does not work because we are angels and saints. It is necessary because it is the form of government that best restrains the demon in us all. That demon goes by many names - ambition, greed, self-interest, are just a few names.

Just having the democratic forms and institutions are inadequate in themselves. The people with whom these institutions are entrusted must contain the values of democracy in their hearts and minds. A constitution is but a piece of paper and a piece of paper, no matter how special the words inscribed therein is easily shred.

The real constitution that begets good governance is not found in that piece of paper, it is found in the spirit and thoughts and philosophy that gave rise to what was written. What I am saying is that for the constitution to be real and genuine it must be written in your mind, your heart, your behavior. Moreover, seeking the welfare of the people must be the primary step, the motivating force to any meaningful structure or conduct of government.

For good governance and democracy to take hold, the answers to two questions "Why do you run for office" and "Why will the people elect you" must be the same. Dissatisfaction and trouble reign wherever the answers are different. If you ran for office because you wanted to enrich yourself but the people elected you because they thought you would bring better social services, someone will be disappointed. Something has to yield in this situation because you cannot serve two masters - you must either serve them or yourself.

Either you will have to change your ways or they will have to accept your self-aggrandizement but both cannot get what they want. Where there is such a fundamental discord between the elected official and the electorate, contention will be your portion. Conversely, where there is general harmony of interests, you have established the essential foundation for good governance.

You as political leaders in the state can and must be the primary example of good governance to the people. The people may not always be in contact with national officials, but, if you do your work properly, you must be in close contact with your community. By doing your jobs, you not only become the best exemplar of grassroots democracy you become democracy's protector.

In order to serve this vital function, you must have a vision for your state. If you do not have a vision for improving or serving your community, you should seriously think about pursuing another vocation. This one may not be for you. Of course, state and local government cannot do everything but you must work with and for the people to bring them the vital services within your mandate to deliver.

What the people need from you is not shrouded in mystery. It is easy to discern their needs and concerns provided you care enough about those who elected you. They are looking for improvement in health care for their families, education for their children, better infrastructure, economic growth and employment - food.

As I said before, you cannot do all of these yourself. But you do have some funds and manpower to address some of their concerns. To the extent you control assets, set your budgets to meet the social service priorities of your community. Move around your state and community, take time to express your vision for improving it to your people, let them express their ideas and concerns to you. Listen to their cries. Some of their ideas will be good, don't tarry in accepting these ideas.

Embrace their good ideas to refine and improve your thinking and your programs. Accepting someone else's ideas is not weakness. It is wisdom. If you do follow this tack, your supporters will continue to give you support. Those who once opposed you, will begin to think better about you. Those who hated you, will begin to respect you. Just by listening with an open ear and honest heart, you have taken an important step toward good governance that uplifts the spirit and well being of the entire community.

In this regard, remember not to shun your political opposition. Do not mistake electoral politics for military welfare. These people are your political opposition not your mortal enemies. Only one person can win an election. But if the election is done fairly, we all stand to gain something from it. However, if we turn elections into a form of warfare, there is no true winner or loser. We all shall suffer in the end. Even the so-called winner loses. Given the sharpness of the electoral warfare, even the winner cannot quickly divorce himself from the combative spirit that governed during elections. Once a person gains power by any means, he becomes convinced that his opponent will try to steal that power by any means.

This type of victory is no victory at all. This type of psychology is not conducive to good governance. In such a situation, a man sleeps with one eye open and one foot on the floor. No matter how high or soft the bed, no one can find comfort in such an arrangement. Thus, it is better to make peace after the elections and the best way to obtain post-election peace is never to engage in pre-election warfare. Better a man erect and live in a modest house in peace than build a large one only to destroy half of it.

Remember that your political opponents are human beings with brains and reason. They cannot be wrong on all issues all the time no more than you can be right all the time. Your opponents are entitled to respect and dignity. Listen to them, give them adequate political and economic space. Do not starve or humiliate them. Always remember you are not perfect. Even the good decisions you make are not perfect and have their flaws. Often the solutions of today's problems are the parents of tomorrow's challenges. No one has a monopoly on truth and knowledge. Accept in good faith the constructive criticism of your political opponents.

In fact, before and after the election, create a venue where responsible members of the opposition can visit and raise their concerns with you. You must understand that once elected, you not only serve those who supported you but those who did not. You must understand that although elections are driven by competition, good governance requires conciliation. This means you must extend a hand to your former competitor. Remember you are on top today but nothing constructed by man is permanent. The situation will change. Better that you treat a man well when you could have injured him. When that man rises to power, your previous treatment of him will put you in good stead on that day. Treating others justly when you have the power to do otherwise is your best insurance for fair treatment should power ever be taken from you.

Now let's look at the other side of the electoral equation, the person who gets fewer votes. It is equally important how that person acts. Of course, if you have a legitimate grip about the vote tabulation, pursue that grievance through legal channels. That is your right and duty.

However, if and when it has been genuinely established that you that you lost, you must accept defeat gracefully. You have lost the election but have not been banished from the human race. All is not forsaken. You still have an important role to play. The more you play it wisely is the better you position yourself for the subsequent election. The thing to do is not to try to undermine everything your opponent does.

For now, he has a constitutional mandate that must be respected. To actively and on all accounts undermine him, is to disrespect that mandate. It is to disrespect the constitution which, while the election was pending, you had promised to serve with all your heart down to the last drop of your blood. Before the election, honey flowed from your tongue. Now that you lost, you spit acid. Which one are you? The correct answer is that you should be neither.

You should be clear-headed about your chances before the election. You should be calm and composed no matter the outcome. As the leader of the opposition, you have a solemn duty. You should criticize the office holder when wrong but, in all fairness, you should not try to tear him down, for that office holder now represents the entire people. If you tear him down, you tear down a little of yourself. Criticize, yes, destroy, no. Every now and then, begrudgingly acknowledge and admit when he does something right. This is good politics. It is even better governance. Such a sign of maturity will win more points for you than any negative words you could say.

Both winners and losers, you must realize that although you might not be best friends you ought not be the bitterest foes. If both of you sought office to help the community and not just to help yourselves, there should be some common ground upon which you can meet and establish a decent relationship.

This state has a reputation for peacefulness. That reputation should be cherished and protected as the election season approaches. Elections should not be decided by who can outmuscle the other but who can better tackle the issues of the day. And there are many issues to tackle even in this fine state.

For instance, you must serve an important function in helping to promote business and economic growth in your communities. This is a very key role because, over time, it is the private sector that must create the wealth and jobs needed for your communities to prosper.

You promote private sector development making it secure for business to operate in your area. There should not be layers of regulations and "special" fees that stifle the growth of private enterprise. While in the short run, this might seem an attractive way to raise revenue, it actually immiserates the community by chasing business away.

You can actually raise more revenue and generate employment by making it easier for more businesses to establish themselves in your community. The best way to spur revenue is to increase the volume of activity in your jurisdiction not by trying to bleed the few businesses that are there.

How to educate your populace, protect their health, create employment, take care of waste disposal, water management, power generation, promote agriculture in terms of food security and commercial opportunities - all these things ought to be addressed by those in office and those who seek office. If you busy yourself with addressing these issues, you have precious little time for less productive political misadventures and capers.

I could continue to talk about the different aspects of good governance at the local level but I think I have touched on the major themes and with that I think you can finish painting the full picture yourselves.

I would like to encourage you not to conduct "business as usual". State and local government have been accused of squandering money, I exhort you to show that, in your jurisdiction, malfeasance is not the case. State and local government have come under criticism for being ineffective. I exhort you to prove those critics wrong. It has been said that state and local government have not really touched the lives of the people. I ask you to make that criticism false as it pertains to your stewardship of your local government.

Look, if you try to improve and change things, some people will oppose you. That is to be expected. The reason you were elected to office was not to have an easy time but to bring positive change. I exhort you to do so. That is your mandate. Let that be your legacy.

In Nigeria, democracy is being put to the test. Can it perform? In this contest there are no neutrals. There are no fence sitters. Either you are working to promote democracy or you are doing things to defeat and undermine it. Please, I beseech you to be on the right side of this historic battle.

As I go I leave you with this parable. A wealthy man had twelve sons and a large estate that stretched as far as the eye could see in all four directions. Upon this estate, he set about building fine houses and demarcating large plots. He managed to build eleven beautiful homes with splendid gardens. However, he grew old and tired and could work no more on this project. Seeing the old man grow weak, the first eleven sons rushed to occupy the houses.

With the money their father gave them, they bought new cars, fine clothes, the best watches, drank aged whiskey and exquisite wine. Every week, the man would invite his sons to his home for a meal. Every week the first eleven would sit at the table, filling themselves on the feast their father had provided for them.

During one of these sessions, the old man suddenly asks "Where is my son?" The older responded, "Why ask such a question? We are all here". The older son than turned to the next saying, "He can't see us. The old man is losing his sight". At the following week's meal, the old man again asked the same question to which the oldest son responds, "Why ask that again, old man. Your sons are here. Do you want 11 answers?" The old man then replied, "Did your mother give birth to only 11?" The son said, "Why are you worried about that little ingrate? He never comes when you invite him, he has not sat at this table in years. It is a good thing you did not give him a house. See how badly he behaves?" The old man laughs. "So you call yourselves my sons. You are no more my son than the chair you sit on. No, your parents are greed and meanness. You sit in the big houses, living off the fruit of another's labor and you call what you are doing work. It is not even play. It's pillage. You produce nothing, yet consume everything. Do you know where the food you eat here every week comes from? Who plants and harvests it? Do you know?

There is a person who for years has come here early in the day to prepare these weekly meals in the kitchen. After you leave, he cleans the mess you made. This person is the one who took the vacant land and turned it into a vast farm. Yet, you do not know this because you never cared enough to go and see what became of that land. It is that person who I want to see now. So I ask again - where is my son," the old man shouts.

Finally, the twelfth boy comes running from the kitchen. "Father, Father what is troubling you?" "Not "what", but "who" is troubling me, the old man corrects him. The old man goes on to say, "Do you see these eleven who eat off the fat of the land yet contribute nothing. They are what trouble me. They sit here and gorge themselves yet hover over me like vultures waiting for me to expire so they can lay claim to what they did not work for. They did not know the food they eat, you planted, you harvested, you brought to the house, you even cooked so they could enjoy it. Yet, all they have to say about you is calamity and lies.

I have helped give birth to twelve yet I have but only one son. The rest have sold themselves and are now slaves to their own endless appetites. From today forward, everything I own is yours, including the houses and cars these scoundrels enjoy. As for them, do with them what you will, except never turn your back to them. The day you do so is the day a knife enters your spine." With that, the old man leaves the dining hall after instructing the twelfth son to take his seat at the head of the table.

Now imagine that the old man represents the will of the people and judgment of history, the houses and food represent the wealth and resources of the nation, and the twelfth son represents one type of politician while the other sons represent another type of political leader. Which son would you want to be? This is the hour in which to make your choice.

Thank you.

 

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