Togo: Is this Democracy?
Toyin Falola
Gnassingbe Eyadema governed for 38 years, his son Faure in the last 19 years. Yesterday, he bypassed the people to say that only the Parliament can produce the next president, which is him. Father and son for 57 years.
Jibrin, Victor, Udogu, what have you got to say?
ECOWAS, when do you ask Tinubu to move the army?
Victor Okafor
03/27/2024
Victor O. Okafor: No support for Tyrannical Leaders
My argument that longevity of elected political offices should not be automatically viewed as a negation of democracy is not to be taken as a blanket approval for barefaced abuses of power by incumbents who seek to perpetuate themselves in office against the will of the people. My own thinking is that sovereignty lies with the people, and the people, through their vote, should determine whether or not to renew the tenure of an elected political official. I base this argument on an assumption that by and large voters act rationally, and that rational voters, all things being equal, would happily extend the tenure of an elected official who is visibly performing well and concretely improving socioeconomic opportunities that could enhance the quality of their lives. My position should never be taken to mean that I support barefaced abuse of power by long-serving incumbents who try to amend a national constitution or twist the existing electoral processes in order to perpetuate themselves in office.
Second, given that Togo is a "former" French colony (I intentionally enclosed the word “former” with quotation marks because we all have come to realize (haven’t we) that the so-called former French colonies of Africa are in reality functioning as extant colonial economic outposts of France based upon their infamous colonial agreements with France that, at the onset, qualified them to be granted political "independence” in the aftermath of the 2nd World War. We have also seen that apparently on the basis of those colonial agreements, France has been godfathering incumbents, including tyrannical incumbents, who are honoring the terms of the agreement. What else could explain the two Eyademas' forcible successive rulerships over Togo in a fashion that clearly does not meet the tenets of what we understand to be the essence of democracy, namely the will of the people rendered through a free and fair electoral process?
Third, I have also argued that when evaluating long-serving African leaders, we should not put all of them in one political basket because each of them has a different track record. For instance, the Museveni's and Kagema's of Africa do not by any means belong to the same basket as the Eyademas’ and Biya's of the African political landscape. Whereas the Eyademas' and Biya's of Africa are known stooges of French neocolonialism, the Museveni's and Kagema's stand out as nationalistic and Pan-African patriots whose long reigns in office have left their societies concretely better off than how they were before they initially took office. Is it not evident to all who can see that a Uganda that used to be a rag-tag laughing stock of the world under “Conqueror of the British Empire," Field-Marshal, General Idi Amin Dada, has since been transformed by President Yoweri Museveni, a demonstrated patriot, under whose leadership, Uganda is now said to be a stable and progressive political entity that boosts of surplus electric power, as Museveni himself has claimed. Just imagine that Uganda, a country which possesses fewer natural and human resources than her big brother called Nigeria, is able to generate surplus electric power whereas Nigeria, which is far greater in natural and human resource endowment, has failed to generate enough energy to meet its national domestic demand--even after spending stupendous amounts of funds. While Uganda under the leadership of a justifiably long-serving president, has, at least, on that score, managed its resources productively, Nigeria, which has apparently met the "democratic" litmus of those who see short political leadership tenures and recurrent electoral cycles as markers of democracy, is better known for her squandermania, to borrow a term from Nigeria's political lexicon. Nigeria is known for her endemic power failures and her demonstrated incapacity to electrically empower its national territorial households and entities.
What about other indices of national wellbeing? According to UNDP's HDI, "Between 1990 and 2022, Uganda's HDI value changed from 0.329 to 0.550, a change of 67.2 percent. Between 1990 and 2022, Uganda's life expectancy at birth changed by 17.2 years, expected years of schooling changed by 5.8 years and mean years of schooling changed by 3.1 years. Uganda's GNI per capita changed by about 153.1 percent between 1990 and 2022" (https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/UGA). What is the HDI picture for Nigeria? "Between 2003 and 2022, Nigeria's HDI value changed from 0.449 to 0.548, a change of 22.0 percent. Between 2003 and 2022, Nigeria's life expectancy at birth changed by 5.2 years, expected years of schooling changed by 2.0 years and mean years of schooling changed by 2.9 years. Nigeria's GNI per capita changed by about 45.6 percent between 2003 and 2022," say UNDP's HDI (https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/NGA).
President Paul Kagema literally created a new nation from the ashes of the internecine genocide of 1994 that, by UN records, claimed more than 800,000 lives and was watched like a TV show by the external world, including the self-appointed arbiters of what constitutes democracy otherwise popularly known as the international community. Under Kagema's justifiable long tenure, Rwanda has been lifted from a country that was a global focal point of pity due to the internecine genocide of 1994 to a stable, political economic tourist attraction in Africa, surpassing the record of fellow African countries which did not go through the agony of a monumental genocide. According to UNDP's HDI, "Between 1995 and 2022, Rwanda's HDI value changed from 0.279 to 0.548, a change of 96.4 percent. Between 1995 and 2022, Rwanda's life expectancy at birth changed by 27.2 years, expected years of schooling changed by 5.7 years and mean years of schooling changed by 2.7 years. Rwanda's GNI per capita changed by about 201.3 percent between 1995 and 2022" (https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/RWA). From the preceding HDI indices, we can see that both Uganda and Rwanda share a common attribute: an upwardly trending political economic trajectory, marked by the fact that Uganda's “GNI per capita changed by about 153.1 percent between 1990 and 2022" and Rwanda's “GNI per capita changed by about 201.3 percent between 1995 and 2022." Compare and contrast both countries’ GNI performances with Nigeria's: between 2003 and 2022, Nigeria’s GNI changed by only 45.6 percent.
Admittedly, some segments of the international community have engaged in political punditry that has tended to be critical of both Uganda’s and Rwanda’s sitting presidents’ longevity, alleging that they have acted unfairly toward their political opponents. They have not necessarily disputed that under both long-serving leaders, Uganda and Rwanda have registered impressive improvements in the living standards and qualities of life of their citizens. One must ask rhetorically: what weighs higher in the moral scale of balance for these political pundits, the so-called international community: the stability and overall well-being of the nations of Uganda and Rwanda or the unmet lust for power of the political opponents of their ruling presidents?
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Emmanuel Udogu
My opinion on this matter of “father to son leadership syndrome” in Togo
In pidgin english “political power for African politicians too sweet-sef. So, na who go won give am up?” This drive for power is often furthered by the law of self-interest, that frequently trumps [our] moral values or judgment, especially “if push comes to shove.”
I have two theories regarding this development in Togo (as in Gabon, the US with respect to the Kennedy, Clinton, and Bush families). My first assumption relates to my “theory of environmental determinism.” This postulation suggests that children of politicians are likely to aspire to become politicos like their parents, because of political socialization within the family–i.e., the environment. TheTinubu family might be an example. Indeed, we saw him and his sons in the Middle East recently.
My second supposition is based on the “theory of corruption” which exists in all societies, but is endemic in our society. When a son succeeds his father, it is obvious that the son cannot, or will not, probe his father for corruption and political malfeasance. By way of comparison, this view applies to political parties, too. For example, the current APC, (as was also the case with the PDP), in Nigerian politics, will be reluctant to probe its corrupt members. So, the desire to stay in power to protect corrupt party members for as long as possible remains attractive and salient. Why? Because the party might need some of the stolen cash for the party’s support. For example, Jibrin’s submission in this forum on 8/21/23 from Daily Trust of August 18, 2023 titled: “PBAT Policy Package: Understanding Difficulties of Take Off,” noted that “80% of the cabinet ministers are under investigation for massive acts of corruption.” Are these ministers going to be fully probed? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong..
In any case, democracy in Togo, following the “father to son leadership syndrome” is regrettable. Even so, it exposes the democratic mosaic that is characteristic of our current global village. Democracy is not monolithic. For instance, the Dutch democratic genre is different from the American democratic genus. Consequently, I would argue that democracy is like the different varieties of “homo sapiens” in our world today. And, like humans, it comes in different political complexions. These distinctions are informed by the social and culturing specificities of the nation-state in which this form of governance architecture is practiced.This development makes the study of democracy exciting to many students of democracy.
I rest my case.
Ike Udogu
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