Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - MY people

The reason many people in multi-ethnic countries, such as Nigeria, believe in such rotations is because of the power of the presidency to allocate scarce resources. Hence, when a new president is installed, the ethno-regional grouping that he or she hails from engages in all forms of celebration, expecting of course, to begin the process of "chopping" national resources. During this time, the president's narrowly-defined "constituency"--probably his or her ethnic group or ethno-regional area--is not going to be interested in policies that promote genuine economic growth and the creation of wealth (and hence, benefit the entire country) but in those that maximize the flow of resources to them. The emphasis among the "President's supporters" is not growth, but consumption!--consumption of national resources; not poverty alleviation and the improvement of national living standards, but nepotism directed at the president's extended family, which in this case, will include his or her entire ethnic or religious group. 

Such rotational presidencies are not conducive to good governance or economic development. They encourage and sustain the "chop mentality" and in the process, discourage the office holder from making choices that may be unpopular, but which can lead to long-term and sustainable economic growth and development. Instead, such a president, afraid to disappoint his or her ethnic elders and possibly face the wrath of his ancestors, would usually want to make sure that the group he or she comes from is well-taken care of. The group, of course, would never forgive the president if, during his time of "service," he did not use the presidency to benefit his "people." Hence, national economic policy would not be informed by sound research but by the need to placate one's extended family.

Under such a system, the presidency can no longer represent a governance institution but a resource distribution structure that is regularly visited by individuals from the different groups that inhabit the country. Given the fact that Nigeria boasts of more than 250 ethnic groups and at least 10 or more ethno-regional groupings, imposing the rotational presidency on the country could mean that some groups would have to wait for many decades before they can get their turn to chop. Of course, a group that finally gets its turn to chop would want to accumulate as much as possible knowing that it might be many generations before it can again have a sit at the presidential table. What would become of economic growth and development?

On Tue, Sep 9, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:

One of the problems facing any African president presiding over a multi-ethnic democracy - let's take Nigeria as a good example – in Nigeria it's possible that when Goodluck Jonathan gets up there on the podium, coughs into the microphone and says "My people",  the Niger Delta Ijaws may feel honoured  that he is speaking to them specifically, whilst  some of the Muslims might even feel that when Mr President says , "My People" he only means the Christians and the kuffar

If it's an Igbo president of Nigeria and he says "My People", some of the Yoruba may feel that he  could not possibly be talking about them.

When it's the  FIFA  World Cup Nigeria is one people  or when attending to a national catastrophe - it could be an epidemic , it could be bribery and corruption, but when in addressing  those ills the president of Nigeria says, "My people", everyone knows that they are included.

For the sake of regional equilibrium (so that the centre can hold) the rotation of the presidency in so far as it is a rational decision, a compromise of understanding, is a good idea and so is the common understanding that (may the best man win) that according to the nation's constitution the president of Nigeria can come from anywhere in Nigeria...

President Goodluck Jonathan usually says, "Fellow Nigerians"  and talks about the "people of Nigeria"...(  - all the people of Nigeria, not just some of the people of Nigeria, although he sometimes talks about some of the people of Nigeria who go by the name of Boko Haram

Peace

We Sweden

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L. Eccles Professor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
1337 Edvalson Street, Dept. 3807
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.