Elections in Nigeria are hardly ever free and fair. They are often characterized by rigging and irregularities at all levels. And besides incompetent leadership and misappropriation of public treasures, development at many levels is still a mirage. The truth wears no mask. It is becoming more obvious and clearer that the leadership of this nation will eventually lead us into further delirium as it is doing already. Nigerians are in a state of abject trauma and dilemmatic situation that begs for more than just nursing positive hopes. Each dawn births a new worry sends all asking ‘’what the heck is wrong with this nation and its leadership?’’

In this age of unrest, all the common man craves for is a piece of bread for the body since the dividends of democracy are now the sole preserve of the elites in politics. Since 1999, Nigerians become unsettled by apprehension; the dawn of every general elections brings along with it pains and worries linger even after the elections. Many a Nigerian politicians prefer to be part of the new administrative to being on the side of truth. They are only after what will grace their pockets. The issue of accountability no longer counts in such circumstances neither is the credibility the person any concern of theirs; they are only after eating from the national table.

It is this desire to continue to eat from the national confers that influences the imposition of incompetent candidates on the helpless by greedy and corrupt godfathers. Even the incumbent leader is more concern about maintaining his share of the national cake so he ensures that he forces a puppet he can manipulate on the nation and the sole aim is to continue to eat from the national table.

Like the minority leader of Niger State House of Assembly would say, “Politicians that have failed their people through the misuse of power are always scared of the unknown fates that will befall them after they must have left office, so they will want to select a successor to cover their mess”. The truism in the above quote clearly explains why all political office holders especially the executives engage in a do or die affair to ensure that they plant a successor to succeed them. we saw what happened in the Kano State Governorship race in 2011, where Shekarau wanted, by all means to see Takai under the defunct ANPP take over from him. But because Kanolites were fed up with his 8 years leadership of confusion and stunted growth, they voted in Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiyya ideology.

But then what is political succession ? Political succession has been defined as the transfer of political power from one elected government to another. Mind you under normal circumstances political succession is suppose to be guided constitutionally not by the virtue of interest, which allows for peaceful yet fair change of government.

According to Otive Igbuzor PhD, Executive Director African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), during his paper presentation at the policy dialogue organized by the African centre for leadership, strategy & development on 27th January, 2010 at Denis hotel Abuja, Some scholars assert that everything rises and falls on wings of leadership but Political leadership is crucial for the effective functioning and development of every nation. The issue of political succession is therefore of strategic importance. Meanwhile, it is very clear that the challenge of succession is a universal one affecting all sectors of society.

What has being affecting our political stability and development is the selfish interest attached to succession. Majorly because the incumbent feel it will serve as a shield to their mismanagement, but what they fail to understand is, even as they select who to succeed them, it is still not a guarantee, knowing clearly that betrayal can come in or the feel for being a boss of oneself from the successor. Never the less there is a Governor in the North Central states who really needs a successor to cover his treasury mess and God saves him the successor doesn’t bite the fingers that fed him after he emerged, that is if he gets lucky to even plant a successor. If not, he would be probed by the EFCC.

In our quest to rebuild our leadership belief, it is paramount to allow nature take its place when transferring power come 2015. Dear Politicians, especially the ambitious and looters, rather those that failed and abuse the trust of their electorates, your plan come 2015 will certainly fail because like I said in my previous essay, 2015 general elections is beyond the ordinary.

In a bid to satisfy our democratic cravings, we need to change our thinking in order to change the result. Democratic leadership in its full sense comprises a wide area of issues but one of the most critical among these issues is accountability via protection of the trust of electorates.

‘‘If man is ever to solve that problem of politics in particular,he will have to approach it through the problem of the aesthetic’’ — Friedrich Schiller, in On the Aesthetic Education of Man

in a Series of Letters, p. 9.

Let the labour of our past heroes never be in vein. Amen

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