In Nigeria, it is a season of anomie with an unprecedented fear that the country is drifting towards a failed state (let's hope the drift doesn't metastasise because of the grim implications).
I, therefore, cannot say how effective Ogun State Governor in Southwest Nigeria, Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun, has been in governing his state since he got there almost 2 years ago.
Even in the midst of the mist, it is easy to see his penchant for gratifying public desires. A couple of times when there were public outcries against official actions or misdemeanors by state agents, his government took preemptive strikes that indicated he sided with the people. It's obvious his officials are tracking the social media and taking steps to at least meet public expectations.
Perhaps Abiodun's government sees the people of the state as strategic stakeholders it must do whatever it takes to satisfy.
Governance is not rocket science if leaders can do their homework to understand the expectations of the people and their pain points and take proactive measures to give the people what they want.
That is the kernel of the social contract between a government and the people. With the power of the social media, a government can identify critical issues within a few days, devise effective solutions, iterate and implement.
That's the counsel to Nigerian leaders: use the enormous power of social media positively to govern better. The proclivity is rather about an inordinate desire to curb the influence of social media, an adventure that may blow up in the faces of its proponents.
An elected official is in power at the pleasure or discretion of the people. In Nigeria, an entrenched and dubious scheme of sustained electoral fraud has gotten leaders so conceited to believe they can misrule, disingenuously manipulate votes and remain in power to continually oppress, suppress and depress the people.
Unfortunately for the Nigerian political class, they failed to realise that it all adds up in the final analysis. At some point, the people will take back their power and reallocate it to those they think will serve their best interest.
There were 100 major antigovernment protests in 2020 including the anti-SARS protest in Nigeria, according to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, resulting in the fall of 30 governments or leaders. Some of the biggest factors that provoked the protests were corruption, electoral fraud and impunity by law enforcement officials.
It may be one day or one decade from now, but one thing is certain: the day of reckoning is beckoning for the Nigerian political class. It's inevitable.
