POLITICS, VIOLENCE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

by Rev. Fr. (Prof.) Joseph Kenny, O.P.
for NANS/J.C.C.: OSUN STATE AXIS, 22 March 2007

Even my personal friends have been assassinated: Bola Ige, Funo Williams. Maybe it is better to be a society drop-out, a naked mad man. No one assassinates such people. Yet for most of us that is not an option.

Four hundred years before Christ, the Greek philosopher Aristotle said, "He who is unable to live in society must be either a beast or a god; he is no part of a state" (Politics). The fact is, we need society.

1. What does society offer us? What does it demand of us?

Start with the rudiments. Every child needs a home. The evil of fornication is that it is inviting children into the world without providing them with a home. — The result: homeless area boys that will not let others live in peace.

We may have a home and good parents, but we need to belong to a wider circle—the town, the state, the nation, the world village. Why? First, for learning and higher education. Secondly, for economic opportunities. Thirdly, for support in our moral and religious life.

We cannot stress too strongly that the purpose of society and its government is not just to make us more productive and wealthy, but to make us good people, humane people, godly people.

The chief function of government in promoting good life is to provide security. I myself, and I assume everyone here, have had first-hand experience of armed robbery and violence. Only the government has the coercive power to curb such violence. In doing so, it can coopt recognized local vigilante groups, which can be more effective than police from the outside.

Government should also provide certain basic services, but the rule should be that central government should never take over what local government can do, and government should not usurp what private initiative can do better.

Government should assist education, but without discouraging local and private initiative. And rather than imposing exhaustive regulations, it should allow schools to compete on the basis of their products. It will become quickly apparent which are the better schools, and these will be patronized, while bad schools fold up for want of students.

Technical education is important and must be promoted, but not to the exclusion or detriment of the humanities—whose courses expose us to the lessons of history, the wisdom of culture, literature, art and philosophical thought—those disciplines which help us to live a good, and not merely useful, life.

If it is axiomatic that whatever the government attempts to manage it manages poorly, whether it be a railroad, a national carrier or a steel mill, this is all the more true in the matter of religion. Yes, let Muslims have Shari'a, let Catholics have Canon Law, but, for the good of religion, do not ask the government to manage it. Once a government ministry pays the salaries of imams and priests, hires and fires them, and tells them what they may or may not preach, religion is run to the ground. For example, contrast the woeful state of the established Anglican Church in Britain, which is government controlled, with the flourishing state of its independent counterpart in Nigeria. Yes, government, hands off religion.

2. So you want to become governor?

Listen again to Aristotle: "Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions" (Politics). There are many who want to be on top, to have a taste of power and all the amenities it brings, with little concern for the common good, whereas those who are devoted to the common good are few. How do we score a candidate?

Here a few questions to ask:

• No matter what his religion, is he honest and interested in the common good, such as filling the potholes and clearing the traders and double-parked danfos that block the flow of traffic? Or will he leave the city in chaos, so long as cash flows into his own pockets?
• Is he he capable of performing well in office, or will subordinates, advisors and lobbyists take over the decision-making?
• Is he capable of standing up to opposition or threats in the course of pursuing justice, and is he astute enough to neutralize opponents? Or will he back down from good policies when he hears a rumble from those whose interests are affected?
• Is he committed to an honest electoral process? Or does he want to frustrate the process and grab power by rigging? If that is the case do not join him, do not follow him, do not support him. Do not be bought by his bribes. Such unscrupulous candidates particularly recruit cult members in tertiary institutions, as Destiny Emmanuel has ably documented in the manuscript of his book Beyond vanity, which he proposes to publish. [published 2008, contact: infogloriousage@yahoo.com]

If you find the answer to these and other questions about the electoral candidates, in the end you may discover the right candidate. Or you may discover the best of those running, even if he is lacking in many requisites. Then you move into action.

3. How do I make my candidate win?

• The first thing is to campaign, to enlighten people about your candidate.
• The second is to monitor against rigging, or violence in campaigning. This requires documenting whatever transpires, especially by video. Your campaign people should have many cameras standing at a safe distance that can zoom in on anything wrong going on. If one camera is seized, another will survive and preserve the evidence. Such filming and documentation is better than joining in violence. A video can be presented in court and bring down your opponent who has engaged in violence.
• Also, you must protect your candidate from assassination or injury. One of the ways to do that is to equip his house with surveillance cameras that catch everyone going in or out. Also provide credible security men who will not turn the cameras off and go out for supper.
• Finally, be ready for self-defence, but avoid any retaliatory violence. You see how the Israelis and Palestinians have been trading rockets back and forth for many years, and it has led to no good. "Do me, I do you; God no vex."—This can never solve the problem of violence, but only increase it.

Conclusion

To live in a sane society is a basic human need and right. Government should provide security and assure basic infrastructures, the enabling environment for private economic, educational and cultural enterprise, where people can live and work and practice their religion in peace.

Be judicious and just in choosing your candidate. Support his cause, but beware of violence.

There are many forms violence can take, but the greatest offence we can do to our neighbour is to recruit him to join us in doing evil. That is worse than murdering him, because it is killing him spiritually, whereas murder only kills him bodily.

The greatest favour we can do to our neighbour if he goes wrong is to correct him and work for his conversion, especially if he is a leader. That is what Catholics call fraternal correction, and Muslims call al-amr bi-l-ma`rûf wa-n-nahy `an al-munkar.

Fundamentally, we are called to love our neighbour. "How can we claim to love God whom we cannot see if we do not love our neighbour whom we do see?" (1 Jn 4:20).

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