Venezuela is in a shambles. The once-upon-a-time wealthy oil nation is embroiled in political crisis with the emergence of two leaders, laying claim to the presidency of the Latin American country.
On January 23, the leader of the Venezuelan legislature, Juan Guaido declared himself acting president in affront to President Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for a second six-year tenure after being declared winner of a controversial election in May last year.
Guaido had contended that the election was flawed, declared Maduro usurper of the people’s mandate and insisted that as the head of the legislature, the Venezuelan constitution empowers him to take over as acting president.
The suffering which the citizens have had to contend with since early 2000 when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, inflicted poor governance on them has only just deepened.
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It was Chavez’s socialist economic policies, which stifled local production, encouraged imports and forced many manufacturers out of business. Maduro continued most of the policies of his mentor, which could only be sustained with imports from oil revenues.
When oil revenues tumbled in 2014, the bubble finally burst for Venezuela. The government could no longer fund imports with its meagre foreign earnings. With hyperinflation, shortages of food and toiletries, the citizens’ living conditions worsened.
Although blessed with the largest oil reserves in the world, poor governance has robbed Venezuela of its oil prosperity. The Brookings Institutions in a report last October stated that: “Venezuela has really become the poster child for how the combination of corruption, economic mismanagement, and undemocratic governance can lead to widespread suffering.”
Now with the country sliding further down the precipice with the unfolding political crisis, the consequence on the already traumatised citizens is better imagined.
Nigeria is not immune from the affliction that has held Venezuela down. A fellow oil state, Nigeria shares several experiences with Venezuela in how poor governance and choice of leadership could imperil the life of a nation and its people.
The long years of corruption and mismanagement in Nigeria has unfortunately also ensured that the country’s oil wealth too has not translated into prosperity for the citizens.
The same Brookings Institutions released a report last year, stating that with 87 million poor citizens, Nigeria has overtaken India as the poverty capital of the world.
The real test of whether Nigeria will depart from the ruinous route, which Venezuela has been treading is the upcoming general elections, starting this weekend.
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While the Buhari administration has been campaigning that the nation’s economy has improved and that it also has the panacea to completely lift it out of the perilous condition the previous administration steered it into, the opposition parties feel otherwise and want the ruling party voted out.
Nigeria does not look totally immune from the Venezuelan scenario. We must, therefore, elect candidates with proven capacity to manage the nation’s economy in a manner that will bring prosperity to all.
It is also important that the elections are free and fair and the true winners of the people’s mandate declared to avoid impasse as currently being experienced in Venezuela.
