Like me, a lot of Nigerians stayed up late to watch the highly advertised and hugely publicized debate of the century. Their “one and only debate” CNN dubbed it. The showdown took place in the wee hours of the morning and for some reason, we refused to bat a wink until we heard what these two politicians from the other side of the world had to say.

Here I was early in the morning, running my generator, (which had become my dependable source of electricity since public power supply had become back-up) and depriving myself of deserved sleep just to listen to Biden and Palin. For some queer reason, I felt justified. One of them was about to make history. If Biden took the day and went on to win at the November general elections, then a black man will seat on the most exalted throne in the earth (by the way, that’s that black chair behind the wooden desk at the oval office), and if Palin took the day and went on to win at the elections, then America will have a female Vice President. Yeah, so since I was alive during this epoch making events, I might as well witness them awake.

I watched with interest all morning as CNN’s motley crew of political analysts bandied around the statistics some of them in real time. Biden seemed to be catching the attention of the American public and Palin seemed to be doing better than expected. In the final analysis, it wasn’t really clear what it all meant, but it looked like Biden had “won” the debate. In my opinion, he showed a superior knowledge of issues and his maturity at delivery mirrored his extensive experience. But then who throws a party to celebrate the outcome, it’s Palin! Yoohoo…she addressed her supporters saying something like “…I felt I was really speaking for you…” I didn’t quote her verbatim but Duh?! Wasn’t she supposed to speak for them? I couldn’t understand the cheers and the screaming and the applause in the wake of performance that most people thought did not match up to the opposition. In some way, it reminded me of home, our dear ol’ country Nigeria.

As I drove to work this morning, I wondered what my interest in the whole American political sequence was? And indeed what our interests as a people were in the political history unfolding in the US.  In recent times, Nigerians had even organized lavish fundraisers for the Obama-Biden ticket, although we now know it had no bearing to their campaigns, but it does still raise the question – why are we so interested? Why do we stay up at night to follow the unfolding drama scene for scene, like a Mexican soap opera?

Our own country lies in the schambles of squalor and poverty gnaws at every aspect of our existence like termites on wood. Corruption is lingua franca and illiteracy is culture. Priorities are misplaced, and knowledge is scarce, drowning sound wisdom and judgement. Jobs are reducing by the day, crime is on the rise and law enforcement is in no way able to curtail its ascendency. We’re tettering on the edge of anarchy and complete national failure, praying everyday for some miraculous intervention that will restore our hopes for today and for the future. Simply living live on the edge. Those of us who work and earn a honest living have to provide all the other amenities for basic living by ourselves. We pay huge sums to protect ourselves and provide security for our families, living in terribly expensive gated communities, generating our own power, drilling our own boreholes for water, paving our own roads through concerted community efforts. Nobody’s talking to us about tax cuts, nobody’s offering us an olive branch multi-billion dollar bailout even if all our stock crashes in a wink, nobody’s saying anything. Tsunamis visit us every rainy season, we wade through it and pray (yes pray) for the dry season. Our hospitals are crematoriums, akin to Nazi death camps, if you go in there with a particular disease, ask your relatives to go buy a coffin. Our former VP sprained his knee while on the treadmill in his palatial residence and he had to be flown abroad for treatment! So what do we expect of the person who had a spinal cord injury? Go figure! I shrug, shake my head.

Nigeria turned 48 recently. I’m not yet 48 but I can see that there’s a whole lot more that could have been achieved in that time. I think I’ve even acheived more in governing my life in this short time than my dearly beloved country has. I think that our politics is in its infancy stage and for a 48 year old who still acts like an infant, there sure is a big problem. We have not yet advanced to the point where we are able to put the power in the hands of the electorate, where they make the decisions, where their vote counts. Someone said that our elections was not even as credible as the Zimbawean elections and drawing a parallel, I find this to be true. At least it was clear to everyone who witnessed it that the opposition held sway in the elections and there was a deliberate attempt to scuttle the victory by the ruling party. Here, even where the people massively vote against the ruling party, somehow their votes get a mind of their own and changes character before they are counted. So let the politicians philandeer, let them make all the promises they can…they don’t have the mandate of the people so in action, they are not obliged to deliver anything. Similarly, vote all you can, do all you want, the folks who will win still end up winning! Election tribunals overturn elections because they were marred with massive rigging, and order fresh elections, only for the massively rigged political office holder to be legally and officially re-rigged back to office. Frankly we’re just tired of the drama and have simply resigned to fate.

I make bold to say that it is unlikely that Nigerians will follow our own political debates like we followed Biden and Palin’s, Obama and McCain’s. We just don’t believe they have the kind of credibility that makes them worth listening to.  Even if we did catch a glimpse of what they said while we’re flipping through the channels looking for Big Brother Africa, they don’t strike us, they don’t strike anyone for that matter as true. So when they make their promises and give the speeches, regardless of what we feel, regardless of what we think, they throw a party! It’s victory. They roll out the drums and prepare for swearing in ceremonies no matter what the poll figures say. This is where our politics becomes identical. It’s about what is seen in the media. If it looks to the world that you’re winning, then you probably are. The ground facts don’t really mean a thing here, because we don’t even have them. Good they’ve got this in the US, but even where the facts exist, like Aunt Sarah, still celebrate, it’s victory!

I usually shy away from writing things about politics, but I couldn’t stop myself once I started on this one. In the end, what’s my take? I’ll keep following the US elections, who knows, I may meet Barack one of these days and say “Hey, I was one of your ardent fans in Nigeria, a country you’ve never been to!”. Also, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for our brand of politics, hoping that one day something, or someone will come along that will for the first time do things differently.

One love…