With Nigeria in full electioneering mode unlooking a devastating flooding crisis, another United Kingdom Prime Minister, Liz Truss, .听 Truss is now the shortest serving PM in British history 鈥 just 45 days 鈥斅 and the .听
Why did Truss resign?
In her , Truss said she failed to deliver on her Conservative Party鈥檚 mandate to cut taxes and boost economic growth. Despite being in office for less than two months, her own party members publicly spoke of .听
The for Truss stepping down comes from implementing policies that backfired badly 鈥 her budget to cut taxes failed and upset financial markets. Even the UK鈥檚 almighty pound sterling dropped in value.
So what lessons can Nigerian politicians learn from this saga?
Politics isn鈥檛 do-or-die
In the West, elected officials and political appointees know that the positions they hold are temporary and performance-based. People win or lose elections 鈥 life continues. But in Nigeria, politicians invest heavily and employ whatever means necessary to win. And when they don鈥檛 win, .
Resignations should be more commonplace in Nigeria
Resignation isn鈥檛 in the dictionary of Nigerian politicians. Even the rare ones that resign do it usually when . One notable resignation happened in 2018 when the Oluwole-made NYSC certificate of then-finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, was exposed. She claimed that until the scandal broke, she 鈥溾 that her certificate wasn鈥檛 genuine.听
National interest over party interest
Truss鈥 resignation followed protests from all quarters 鈥 including her own party 鈥 that she wasn鈥檛 fit to lead. In Nigeria, party loyalty reigns supreme and members of the party in power rarely call out their underperforming leaders. This kind of blind allegiance undermines democracy in the long run.
For example, when Nigerians of Isa Pantami from his ministerial position following his support of terrorist groups, members of his party in his home state of Gombe issued . He鈥檚 still a minister years after that controversy that would have been the end of a politician in saner climes.
Resignation isn鈥檛 the end of the world
As a former PM who has only spent 45 days in office, Liz Truss is entitled to a 拢115,000 annual . As you can imagine, this lifts her from being a mechanic to being a baller for life.听
The lesson here is that resigning from office doesn鈥檛 signal the end. One could use the opportunity to pursue one鈥檚 passions, earn money from public speaking, write a book, or even run again for the same office, like Truss鈥檚 predecessor, Boris Johnson, .听
In Nigeria, politicians tend to make politics their bread and butter, which makes them desperate to die there. Maybe they could be more open to the idea of losing and resigning if they have thriving enterprises outside of office that aren’t dependent on political patronage.
Ultimately, resignations are a feature of a thriving democracy and a reminder that for all the power politicians hold, they still remain public servants.
