It was therefore understandable that supporters of the PDP would be enthusiastic in celebrating the valedictory ceremony for the outgoing governor who had also been elected to the Senate. The event, which took place last Saturday at the party’s campaign headquarters in Ilorin, known as ‘Mandate House’, however ended on a tragic note when at least 20 persons reportedly died, following a stampede that resulted in the collapse of the fence of the building.

The victims of the collapsed structure were among party supporters who had queued up to receive money and Ankara fabric being distributed at the event. That precious lives could be lost in such pitiable circumstances only demonstrates how much poverty has devalued the quality of human existence in Nigeria. About four supporters of the PDP reportedly died at the same venue last year during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration. The tragedy underscores an unsavoury aspect of our contemporary political culture whereby people participate in political events, support parties and even sell their votes for immediate material and pecuniary gratification. This in itself is a function of the high poverty level that drives people to scramble for paltry sums of money or material items of little financial worth.

It is unfortunate that rather than utilise democracy as a vehicle to deliver enduring development dividends and empower people to overcome poverty, public office holders across the country invariably worsen popular misery through visionless leadership, corruption as well as inept policy conceptualisation and implementation, among others. The resultant mass hunger, deprivation, joblessness and despair in turn create the context for the kind of superficial and subversive generosity responsible for this latest loss of lives in Kwara State. We will recall that a similar stampede by desperate people for free bags of rice being distributed in Abuja last year during the country’s 50th
independence anniversary also resulted in harrowing and unpleasant consequences.

The Kwara State government’s account of the event only reinforces the fact that the pervasive poverty, which has so far not been ameliorated by democratic governance, is the fundamental cause of the tragedy. According to former Governor Saraki’s Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Masu’d Adebimpe, "preliminary investigation by the police revealed that some hoodlums, while attempting to rob party women at the valedictory ceremony had pulled down the fence of the venue which resulted in a stampede that led to the loss of lives".

However, the state government’s management of information about the tragic occurrence leaves very much to be desired. The government made itself vulnerable to allegations of attempting a cover-up when it claimed shortly after the incident that two persons died, even though it admitted that details at the time were still sketchy. It would certainly have been much tidier to have accurate information before issuing a statement.

Of course, the tragedy is only one manifestation of a problem that is prevalent across the polity – the poverty of governance that compounds the quagmire of underdevelopment. It is time for Nigerians to demand qualitative governance that empowers them to be self-reliant rather than scrambling for humiliating handouts from politicians.