The challenge of a political victory

by Livy-Elcon Emereonye

After election comes governance – and to govern is not a jamboree party!

The euphoria of election victory can be momentously tumultuous but very transient at the end of which surfaces the challenge of governance. It takes time, energy and other resources for governance.

Victory is an act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition – and it marks the climax and the end of a phase in a contest. An election is a process in which people vote to choose a person or group of people to preside over their affairs for a specific period of time. And election victory became breaking news where the competition was stiff with each contestant and their supporters hoping to win.

Few days after one is declared a winner in an election, emotions would give way to stark reality – the reality of turning campaign promises into feasible, visible and measurable realities. This is because apart from the fact that talk is cheap, beyond theoretical fabrications it is often difficult and expensive to practicalize fantastic ideas on paper especially where the stakes are high.

To lead different people with different beliefs and expectations is very tough. It is pretty difficult to please or satisfy everyone at the same time or even at different times and conditions.

The first challenge is how best to manage the winning team and make everyone happy and feel carried along. This can be difficult to handle.

It is not easy to manage one’s supporters effectively well without some of them complaining and grumbling. Improper handling of this can turn such supporters into critics, opponents or even enemies. The political bigwigs who assisted the incumbent for victory may desert him for one reason or the other but most times over alleged neglect or abandonment, leaving him to fight extremely hard to retain power and provide dividends of governance. Many things will go wrong when a friend becomes a foe. This may make him too vulnerable for opposition. And where those involved are affluent and influential, they can make things difficult or even topple the government.

Another major challenge is the desire or attempts to carry everyone along, especially in an inclusive system. This can cause one to embrace his enemies – and the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to eat the food of his enemy. This can be suicidal yet alienating one from his co-contestants and shunning other blocs and groups will make one look selfish, creating room for stiff opposition.

Government is a continuum but working exclusively with an established roadmap has its own challenges when or where one is at variance with his predecessor. And running with novel ideas contrary to the existing structures will attract some degree of opposition as most times people resist change especially those that feed on the status quo.

The existence of different blocs and different interest groups gives room for divergent opinions and views which if not properly managed and collapsed into a convergent point will put the leader in very bad shape and destroy the system. To handle this, an unbiased think-tank could be put in place to collate and weigh every opinion about the government and get the best out of it.

To curry favour from, or even to execute evil plans against, the leader, some people can go as far as raising altars – evil altars with evil voices and satanic divinations. Spiritism and voodooism could be consulted for or against the person in a position of authority. Seduction might as well be used – and knowingly or unknowingly some have fallen for them.

People can go to any length to fight those in power and pull them down. Booby traps, red tapes and deliberate abuse of privileges or even ‘wars’ are put in place to ensure they fail and fall, and the greatest war might come from members of one’s household or inner caucus.

Destructive criticisms and wicked propaganda are easy tools deployed in the power game.

However, every challenge of victory can become an opportunity for excellence and should be explored for greatness but if mismanaged could result in a serious crisis.

Whatever the case, the way in which victory is institutionalized can pose a grave threat to the democratic project. The winner takes it all approach makes the loss of election very painful yet an untimely and ill prepared embrace of co-contestants or opponents can spell doom.

In other words, a proper reconciliation and democratic integration of losers into the government would pay more dividends and go a long way to stabilize the system.

It pays to be magnanimous in victory and to reign with the fear of God. The pendulum could have swung the other way that the winner became the loser.

To this end, the dawn of a new era should be the moment of introspection and a period of sober reflection. It should serve as an invaluable quiet time for personal reassessment and earnest prayers. The prayer points should primarily be for humility and the grace to be humane with power.

The true test of a man is how he manages victory and affluence. If a man suddenly discovers that everything ends on his table, what will he do?

What people do with power when they are in a position of authority might be at variance with what they preached or have accused others about in the past. The interest represented or championed when one is in charge, most times, is different from what was agreed upon pre-election time.

Were you to have the final say, what will be your view and position?

Irrespective of class and status, sex and age, bloc and interest, it pays to be true to oneself and be a servant-leader to all. Favour your supporters but don’t maltreat not in your opponent’s camp.

Reign with the fear of God. Be fair to everyone. Have malice for no one but love for all. With a system of inclusiveness, let the provision of adequate social welfare and human empowerment be essential programmes for the government.

Get your opponents busy with something while you tap from their wealth of experience. Weigh every advice on its merit. Always consider the long effect of your action. Power is transient likewise most of the things done with it but the memory therefrom may linger.

There is no permanent position in life. Yes, everything changes with time because change is constant. Except if one dies in office, there will be life outside office so always think of tomorrow. Let this thought guide your actions and inactions.

The knowledge of the fact that every regime or government ends with time should make the man of power to be humble and humane, reigning with the fear of God, respecting people and being just with his actions for when he leaves the scene there would be a demand for stewardship of service!