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Which is the lesser
evil? Incompetence or corruption? When I recently posed this question
to a small group of friends, there was no unanimous answer. Of course,
there were many who chose to toe the nuanced path by insisting that
corruption and incompetence are comfortable bed fellows and so cannot
be divorced from one another. While this is likely spot on, it does not
always hold true. It is very possible to have integrity and still not
score highly on competence. An obvious case in point is the recent INEC
logistics fiasco.

INEC certainly
deserves commendation for being committed to ensuring a free and fair
process; even postponing the elections to ensure that this goal is
achieved. However, while we commend them, the lessons learnt should not
be allowed to get lost in translation. The understanding this year was
that INEC’s resolve and commitment towards ensuring free and fair
elections would deliver the goods. Alas, we now know that the real
world is not that simple.

Just after the
controversial April 2007 elections, former president, Olusegun
Obasanjo, sat down with Al Jazeera’s senior Africa correspondent,
Andrew Simmons, in an exclusive interview where, among others, he
defended the veracity of the 2007 elections. Of course, his defense had
little credibility but his commentary had a few gems that, in light of
our recent experience, should have been given more credit.

When asked by Mr.
Simmons why the elections were so blatantly unfair and why so many
people were not able to vote, Mr. Obasanjo responded that, of course,
he wanted everybody to vote but that they couldn’t because of problems
with logistics. At the time, many Nigerians (especially those who
watched the interview online) laughed his comments off and for good
reason, since we all know with a certain degree of confidence that the
elections were flawed mostly because they were rigged. However, in
truth, they were flawed not only because they were rigged but also
because of faulty logistics. There is a reason why corruption is not a
synonym for incompetence. The absence of one does not automatically
solve the other. Four years later, we have attempted to solve the
corruption problem with the appointment of Attahiru Jega but the
logistics problem is still with us in its full electoral glory.

From our recent
experience, it is safe to conclude that being a man or woman of upright
convictions is not all it takes to be a good leader. You might mean
well, but can you execute effectively in an uncertain terrain such as
Nigeria? This is not a question to be scoffed at but one that should be
included in whatever interview questionnaire is drafted for Nigerian
leaders in all spheres of the polity.

I am tempted to
say, though, that graduating from having to deal with problems of
corruption to problems of incompetence represents, in some way, a step
forward in our political evolution. Like many have noted since the
postponement, in the past, the lack of election materials would have
led to forged results. At least, now, they have led to delayed
elections. This is progress. Or is it?

In addition, it is
becoming clearer that as Nigeria evolves politically, we might
increasingly begin to need to make a choice between several kinds of
leaders:

Leaders who are competent yet corrupt.

Leaders who are not corrupt but yet are incompetent.

Leaders who are both incompetent and corrupt.

Leaders who are not corrupt and who are also competent.

Though the last leader is the obvious ideal, he or she is often so
elusive that we might often have to make do with one of the first three.