Dear Editor,
It was once written by a noted British scholar (Lord Acton) that: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Whether or not that dictum applies to The Bahamas is a matter for partisan dispute. No one, however, can or should deny that the jockeying for political ascendency in our country is now in full swing.
The first few weeks on the campaign trail have brought out the 'worst' features of our so-called democracy. Instead of dealing with and debating the real issues which confront our nation our politicians have descended to the level of apparent mudslinging, character assassinations and downright nasty diatribes and tirades.
The fact that we have an acknowledged 15.1 percent unemployment here in New Providence and some 21.2 percent in Grand Bahama seems to mean absolutely nothing to our so-called leaders. The cost overrun on the New Providence Road Improvement Project exceeds $67 million. Fox Hill Prison is full to the brim and ain't nobody checking, apparently. High utility costs and energy bills are crippling the majority of us.
Our educational plant is badly broken and our schools are mass producing grade 'D' graduates. Alleged homicides are off the chart and our leaders are 'blaming' everyone except themselves. The 'reds' say, boldly, that they are not scared. While the 'gold' say that they are ready now. The 'greens' say give us a chance. The rest say that they are on a 'mission' from God. Mind you, all of these bogus cliches are being uttered while the nation is rapidly declining into the status, I submit, of a failed state.
Politics in The Bahamas has now evolved into a childish game of you say and I say. The major parties and their leaders are consumed with either retaining power or with reclaiming the same as a matter of entitlement and divine right. The wannabes and their cronies 'know-it-all' with absolutely no track record or antecedents. Some of them think that governance of The Bahamas is like playing doll house where they all want to be 'the daddy'. Well blow me down!
It is regrettable that a large majority of Bahamians play right into the 'clean' and not so 'clean' hands of our politicians and wannabes every five years like clockwork. They are offered governmental jobs; so-called low cost housing; a few crumbs from the masters' table and the beat goes on. We have never had a five, much less a ten, year national development plan. All it is about, apparently, is a cockeyed focus on the next general election.
Esau, according to the Bible, sold his birthright for a mess of porridge or was it a bowl of okra soup? Whatever it was, he was never the same since. That is akin to what we witness in our country with great regularity. It is all, seemingly, all about who can play the blame games best or who is able to talk patented stupidity about cookie jars, tin gods, iron men and bamboo women. It is not, if it ever was, about empowering the average Bahamian and laying out long-range plans for national development.
We have two political figures who have dominated the landscape for three decades and we seem to 'fear' their eventual and inevitable exit from center stage. They are both, I submit, on their last political legs, but like two protagonists in the arena, possibly punch drunk, they continue to stumble on.
There are four crucial areas which we as a people need to address and address now. Youth recidivism, rehabilitation and development are at the top of the list. Sustainable job growth and meaningful employment in both the public and private sectors are essential.
The availability of affordable residential building tracts has long been talked about by all of our politicians but few of them would have conceptualized, much less executed, such a policy in a real way. Crime and the lack of swift and certain punishment are literally 'killing' all of us and act as debilitating deterrents to viable economic growth.
I hope that this missive is not taken as an indictment on the collective nation because it is not meant to be. This is a clear assessment of the stark fact that we are 'in trouble' and the power of politics is being played out right in front of our eyes in living color.
Some say that Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham is a decisive and strong leader. Others say that Opposition Leader Perry Gladstone Christie is too much of a consensus and consultative leader. No one, to my
knowledge, has yet to characterize Branville McCartney (Democratic National Alliance Leader, Bamboo Town) or any of the other prime ministers in waiting.
Whatever anyone may say or suggest, however, it is now patently clear that The Bahamas needs a mixture of a 'strong' and a 'consultative' leader. It cannot continue where one leader is uncouth, possibly, while the other is perceived as 'too soft'. We deserve and demand better than this. The time may well have arrived when we need to get past the scenario where our leaders are mere lawyers.
I do believe that Sir Orville Turnquest, former member of Parliament, deputy prime minister and governor general, is the 'best' prime minister that we never had. Yes, he is a lawyer by profession, but he is also a warm and compassionate man whose entire life has been devoted to national development on a grand scale.
Sir Orville took political positions which were decidedly unpopular and physically dangerous back in the 1960s. He was an active participant in all of the constitutional advances of the nation. When persons like the current prime minister and the leader of the opposition were still wearing short pants, Sir Orville was in the trenches making sure that one day, they too would rise to political ascendency.
In any event, the power of politics is being played out. Thank God, mercifully, that the proverbial bell must be rung soon and this dysfunctional 'Greek tragedy' will play itself out. To God then, in all of these mundane things, be the glory.
- Ortland H. Bodie Jr.
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