By Musa Ilallah
As a preamble to talking about prebandalisim in Nigeria alongside Nigeria’s sovereignty, it is not out of place to recall what a former member of the House of representatives, Professor Usman Bugaje said about Nigeria’s sovereignty, emphasizing that it belongs to the people, not politicians.
Professor Bugaje criticized the National Assembly for lacking credibility and urged resistance against attempts to frustrate electoral reforms. Bugaje also highlighted issues like “state capture, primitive accumulation, and pariah state, painting a picture of a country led by politicians who prioritize personal gains over national interests. In one word Professor Bugaje was talking about the ills of prebandalism to a developing economy like Nigeria.
Professor Usman Bugaje spoke while discussing Nigeria’s sovereignty at the Africa Regional Security Conference, Award and Expo at the University of Lagos.
In the discourse of Nigerian politics, today, few terms capture the essence of the country’s systemic dysfunction as accurately as “prebendalism.”
Coined by Richard Joseph, the term prebandalism is a system where elective offices and state machinery are treated as “prebends”—personal fiefdoms to be exploited for the benefit of the office holder and their ethnic or religious clients.
Prebendalism, in the words of Joseph, refers to the allocation of state resources or positions to individuals or groups based on their loyalty or support, “often seen in Nigeria.” It’s like a patronage system where public office is used for personal gain or to reward supporters. Think of it like a big ol’ favor exchange.
While ostensibly a democracy, Nigeria’s political framework often functions as a distributive mechanism for patronage, a reality that has birthed a litany of “attendant evils” that continue to stifle national development.
At its core, prebendalism is rooted in the “politics of the belly.” It transforms public service from a pursuit of the common good into a desperate scramble for a share of the “national cake.” In this system, loyalty is not to the state or the constitution, but to the ethnic or parochial “godfather” who facilitated one’s rise to power.
Consequently, when an individual secures a political position, their primary mandate is to funnel resources back to their support base, ensuring their own survival and the continued dominance of their kin.
The most immediate byproduct of prebendalism is systemic corruption. When public office is viewed as a personal asset, the line between public funds and private wealth evaporates. This leads to the massive embezzlement of oil revenues and the inflation of contracts, leaving the national treasury depleted and the infrastructure in shambles.
Furthermore, prebendalism breeds mediocrity and the death of meritocracy. In a prebendal system, “who you know” and “where you come from” far outweigh “what you can do.”
Appointments to critical sectors—health, education, and economy—are often based on ethnic quotas or political loyalty rather than competence. This “brain drain” within the civil service ensures that policies are poorly formulated and even more, poorly executed.
Perhaps most dangerously, it fuels ethnic and religious polarization since resources are tied to identity. Different groups view the success of others as their own loss. This “zero-sum” competition creates a permanent state of tension, making national integration impossible and providing a fertile ground for communal violence and insurgency and even banditry.
The cumulative effect of these evils is a profound restriction on Nigeria’s development. It’s a barrier to national development.Development requires long-term planning and the judicious use of resources; prebendalism, by contrast, favors short-term populist handouts and immediate gratification for cronies.
Money meant for world-class hospitals or power plants is instead diverted to maintain political patronage networks.
Moreover, the lack of accountability inherent in prebendalism discourages foreign investment. Investors are wary of a climate where the rule of law is subservient to the whims and caprices of political “big men.” As long as the state exists merely to serve the elite, the vast majority of Nigerians remain trapped in poverty, despite the country’s immense natural wealth.
Prebendalism is the “original sin” of the Nigerian Fourth Republic. It has turned the state into a predatory entity that consumes rather than creates wealth and opportunities. For Nigeria to break the cycle of underdevelopment, it must transition from politics of identity and patronage to politics of ideology and performance.
Until the “national cake” is replaced by a national vision, the attendant evils of prebendalism will continue to keep Nigeria’s potential locked behind the gates of parochial interest.
No one needs a soothsayer to tell you that prebandalism is actively at work today under prebandalism . It is indeed a stumbling block to our country’s development.
Indeed, as Professor Bugaje pointed out “state capture, primitive accumulation, and pariah state, painting a picture of a country led by politicians who prioritize personal gains over national interests”, is the norm today.
Ilallah, a Public Policy Analyst is based in Abuja