Lagos — Those who had hoped that eight years of civilian rule would transform Nigeria into a more cultured society are discovering to their disappointment how mistaken they were. The truth is that, in eight years, our politicians and the ruling elite in general have only demonstrated a disturbing lack of capacity to rebirth a nation that years of military rule had all but wrecked. Electoral fraud is still rife and judicial knavery on the increase. If evidence was needed, the reckless manner that Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State was impeached is one. It is one case most Nigerians would like the judiciary to handle speedily.

The irony, if not tragedy, of the many blights in this democracy is that today increasing numbers of Nigerians openly express their yearning for the return of the military because of the total lack of discipline in the body politic. I have heard some serious minded Nigerians say, for instance, that the judiciary was never so bastardized under the military as it appears to be at present. Judges' ignoble role in the spate of impeachments that has taken place across the country in the past few months is cited as evidence of the decay in this vital arm of government.

If President Olusegun Obasanjo is worried about the way things are going, he has not done much to arrest it. In fact, the persistent speculation that he has not entirely given up his bid to elongate his tenure remains the strongest evidence of the vile state of the nation's politics. When the word of the president cannot be taken on its face value, then there must be something wrong with the polity. The current uncertainty over the future of this democracy is a measure of our failure in the last nearly eight years.

Ordinarily, the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) should not be in the kind of frenzy it is now over who should fly its presidential banner in the next election. It ought to have been a predictable contest between some of its governors and the incumbent vice-president. Sadly, however, that is not the case. Neither the Veepee nor his boss is now in a moral position to claim the position either directly for themselves or for their protégés. The implication is that the race has become a blind one in which all manner of people-ranging from the hare-brained to the criminal-- are engaged.

At the state level, the picture is not any different. The governorship race is attracting all the wrong people-mostly money bags-- in many states. The departing governors are not saying much by way of accountability. In eight years, nearly every one of them would have spent, at least, 250 billion Naira. Some would have spent far more than that. Yet in many states poverty and under-development stalk the streets. Citizens are asking with justification where all that money went. It is the story of a country in which governance has become an instrument for fostering rather than fighting poverty.

Any surprise then that the word corruption has gained a new meaning in the country, regardless of official grandstanding about fighting the malaise. When most Nigerian leaders say they are fighting corruption, what they often mean is that they are determined to catch their political opponents who are no more corrupt than the leaders themselves and their flunkeys. Thus the EFCC and ICPC-the two principal agencies charged with fighting the anti-corruption war-have gained public perceptions that suggest that they are not independent but are merely attack dogs of the president.

Of course, some have argued that an imperfect war against corruption is better than none at all. That is true. Nonetheless, a matter that has cost the nation so much in terms of resources and real development ought not to be tackled so half-heartedly. This is what saddens most critics of the present administration's approach to the anti-corruption campaign. It is neither sincere nor far-reaching. Which is why so many well-known corrupt public officials, including those under no official immunity, are still walking the streets free. Quite a number of them are close friends of the president's or at the minimum, friends of his party leaders.

And so as the 2007 general election draws closer, the desperation of political office seekers is all too evident. This is because public office is still the fastest lane to amassing personal wealth. It was so before this administration came on board and has remained so despite the apparent emphasis on the anti-corruption campaign .

Had the graft war been really credible, the 2007 general election would have been a straight fight between those who stand for probity in public office and those who do not. And Nigerians know whom they want. Unfortunately, that is not so. The shoddy way the campaign is being waged has made it difficult to know who is sincerely on the side of the anti-graft war and who is not. This is particularly tragic because that issue would have been the most important theme in the current electioneering.

For most Nigerians corruption is at the heart of the widespread poverty in the land. Imagine for a moment what the billions of dollars that the Abacha family stole could have achieved for the country in terms of public works. There are thousands of other public officials who have equally stolen so much from the public till. Think of what all of that wealth would have done for the ordinary Nigerian had it been publicly invested.

It is regrettable that only few of those presenting themselves for election next year are addressing the issue of corruption and how they hope to tackle it. As far as this is the situation, the outcome of that election may well be a foregone conclusion. Money bags-and this includes both individuals and political parties--will hijack the people's mandate as was the case in the past. It may be convenient to preach that the voters should not take money from vote-seeking politicians. In reality, however, how easy would it be for a man who has no food for his family to resist such an offer?

The truth is that chronic poverty has only increased the vulnerability of voters on the wiles of desperate and corrupt politicians. Sadly, nothing done by this administration has reduced that vulnerability. In fact, one expects that it would get even worse this time around. For one, some of the political parties are not helping matters by the high nomination fees they have imposed on aspirants. Every aspirant who manages to put down such fees would apply every trick in the book to ensure victory. As a matter of fact, elected officials who steal public funds often justify their action on the grounds that they had spent so much to win the election and as such have to recoup at least a part of their expenditure. Whether they are right or not is not the issue here. The point is that there is a direct link between the high cost of elections and graft by elected officials. The electoral reform Act did not go deep enough in addressing the problem.

The ward congresses have shown us what to expect during the general election. The race, as in the past, is still for the mighty and the well-heeled. A governorship aspirant told me of how thoroughly fed up he was with the entire proceedings -- the tricks and strong-arm tactics of party lords. From what he said, nothing has changed. Party chieftains were busy at the congresses fixing their cronies as delegates to the convention where the governorship and presidential candidates will be selected. How could any one then expect candidates other than the ones anointed by party godfathers to emerge. Incidentally, that is where the negation of the people's wish begins.

If democracy is government of the people by the people, Nigerian politicians have unashamedly turned it into government by vested interests. Vested interests, by the way, are usually not bothered about public interests. Their primary concern is personal profit, no matter what it takes. As I listen to candidate after candidate declare their governorship or presidential ambition, all I can hear is not a passionate cry for a better society but the ravenous growl of greedy power seekers. It makes me fear for our dear country as 2007 creeps in. May God help us.