Rotational Presidency is not Democracy: Democratic System is not About Religion, Region or Tribe it is About Merit, Competence and Patriotism

By Abbati Bako, abbatibako@gmail.com

In Nigeria the democratic political players and the rest of the citizens seemed to be talking about religion, tribe, region and so on. Hence, democratic system is not like that. Constitutional Democracy is a game of competing values, interest and ambition. Therefore, the system is about merit, competence, patriotism, rules of laws as well as people being given the opportunity to elect their representatives within the corridor of power. That’s the reason why some experts defined the system as “representative democracy”.

So, George Washington popularized the saying that “democracy is a game of the people, for the people and by the people”.
This means that the representative of the people must protect the values, interest and ambition of the people he represents. Be it on economy, security, infrastructure, education, security of food, healthcare, agriculture, religion, accountability, tradition and culture as well as environment and so on.

There have been 46 presidents in American history (from George Washington to the current president Donald Trump) with a total of 47 presidencies due to Grover Cleveland’s non-consecutive terms.

Breaking it down by region—

South America:

Take note that none of the US presidents have been from South America.

Northern America:

All 46 presidents have been from Northern America, specifically each and every one represented the United States of America not any region. Each of them was an American president not for any region, religion or tribe. Period!

Some of the states in the US that have produced more presidents than others:

Virginia 8 presidents
Ohio 7 presidents
New York 5 presidents
Massachusetts 4 presidents.

Let’s dive into the demographics of US presidents for the past 235 years.

Birthplaces of US Presidents:

Virginia: 8 presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson)

Ohio: 7 presidents (Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding)

New York: 5 presidents (Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Donald Trump)

Massachusetts 4 presidents (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F. Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush)

Demographics of US Presidents:

Age: The youngest president was Theodore Roosevelt (26th president, age 42), and the oldest was Joe Biden (46th president, age 78 at inauguration)
Ethnicity: Most presidents have been of European descent, with Barack Obama being the first African American president

Religion: Most presidents have been Protestant Christians, with Joe Biden being the first Catholic president since John F. Kennedy.

Education: Most presidents have had a college education, with many attending Ivy League universities.

Therefore, Nigeria’s political players, the internal stakeholders, foreign stakeholders as well as the voters must learn from those that have been in practice of the system close to about 240 years.

Dr. Abbati Bako, political strategist, analyst and researcher in globalization policy @Skyline University and PhD,.Scholar in Globalization Policy