The constant political strife in Nigeria, a country that prides itself as the giant of Africa, has left many of its concerned citizens deep in thoughts about what forms of political administration that would fit the country and how best to apply them. The major concern is for the adopted structure, whatsoever, to be capable of dousing tension so that anyone living in the country could have a reasonable measure of peace.
Lately, fears began to hang in the air that the nation was drifting to a one-party state, with the dramatic declarations for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from unexpected quarters across the political divides. The list is endless – from Delta State’s Ifeanyi Okowa and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) troupe to Akwa Ibom’s Umo Eno. Many others, Rivers, Bayelsa, indeed, the traditional PDP states, are said to be on the line, as the PDP glides effortlessly down its way to perdition.
It’s not only PDP that is in dire straits with regard to relevance in Nigerian politics. Labour Party, which was lifted into limelight by no other figure than Peter Obi, is in trouble as Julius Abure and co ride roughshod over other stalwarts. As it stands, the opposition appears deleted, paving the way for full-scale authoritarianism. We hear of coalitions that are aimed at taking power off the hands of APC but give no hope of better governance. That sets our mind thinking whether partisan politics is befitting of the Nigerian situation at the moment with its tendencies to polarise the polity.
In other lands, politics is seen as a game of wits. Players appear at the turf, donning their best apparel and ready to impress the audience by their presentations, in words and in actions. To them, the best candidate or party with programmes and policies sellable to the electorate carries the day when the balloting is over. The losers quietly retire to their abodes to re-strategize for the next round of contest.
It is different in Nigeria, where politics is regarded as a duel. Our politicians don bullet proofs to the turf because guns are corked in readiness to eliminate opponents. Might is right, as far as Nigerian politics is concerned.
The game in Nigeria is a do-or-die affair. It is so because the nation’s brand of politics is a passport to stupendous wealth, the government being the sole repository of the mega bucks coming from the vast ocean of oil God blessed the nation with.
Here, political power is hardly what it is supposed to be; a tool for the prudent management and equitable distribution of a nation’s resources under mutually agreed rules and regulations for the good of its citizens. Power, to the average Nigerian, is a tool for tribal subjugation and for the suppression of the weak. If it were not so, why would a particular ethnic group be marked for annihilation in Lagos, the nation’s former capital, and their properties destroyed wantonly?
So, Nigeria appears to be where political parties are groups of mafia men who plot ways they would get control of power and wield it to selfish ends. On a spotless platform, political parties are supposed to be a group of organized persons who share a set of similar political aims and opinions. These like minds aim to influence public policy by getting their candidates into elective positions.
Abuse of the political process and many untoward actions of political parties has prompted feelings that a zero-party democracy might after all pay Nigerians better. The present partisan structure where politicians group themselves into these mafia-like parties have proved to be an agent of division among Nigerians who badly need cohesion more than any other country in the world. The parties breed discrimination across ethnic, religious, and generational lines. It has no consideration for competence and only focuses on party loyalty to one heavy financier who is looked upon to decide candidates.
The nation, in the process, is deprived of talented individuals who could have contributed to the overall success of Nigeria. The party regimentation gags voices of reason and bright ideas are sacrificed on the altar of political allegiance. It fans the embers of corruption where governors and presidents hardly detach themselves from the party after election and dip hands into public coffers to support loyal partymen.
Partisan politics has been responsible for votes buying, factionalism, as well as selfish and vicious propaganda that hurt national interest. It has set tribes against tribes, generations against generations, family members against each other and has prevented the party from its primary duty of political education. It has impoverished the weak and made the strong richer, and tends to leave the society a jungle of sorts.
Who knows, a zero-party system, a non-party democracy where individuals are voted for, not because the party has said it but because of their social standing, could foster national integration? Candidates issue forth from wards and progress to state, constituency, and national levels where they go to, perhaps, also form the Electoral College in addition to being the representatives of their people.
This non-party democracy is cost-effective and fits the kind of federalism we seem to be running, which concentrates enormous powers on the centre. With the elimination of the gang-up that is the character of political parties, a certain measure of fairness and equity in the distribution of common wealth is assured. The election process is the democratic element of it, while fairness to all is its beauty. The relative peace in countries such as Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates (UAR), among others, can be attributed to their non-partisan political system. It once worked in Yoweri Museveni’s Uganda. It can also work in Nigeria.
Obviously, the status quo which does nothing but give rise to #Revolution Now, #End SARS, Boko Haram insurgency, herdsmen conflict with farmers, agitations for Oduduwa Republic, Biafra, Ogoni Republic and the like is undesirable. Truly, any citizen of this country who relishes in the unending conflicts in Nigeria is not worthy of the nation’s passport. Genuine citizens ought to keep dreaming of ideas that will give the nation peace.
Dr. Odu can be reached through [email protected] or SMS 0701672929
