Events in our nation’s beleaguered political turf recently have left much to be desired. In fact, they are such that they have made neutrals cringe in utter stupefaction as they watch happenings with bated breath and trepidation.
Uncertainty hangs precariously in the air as we inch closer to the political season where parties are getting ready to test their might, slug it out with others in their quest to either hold on to power or dislodge those already in power, and have their turn at the table.
Despite the biting insecurity that has engulfed our nation today, it is no wonder that what matters majorly to the political players is who gets what, who joins their party, how to consolidate their stronghold or stranglehold on power, and all that crap. The country can burn as long as its party thrives and swells. So, for them, their party should stay alive while the country can head to the world beyond. It’s a tragedy that stares us menacingly in the face.
In all this, however, a lot of Nigerians are carrying on with no concern in the world. To them, it is “their business”. But those who know understand that the times are perilous and that the future looks bleak if things continue the way they are going in our polity today, with its attendant implications on our collective well-being.
The reality today is that our fragile democracy is strutting dangerously towards total collapse if what is happening today is not halted. Since we returned to democratic governance in 1999, we have managed this democracy, holding elections that have, more often than not, left a bitter taste in our mouths, with rigging, intimidation, and all that, sadly, becoming the order of the day.
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The trend that is threatening this frail democracy of ours today is the systemic and clear gravitation towards making every Nigerian a member of one political party. If achieved, which is daily looking likely, then we can bid bye to this democratic experiment because we would have successfully enthroned wanton recklessness and crass impunity in our polity, further emboldening the ruling class to take us on a relentless bumpy ride with gay disregard.
Democracy thrives when there is a virile opposition. Its absence is dangerous, as it gives the ruling party the leeway to govern without checks, control and all. Since they know that everybody is a yes-man on their side, they will do as they wish and introduce policies with scant regard to the people. We’ll inadvertently make them demigods, if not autocrats, where their words become law with no constructive dissent from any quarters.
This won’t do us any good. Nigeria’s democracy remains a fledgling one. And so we cannot afford to allow it to slip into a one-party affair where other parties exist only in name but are nowhere to be found in reality. Today, apart from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), other opposition parties that should serve as watchdogs or offer a good and democratically acceptable opposition are enmeshed in one deep crisis or another.
Leadership tussles, infighting over nothing in particular and power tussles have rendered them toothless, weak and grossly ineffective.
Worst hit today is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a once strong, impregnable party that held sway from 1999 to 2015, which has today become a coven of confusion and anarchy, a cauldron of sorts threatening to burn its remains to ashes of no return. Since the party lost power to the APC in 2015, it has lost rhythm and direction.
Things took a turn for the worse after their 2019 error when, in flagrant disregard of what they mouthed, they handed the party’s ticket, by northern conspiracy and active connivance with key southern bigwigs, to the peripatetic Atiku Abubakar. To date, the party has known no peace. It’s been from one crisis to another, with different camps fighting to the death over which camp is the legitimate leadership structure of the party.
That battle has today led to deep fissures in the party. And it brings with it each passing day confusion and uncertainty because no camp is willing to budge or compromise. It is a fight for which no one is willing to retreat.
Little wonder one camp will suspend members of the other camp for anti-party activities in the morning, and in the evening, the suspended camp will also dish out suspensions to those who suspended them.
It is both a tragicomedy and acts that bear unwanted marks of tomfoolery.
It started in drizzles but is now pouring in relentless rage. FCT minister and former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is relishing it all. He is at the centre of the supremacy duel. He is serving in an APC government, but he cannot let the PDP have its peace because he “loves the PDP”! His frustration is not far-fetched, as it has all to do with Atiku Abubakar. But methinks that now that the serial presidential contestant has left, typical of him, Wike should tread softly, and if he truly and sincerely loves the PDP as he claims, sit on a roundtable with the Makinde camp and broker peace, then start the rebuilding process of the party in preparation for 2027.
The continued standoff is detrimental to the party and its fast-fading electoral fortunes. But if the party can come together – something that looks very unlikely at the moment – they can forge a strong front and stake a claim at the 2027 sweepstakes. With two camps now laying claim to the soul of the party, all eyes are now on the judiciary. It is now left for the court to determine which camp is the authentic one whenever the parties are ready for the legal fireworks and gymnastics.
For now, hapless Nigerians are left to watch with arms akimbo as governors, senators and the like fall over one another to join the ruling APC. To them, to join the APC is to gain extra life. It is the oxygen they earnestly need to keep their political life steaming.
Whether they are coerced or not, the APC is now the holy grail, a trophy of sorts, a beautiful damsel to be ogled at. It is a haven for seekers of power and relevance in 2027 and beyond.
The way our politicians are queuing up to join the ruling party makes it look as though the trend is in its last stages before Armageddon. Little wonder, or not at all, as defections have become a party, a carnival of sorts, even in the face of an upsurge in killings, kidnapping and other sundry crimes. Nigerians can perish as long as the ruling party gets rich in membership!
The APC should know that the PDP were almost like them in the recent past. Not being a member of the PDP then made one appear as not being serious politically. It was so easy for the party to have its way that it boasted of holding onto power for 60 years. But at the 16th year, that pipedream was terminated. So, as the APC gloats today, they should not lose sight of the fact that there was once a party like them that thought power was their birthright. In fact, it was turned into a religion in some states. But today, the converse is the case. Those who mouthed it as a religion are the same persons saying barefacedly today that the party wasn’t a religion after all!
The APC is free to enjoy its moment, but it should be careful lest absolute power corrupt it to implosion. As the party swells, so do its problems. In no distant time, interests will clash, and the centre will no longer hold. I’m no prophet of doom, but we’ve all lived long enough to know these things.
No matter how it may want to deny it or posture, the truth is that the APC is behind all the crises and infighting plaguing opposition parties in the country as of today. It is not possible that no party other than the APC is so organised that there are no issues therein. From the PDP to Labour and ADC, there is one crisis or the other. It is only a pathetically ignorant fellow who will be misled into believing that the APC has no hand in all of this. Pure lies.
Whatever weak lies the APC may put forward, it is important that the party knows that power is transient. A democracy without opposition is a dead democracy. They need opposition to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians, because without a voice pointing out their flaws, they would carry on with highfalutin pride and arrogance, believing that all they are doing is perfect.
The opposition parties must be allowed to breathe. Suffocating and emasculating them is a risky adventure that does not bode well for us as a country. This writer is not envious of the ruling party, but its tactics are destructive and bear a bad omen for a democracy clutching feebly on life support. Let the opposition parties breathe. Everybody cannot be at one party. It is antithetical to democracy.
It makes no sense to allow those who genuinely want to be in opposition to do their thing. You’re in bed with the ruling party, and you can’t yield the floor to those who honestly want to be in the opposition? It is pathetic and insults the sensibilities of well-meaning citizens that this show of shame is happening in our polity today.
If you claim you have done exceedingly well and changed the life of Nigerians, let other parties do their thing, go to the polls and lose to the magnificently performing APC. To shut them out before the whistle is blown reeks of cowardice.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed!
