Nigerian politicians, like other are fortune–hunters elsewhere have no commitment or strings attached to their political parties. Quite unfortunately too, the political parties have no ideologies for pragmatic sustainable development and industrial growth.
These political renegades move from one party to another looking for a platform to explore to get to what they want, where carpet – crossing is paralleled by a crisis of morality and crisis. It is expressed in such socio-psychological tendencies which is a waning interest in the offices and society in general or diverse forms of personality disintegration, leading to breakdown of the law of the land.
Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the embattled speaker of the House of Representatives is a poignant example of one of these paranoid, parasite politicians who has exploited political fortunes in ANPP, DPP, ANPP, PDP and now APC. Our history of party politics is littered with misplaced priorities of political scavengers who flex their political muscles for fortune in any different parties.
He is an epitome of political inconsistency who traverses the political parties for personal fortune. This last manifested after he had cultivated a protracted, sinister alliance with APC- a development that is commonly referred to as antiparty affair. But the ruling PDP had seen all advances and signs of unholy embrace by the honorable speaker with the opposition but ignored it even when it was beyond the elbow. The law has it that any elected representative who defects from his/her political party to another should resign; from the state to national assemblies the story is the same.
Those who cannot achieve their ambitions in their former parties look for greener pastures. No one is yet to have the courage to resign his/her position, just as parties lack the will to discipline some erring members. That means that the law has eyes and it can overlook the rich and the powerful. Of course, the offenders of the law are lawmakers. Nothing goes wrong if they observe the law in the breach.
Now let us take the case of the 22 gubernatorial aspirants that contested the December 8, 2014 primary election. They were willing to serve the people on the platform of their party but that did not happen. Their successful failure inexorably led to the invention of a child of circumstance called G. 22 meaning that by failing to actualize their ambition to govern the state they now share the same political umbilical cord. It sounds ridiculous these are party chieftains with large following cutting across every nook and cranny of the state. What would they tell their supporters?
It is preposterous to ever contemplate leaving their great party to join opposition which is yet to develop stronghold in the state. It is also unthinkable that opposition party can make inroads in the state that is so strategic in resources and potential in the South - South geo-political flank. What would they stand to gain as new comers in opposition parties that only enjoy lifeline from the ruling PDP. Some of the opposition parties like APGA express open and undiluted loyalty to the presidential candidate of PDP. Those who do not have such political temerity visit their Government Houses and Aso Rock in an ungodly hour for their share of national cake only to become opposition on the pages of newspaper and in television and radio jingles.
We are told that the party’s decision is supreme and irrevocable. They should swallow the hemlock and remain tested and trusted party faithful on their high political moral ground. Usually, the party and indeed the state express the interests of the class that dominates the economy, crisis of political confidence notwithstanding. We are aware that the electoral masquerade, the noisy and unscrupulous political juggling with facts are in effect master minded by dominant interests which seek to put their henchmen at the top of their political pyramid. Their manifestoes promise us a sudden industrial Eldorado and other things the developed societies did not achieve overnight.
The growing lack of confidence in the ruling political elite in a capitalist appendage like Nigeria is also due to the fact that many of its representatives are venal, egocentric and corrupt and are involved in countless abuses and machinations. This crisis has led to controversies in the results of “free and fair election” which sometimes land in protracted court cases.
Like in other capitalist enclaves, government activity in our country has an ever sharper anti-popular edge, compounding the sufferings of the civil servants and fuelling their discontent. People groan and pour out into the streets to voice out their protests or strikes, but they are ignored or quelled by the apparatus of state power. The political crisis is paralleled by a deepening crisis in interests which perpetuates the ascendancy of the political oligarchy.
This is achieved through a sustained and systematic brainwashing of the public through the mass media. This propaganda of views and opinions is being carried on allegedly on behalf of the people and in their interest. But it presents narrowly egoistical class interests that dominate the economy. These interests of the financial magnates are variously manipulated to foster a stereotyped mentality among the people who are made to believe that their social and economic salvation is underway.
They also use the mass media to tailor their ideas as public opinions by pulling carefully hidden strings. For instance, the opinion that election should be postponed for security or logistic reasons at the eleventh hour is aimed at achieving a hidden agenda. Such a decision can trigger tension as international capitalists volunteer opinions to protect their investments by stepping up interest to play the role of “election observers” to achieve electoral fraud. Similar organized groups of criminals – the mafia – operate in other capitalist circuits to hold the global economy to ransom.
In effect, political parties are capitalist platforms which serve the interests of the dominant class and they have the power, like tin gods, to mar or make the members’ political fortune My unsolicited advice to members of G-22 is that they should remain in their great party instead of going to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land where they would never be trusted or seen as a threat. That would amount to a trip to political wilderness. Win – at – all times spirit cannot deepen our democracy.
Sometimes it is good to taste the other side of victory. In a similar circumstance the prolific novelist, Chinua Achebe had remarked that it is good for a misfortune like this to happen once in a while so that we can know the thoughts of our friends and neighbours. They should learn to cultivate political tolerance, bury the hatchet and work together to mend their shattered umbrella instead of making unprofitable fuss.
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