NewsOrient, Opinion, Column, Politics, Governance And Development, News
By Sam Egburonu Esq.

Political parties are essential organising institutions in modern democracy, but in Nigeria, they have failed the common people.

Each election year, characters we barely know or the crooks we know very well and will never elect, will hide under bogus political parties to capture top political positions.

The game, of course, is to benefit from electoral manipulations to short-change the people.

It dates back to the beginning of our democratic journey. Once a political party manages to gain upper hand in the polity, smart misfits scramble to acquire it’s ticket at the various levels or constituencies.

At this stage, the game is cold, most deadly and clearly unconnected with democratic norms.

The game here is not for the majority of the people; it is for the few that have “structure,” and the finances to reach out to the principalities that share power in Nigeria.

In our warped democracy, we are being told daily that this is all that is necessary to become a leader. Just acquire the ticket of the political party positioned by the lords to be declared the winner.

If you do this, you too will be declared winner at last.

It would not matter whether or not you are electable; it would not matter whether or not you actually had any plan for the people; it would not matter whether or not you know your right from your left; it would not even matter whether or not you are the best candidate for the office you seek. What would matter, it seems, is that after the chess behind-the-scene, you are the aspirant declared the candidate for the ‘right’ political party.

It is as a result of this that the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), led by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, and the Action Group (AG), led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, easily produced the set of leaders they raised in the regions they controlled during the First Republic.

In the Second Republic, the pattern was even worse.

Aspirants who acquired the tickets of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Nigeria People’s Party (NPP), People’s Redemption Party (PRP), and Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP) in their areas of strength were as good as elected or returned unopposed. It’s as if Nigerian democratic system has sworn never to produce our best.

Even in the recent past, characters that would not have secured the people’s votes, sneaked into power on the back of political parties.

An academic may posit that party politics is the norm in modern democratic settings. That may be true but because of the heart rending abuses in our polity, Nigerians must do something to install the people as the actual electorates.

Because political parties in Nigeria are not ideologically based, the candidates the parties present to the people, most of who were handpicked by the powerful lords, do not feel obligated to do anything promised the people during election campaigns.

Party manifesto has, as a result, remained a huge joke in Nigeria.

The people are, most of the time, carried away by the claims of the politicians that this party is our party while the other party is for our enemies, so they hardly scrutinize candidates before elections.

This is part of the root causes of the emergence of political leaders in Nigeria that we are not proud of.

In an ideal democracy, it is part of the primary functions of political parties to vet aspirants so as to reduce the complexities inherent in an open ended participation while presenting the best to the people.

But has political parties in Nigeria freely performed this important task? The answer is no!

Instead of helping common Nigerians to make right choices, political parties have continued to remain toys of deception in the hands of the callous few who lay claims to their ownership.
Utterly bought over or conquered, these so-called political parties continue to ridicule and sell out Nigerians and their democracy.

But this is enough. 2027 General Election provides Nigerians another golden opportunity to ignore the divisive songs of the so-called leaders, chanted to us through their toys, the political parties.

They will tell us
that all the candidates of our ‘enemy political parties’ are not good to lead and that all the candidates they handpicked for us in ‘our political parties’ are the Messiahs we have been waiting for.

Enough!

Moving forward: In every constituency, our people should henceforth do their independent assessments of the aspirants or candidates vying for offices, starting from local councils to the presidency. Having done this individually, voters should vote for candidates, not on the basis of the political parties they acquired their tickets but because of their verified capacities, their past achievements, their character or moral worth.

Politics is primarily local. We know ourselves in our villages. Also, in this age of information technology, where the world is indeed a global village, no secret is hidden too deep anymore.

So, why must we continue to allow ourselves to be deceived by a callous few? Why must we continue to accept misfits foisted on us as leaders? Why?

We, as Nigerian people, have what it takes to determine who should lead us at all levels. Our votes are ours and nobody has the right to take them from us undeservedly.

The system of party loyalty to the extent of voting for or accepting the leadership of known misfits, just because they are presented by ‘our political parties’ can be likened to wholesale purchases in which rotten eggs are callously smuggled in and sold to Nigerian people as ‘leaders.’

It is a system we must do away with in 2027 if we are serious about evolution of true democracy in Nigeria.

What Former Army Chief, General Buratai, Said About Terror Financing In Nigeria:*

Today, I recall with pity the frustrations evident in the composure of retired General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, on camera, when Seun Okinbaloye of Channels Television asked him, during Politics Today encounter, if he does not regret his failure to name the financiers of terrorism in Nigeria during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff (COAS)?

Before Seun unleashed this question, the former COAS had declared in clear terms that terrorism in Nigeria is “a cankerworm that will persist much longer than we assume.”

When confronted over his failure to expose the financiers of terror, his response was even more instructive as it exposes parts of the reasons for the ‘one step forward and two steps backwards syndrome of Nigeria:

“This is part of the problem, “he began, “we rely too much on the military. We rely too much on the army. Everybody has his own responsibility. You can’t say I should be responsible to name the financiers of terror” in Nigeria, he emphasized, adding: “there are many other agencies responsible.”

Reminded that the government of the day then, said it knew the financiers and will name them, the retired army boss said: “It is not a matter of naming the financiers, it’s what happens after that that matters,” he explained, adding that there are many suspects arrested for terrorism since then, who have never been tried up till today.

Three quick take aways from the encounter: (1) Retired General Buratai and Nigerian government actually know the financiers of terrorism in Nigeria and they are no longer hiding this fact. It is no longer rumour, it is a fact.

(2) The Army, since the days of Buratai, has not gone after the known terror financiers because, as the retired Lieutenant General said, it is not their responsibility.

(3) The government agencies that should expose and deal with financiers of terrorism in Nigeria have all the facts they need to act but have chosen not to act. WHY?

Welcome Back To _Voices_With Sam Egburonu

Voices is a time-tested weekly column the writer maintained in different national newspapers where he worked in the past, including Daily Times, Daily Independent, Daily Champion, etc.

Now, the column is back and will feature weekly, on Wednesdays, in The Sun newspaper.

The column, Voices , features the author’s views, informed primarily by his interpretation of the people’s voices on current issues and developments.

*Samuel Hezekiah Egburonu is a Lawyer And Public Affairs analyst._ He can be reached at: +2348023165410