Sad, As Political Bus Drivers, Conductors And Touts Are Here Again! -By Isaac Asabor

Without resort to smear campaign, it is expedient to opine in this context that the foregoing headline is metaphorical as it is coined to explain the hullabaloo situation Nigerians have found themselves again as a result of the declarations that were respectively made by some presidential aspirants that they would participate in the upcoming general elections. Though the hullaballoo triggered by their declarations is understood as it is a familiar phenomenon that usually presage a major election, but the heat it is already generating is by the day becoming too hot to bear.

For the sake of clarity, regarding the headline of this piece, politicians are in this context emblematically dubbed to be bus drivers while conductors are their campaign staff, and their supporters are dubbed to be touts as they mischievously take delight in attacking or rather bullying anyone that is perceived to be speaking or writing against the candidate they will queue behind at the poll come 2023. In fact, the polity, since the last few weeks, is unarguably beginning to be unbearably hot as politicians and their supporters have boisterously started mounting the soapbox, and gathering at market squares to make unachievable promises just the same way their supporters and touts have started running their mouths against anyone that dare points out the baggage their preferred candidate is groaning under.

In this period, as political history has documented, politicians are wont to reel out fake and unachievable promises. Allegorically put, they are poised to run the nation again with promises that sound like “Benin-By-Air”.

At some major motor parks in Lagos state, bus conductors and their drivers are wont to beckon to travelers by laying claim to facilities their vehicles are not equipped with. For instance, at the intra-state level of transportation,   it is not unusual to see a conductor screaming “Benin by A/C (meaning that intending travelers to Benin-city would be transported by an Air conditioned equipped vehicle). But alas! Having fallen into the lap of the transporter, the traveler would even before getting to Mowe in Ogun state become horrendously uncomfortable as a result of heat and foul smell emanating from the vehicle contrary to the claim made before he or she boarded the vehicle.  The traveler, without option, would travel the long distance without experiencing the cool and soothing breeze that an Air conditioner is characterized with. Without doubt, the foregoing graphic illustration paints the picture of the situation where a particular aspiring politicians will tell electorates about the “Dividends of democracy” that are inherent in his candidacy” if voted for at the polls only to disappoint them by doing nothing when he gets to power.

In a similar vein, they are wont to also beckon to intending travelers by screaming “Benin by air” to the disbelief of many who already know their stock-in-trade at Lagos motor parks. However, since passengers never took them serious over their claims, they are usually not surprised when they travel through the pot-hole riddled and sometimes, circuitous Lagos-Benin-Ore Road, and not by air as deceptively announced by the bus driver, his conductor and motor park touts.

Ostensibly as a way of making intending travelers believe that the buses that were originally manufactured to ply the roads can also fly in the air, road transport operators are wont to seemingly engage in the monkey business of issuing branded tickets to passengers, enter their names in the manifest book, and allocate seats to them to tally with the serial numbers on the manifest. The foregoing shenanigans, no doubt, share commonalities with how politicians trick some of their supporters deceptively entering their names in their registers, and always assuring them that “We are one”, only to dump them after the election.  Some of the established transporters even go as far offering take-away foods which the payment for the ticket has already taken care of to each of the passengers.

Not only have politicians been unable to keep the promises openly made before the electorates, they even go as far as denying the fact that such promises were made.

In a similar vein, ahead of an election, political leaders often sign election and pre-election pacts, codes of conduct, agreements or even peace pledges, ‘promising to safeguard peace and the interests of their supporters and voters before and after elections. Unfortunately, such pacts, that are usually drawn up at the instance of election monitoring groups under the auspices of international organizations and civil society coalitions are violated with impunity. In fact, the pacts which are designed for candidates to accept election results, or not to instigate their followers in the interest of the country; are more in most cases to the politicians not a binding contract. Ordinarily, the pact that is meant to commit candidates, and to a large extent parties, to honor campaign pledges after election are not respected.  Observations over the years have shown that a decline in the political system’s capacity for self-organization seems to have set in, with the media, political parties, civil society activists and trade unions unable to hold career politicians accountable and prevent them from pursuing naked self-interest.

To those that may be reading this piece, and in the same vein biasedly analyzing it with partisan mindsets, it is expedient to let them know that the inspiration to express this view is not about APC and PDP or other INEC-registered political parties as they were wont to think. It is equally expedient to remind them that electioneering is months away from now, and that what is on ground at the moment is about how to make the right choice of leaders that would salvaged Nigeria’s economy from further decline.

Analyzed from the perspective of this metaphoric piece, it suffices to advice politicians who will be running for presidency come 2023 not to deceive Nigerians the same way drivers do, particularly by eschewing making unachievable promises as the time to salvage the economy, and once again restore Nigeria’s moniker; “Giant of Africa”, has come.  

In a similar vein, campaign team of political aspirants who are in this context seen as conductors,  and supporters seen as touts should allow the electorates or rather Nigerians to always point out the baggage their candidates are carrying along to Abuja to the detriment of the economy and our collective wellbeing. Where any allegation made against their “Paymaster” is deemed to be untrue, it should be refuted with facts. In the same vein, where allegations are found to be true, circumstances surrounding the allegations should be explained to the people, particularly by the media team of such candidate, in a civil manner as political campaign in any way should not be made to look as if it is war.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is high time we stopped behaving like interstate bus drivers, conductors and touts who are unashamedly disposed to lying about the services they render to passengers even as they are incurably rambunctious.