Towards 2023: Resetting Nigeria Leadership Ascension Process -By Tony Osakpamwan Agbons

The recent political events in Edo state has once again brought to the fore, a burgeoning need. All is certainly not well with our current political party system. All is not well with the ‘modus operandi’ that produces party candidates for elections in Nigeria. Last year, Nigeria’s acclaimed ‘centre of excellence’, Lagos got a tsunami shock when a seemingly performing serving state Governor was systematically edged out in a ‘seismic’ power play by some powers that be. The events and circumstances surrounding that ‘drop’ of a Governor is not the focus of this piece. It is, however, pertinent to note that it marked a watershed in our political party candidate selection process.

Political experts, analysts and commentators opine that the leadership conundrum bedevilling the Nigerian state can only be solved when men and women of goodwill are able to pick tickets as candidates in our mainstream political parties. Mainstream because, as things stand in Nigeria, only candidates presented by the two behemoth parties – All Progressive Congress, APC and People Democratic Party, PDP win elections. This scenario is wrong, but it is the way it is. The other political parties currently have no electoral value. Due apologies to my friends in APGA, SDP, AAC et al.

It is clear to discerning minds that what we have in Nigeria today are not political parties. They are mere ‘vehicles’ that move politicians every four years from point A to point B. Point A and are local government, state or federal level executive or legislative positions. What we have now are platforms. We do not yet have real political parties. Can we compare the shenanigans called political parties today to what we had in the Second Republic of 1979 to 1983? Those defunct parties – the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN and the Great Nigeria People’s Party, GNPP and others had distinct ideology. With a finger snap, you could situate where each of those parties stood on Education, Health, Agriculture and other vital sectors of the economy.

Ideologically, our current two major political parties are more of the same as the numbers in a Venn diagram. Herein lies the major challenge facing our polity. Most Nigerians will tell you as of the moment that they just look at an individual and give their votes. On the surface, this can be true, but a cursory look reveals it is not the case. A great number of Nigerians voters and politicians know quite well that it is either the APC or PDP that can win elections in the country. Again, herein lies the suffocation of our political space. For a supposedly multi-party State, Nigeria is ‘unofficially’ a two-party nation. To reverse this suffocating dangerous trend, a few things must give way.

First, the apathy of the Nigerian people to party politics must be jettisoned. A situation where only a few party men and women (a tiny minority) decide for the majority must stop. Take the Lagos example in 2019, ordinary Lagosians were denied a performing Governor on the altar of party-political idiosyncrasies. The party machinery was completely hijacked by a strong man and no eyebrows was raised from any quarter. The `strong lion man` had his way like a `hot knife` going through `butter`. A similar scenario was going to play out in the last Edo state elections, but ‘order’ was magically restored by people power.

Secondly, the current operators of our political parties need to put country before self. They must draw up proper and distinct ideologies as obtained in other clime where a Republican, Democrat, Labour, or a Conservative are easily recognisable in as seen in the United States of America and United Kingdom, respectively. Also, the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC must continue to play by the rules, be unbiased and abide by its statutory role as stipulated by the letters of the law.

Thirdly and by far the most important; we the Nigerian people needs to take our destiny in our own hands. The recent unified stance by the Nigerian Youth via the endSARS protest is a good sign. Persistent complaints and mere wishful thinking will take us nowhere. History tells us that oppressors never let go without a fight. The days of ‘siddon look’ is over. Better to fight a good cause from the inside than ranting outside. Time has come for everyone to get involved in politics right from our ward level. The era of ‘politics is a dirty game’ must end and give birth to a new season of ‘politics is the game changer’. The Nigeria youth can rally and form a mega political party to give the behemoth APC and PDP a run for their money. Enough is enough!

All in all, a new set of spartan leaders with vision, competence, love and compassion for the people must emerge. The quick resort of our people to ‘God dey’ is not enough. The Almighty God has fortified us with enough gifts and talent to turn our nation around. Renowned South African cleric, Desmond Tutu once said; “if you are neutral on situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”. Time has come for us as a people to dust ourselves up, stop complaining and throw our hat in the political ring. Angels are not going to come from heaven to do it for us. We must take the destiny of our nation in our hands. Poverty and under-development which are hallmarks of inept leadership does not recognize age, ethnicity, or religion. Nigerians of all divide must therefore come together to rejig and reset our political landscape. Again, the recent endSARS protests is a good sign that truly, power belongs to the people. Yes, We Can!

Dr. Agbons writes from the United Kingdom