APC, PDP, and who else?

It is saddening that Nigeria is yet to produce a viable alternative apart from PDP and APC. I am stressing ‘viable’ because a party cannot claim to be viable when my grandmas don’t know about it let alone consider it for choice or a barber in Potiskum. You can’t wake up on social media a […]

It is saddening that Nigeria is yet to produce a viable alternative apart from PDP and APC. I am stressing ‘viable’ because a party cannot claim to be viable when my grandmas don’t know about it let alone consider it for choice or a barber in Potiskum. You can’t wake up on social media a year to election and claim to be a viable alternative. No miracle of such anywhere in the world, not even in the advanced democracies where democracy has been evolving for over 100 years. The PMB that many people find so disappointing dared the terrain three times before luck fell on his laps.

Hence, the alternative presidential candidates we have are either detached from our realities, ignorant of the process, or not genuinely interested in nation-building. And they should resist guilt-tripping Nigerians especially rural dwelling Nigerians that deserve stronger attention for not considering them for votes. APC and PDP will remain the only solid players until the alternatives learn to outsmart them or compete significantly with them.

Finance might be the excuse for some of these parties and candidates but politics is not just about finance. The defunct CPC of President Muhammadu Buhari cannot claim to be financially buoyant but it was oiled by the goodwill of the grassroots and strategic alliances. If need be, these alternative candidates can build a strategic alliance with an established party like it was done in Israel and Germany. 

Mujib Dada-Qadri Esq. writes from Ibadan, Oyo State.