Birth of a new politics

If the conduct of one of the primary election was an indication of what to expect—and it was; or of what we had been seeing for the past decade and half—and it was; then the difference between the PDP, and APC, is very clear. He APC primary was by every standard transparent, orderly—and democratic, especially […]

If the conduct of one of the primary election was an indication of what to expect—and it was; or of what we had been seeing for the past decade and half—and it was; then the difference between the PDP, and APC, is very clear. He APC primary was by every standard transparent, orderly—and democratic, especially if you believed that those addressing the delegates were only explaining to them how to cast their votes and not who to vote for. That of the PDP was, by contrast, merely a coronation where state and zonal kingmakers got together to anoint the royal candidate; but this would still have been acceptable if that was what members of the party wanted, just as some people initially wanted a consensus candidate in the APC. But you were still left wondering what it was that these people were rewarding President Goodluck Jonathan for. All the same, it was good that the ruling party was the way it was, and the APC the way it is.
The tortuous road to the current political alliance began in 2003 and ended up with the merger of the largely Northern Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and the largely South-Western Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in 2013. Within those ten years, this successor political class had succeeded where more than three decades of sustained politicking towards being accepted outside his immediate environment by Chief Obafemi Awolowo had failed. Before the attempt in 2013, there was the one by General Shehu ‘Yar’adua to forge a political machine that would incorporate elements from all the regions was on its way to succeeding when he was cut down in 1998.
This is a political novelty, because the traditional alliance partners were the North and the East, though their unions hardly ever lasted beyond the elections they were forged to fight or the coups d’état that always succeeded them. And of recent, in 2011 to be exact, there was Odua kolokolo in full bloom that saw the Action Congress abandoning its own presidential candidate in shark-infested high waters, signifying once again that, as political actors, these people were liable to do anything.
Though it might be a novelty, the alliance between the North and the West looked more natural; but during the First Republic, might have been precluded by the differing visions and the opposing clash of ambitions between Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardaunan Sokoto, and Chief Awolowo. It was a time when largely selfless leaders provided accountable national leadership but with regional vision, and the nation itself was not in a race to beat any other nation, though its parts were locked in a do-or-die battle to worst each other.
And of the dozen or so elements that go to make up and define a society’s political culture—religion, ethnicity, gender relations, age-group relations, geography, history, among others, the North as a cultural unit and the South-West hardly share any of the elements to its full extent. Though both are cultured with a deep rich cultural heritage and may to some extent be said to share the same faith, the pre-colonial history they shared was one of restive neighbourliness; the geography they shared was one of a mere geographical expression; and here ethnicity is not shared, it is the stuff of stiff but healthy competition, and, now gradually ground for mutual respect. All that history is all history now.
But the questions to ask are whether the alliance will be able to survive the election in February, and whether there is enough will, goodwill, patriotism and understanding to see it through the coming years. While the mass political culture in the two regions is supportive of the new political alignment, will elite political culture sustain it? Are the elite ready to begin the necessary process of political socialisation needed to instil and inculcate a new set of political beliefs, attitudes and sentiments that go to make up the new political tradition on which the future political alignment that will rule the country will be founded?
The strength of the new Buhari ticket is that it is where individual populism and communal consensus meet. The emergence of Buhari as the new flag bearer of the APC with a level of popularity that can win the poll and in a coalition that can contain rigging and a national consensus to resist rigging by any means necessary is therefore only in order. He worked and conceded for it more than any one.
Any person with General Buhari’s level of almost messianic popularity and appeal will have sought to superintend over the creation of the new party in his own image and in which he could call all the shots. He resisted all effort to make him do what would naturally have been done by any other person in his place. His was only to say and it would have been obeyed and accepted by all the contenders. It was good he didn’t pull rank on the others.
Yesterday’s formal consummation of the fruit of the merger was the culmination of a series of events that started a few years ago. There is no need to go into unnecessary detail at this time; but it is only in order for people to know the concessionary role that the winner of the presidential party played in the conception and birth of the APC. And the concessions started right from the beginning of the merger process.
For obvious reasons, some of us close to the General opposed the inclusion of the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP. Even though General Buhari understood our fears, he agreed to it. After posts had been shared among the merging parties, demands were made on the CPC to give up what it had already been given. Those surrounding the General vehemently opposed that; but in the end, he gave away these, including the national secretary and organising secretary of the party—perhaps all in order to ensure that nothing derailed the merger process.
So ready was he to accommodate what to us sounded and appeared like outrageous demands, that at a point some of us, who had been behind-the-scenes architects of the merger process, virtually become its enemies. We wanted him to control the process, the party and the structure in the states. He refused to share our vision because his single-minded devotion was to see to the creation of a formidable party; and he was not ready to allow any desire to control the result divert him. At one time one of the leaders in ACN was heard to remark that he never knew Buhari was this simple and nice. Left to some of us, there wouldn’t have been any party today, or the celebration of the result of its presidential primaries.
The greatest promise of a Buhari presidency is not that it will fight corruption and indiscipline in public life, which it will; or that it will take the issue of security with all the seriousness it deserves, which it will; or that it will rebuild the public service, which it certainly will; or that it will allow proper procedure to take its course, which it will; or that it will recreate and strengthen moribund government institutions, which it will; or that it will concentrate all its energy on reinventing the national development planning process and faithfully implementing its provisions, which it will; but that it is the one presidency that will agree to cut the powers of the Nigerian presidency, which in the case of this country, is a necessary condition for the attainment of good governance. Clientelism must end before Nigeria can move forward.
The most intractable problem in Nigeria today is the over-centralisation of power in the presidency, which gives the office extensive powers that are illegitimate, including the unconstitutional control and disbursement of public resources, which is the tradition instituted after the fall of the Gowon regime, it being by and large a continuation of the First Republic in matters of accountability. And we must accept that only the presidency of an individual without the agenda to improperly enrich himself, or others, will agree consciously to plan to make the presidency less powerful, a failure to do which robbed Obasanjo of his best chance for undisputed statesmanship, as he opted for strongman, repressive, unaccountable democracy in place of representative, accountable democracy.
Is General Buhari going to be the transition to the turning point generation that will take Nigeria to the Promised Land? If he is, the Nigeria that he will come to lead must be one steeped in the new knowledge economy, run by a partnership of patriotic politicians, retired public-spirited statesmen, innovative entrepreneurs, bureaucrats who will lead the knowledge revolution.
The successful economy of the 21st century must prioritise education at all levels—the acquisition of hi-tech skills, investment in information and communication technology, erecting infrastructure for the processing and dissemination of information, and creating the infrastructure for innovation as a partnership of universities, think tanks and research centres.
Therefore, this victory, which, to all intents and purposes, is a precursor to the expected victory in the upcoming presidential election in February, should not prove to be merely a path to personal power and glory for individuals. It must be an occasion for national renewal—a moment for the rebirth of ideas. Thus, under General Buhari, Nigeria must flung headlong into the pursuit after Education for the Knowledge Economy which will train the highly skilled, flexible and all-rounded personnel needed to compete successfully in global market place. Only then will Nigeria attain that elusive greatness; and politics in the country will have been changed forever.