The politics of elephants and rats!
In these days of digital music on telephones, I-Pads and laptops, the time when vinyl record plates were the latest technology seems a distant memory. Back then the main problem with playing music on vinyl records was that when they cracked they wouldn’t play properly but instead would keep repeating the same piece of music. […]
In these days of digital music on telephones, I-Pads and laptops, the time when vinyl record plates were the latest technology seems a distant memory. Back then the main problem with playing music on vinyl records was that when they cracked they wouldn’t play properly but instead would keep repeating the same piece of music. Hence when someone is said to be sounding like a “cracked record” it means they are known for saying the same thing over and over and not moving forward.
Leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) seemingly fixated on monotonously blaming the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the nation’s woes despite being in power for five years are beginning to sound like a scratched record. In the run up to the 2015 elections, they painted the PDP as the Party of corruption and pledged to put an end to treasury looting. However, since they have been in office all indices show corruption to be thriving. Most political commentators agree that there is little difference between the APC and the PDP. In 2013 five State Governors, 37 Members of the House of Representatives, and 11 Senators left the PDP to give life to the APC. Five years later in 2018, 15 Senators, 37 Reps and 3 Governors decamped from the APC to other parties, many of them returning to the PDP. In light of all this decamping and “re-camping” the claim that Nigeria was ruined by the PDP is false.
The real reason for Nigeria’s woes is years of illegal, incompetent, corrupt and divisive military governance. The only reason why the military can’t be held responsible for messing up the nation is that the fraudulent and illegal “1999 Military Decree for Civilian Administration” otherwise known as the so called 1999 “People’s” Constitution has ouster clauses. Section 6 Sub-section (6) (d) ousts the Courts from determining the validity of all illegal and unconstitutional laws made during the military era. The end result being that corrupt military political office holders got away with their ill-gotten gains and only corrupt civilian political office holders can be sanctioned! It’s no surprise that Nigeria has made so little progress in entrenching democratic values, observing civil liberties and enforcing human rights since 1999 when former military dictators who escaped sanction are queuing up to rule the nation as civilians. Leaders with no democratic credentials, whose patriotism is limited to their kinfolk and who define the national interest as whatever keeps them in power have created a situation in which calls for regionalism are becoming increasingly more strident while calls for the break-up of the nation are garnering more support.
It’s no surprise that the two most popular and progressive Presidents since 1999 were those with no military background. The 1999 Constitution established and overly expensive centrally controlled political system which is a tragic joke. A plethora of Political Parties with no core values have been registered by an incompetent Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who don’t require political parties to have any relationship whatsoever with established political ideologies. This approved politics without philosophy results in citizens continuing to suffer despite living in a nation blessed with abundant resources. In politically mature democracies politicians seek office because they adhere to a political ideology, which outlines the manner by which people’s lives can be improved.
The only political ideology of a Nigerian politician is the aspiration to be in office and be one of those who amass wealth and live large at public expense through approved treasury looting. The up-coming Edo State election is a prime example of unprincipled politics and illustrates why APC blaming the PDP for Nigeria’s ills is fallacious. The main challengers within the ruling APC to incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki are Chris Ogiemwonyi, a former Minister under PDP and Ize- Iyamu, a former Secretary to State Government under the PDP. Having decamped after previously occupying high office under another political party they cannot possible represent “change” or anything new.
Nigerian politicians see nothing wrong or unethical in continuously moving from one party to another because it’s generally accepted that there isn’t any ideological distinction between Nigerian political parties, and they are simply a platform to acquire power. Indeed the current National Chairman of the ruling APC Adams Oshiomhole, is on record as saying that Nigeria’s political system is one on which you are in one party in the morning and a different one in the evening! Most Nigerian politicians defect together with thousands of their “supporters” including officials of the party they are decamping from. Many party supporters decamp simply because their party fails to win elections.
The case of the Imo State House of Assembly where most members decamped to APC as soon as the PDP Governor was removed by the Supreme Court is still fresh in the mind. These defectors don’t seem to care about their turbulent careers, their long line of broken relationships or the damage they do to our political system. The likes of Orji Kalu and Atiku Abubakar are prime examples of those who threw away any pretense toward party loyalty when it suited their personal ambitions. The proclivity of Nigerian politicians towards nepotism, tribalism, political jingoism, and lack of principles makes it easy for them to decamp without hesitation once their leadership position is threatened.
In mature democracies, leaders don’t decamp and expect to become leaders elsewhere, rather they retire from leadership rather than queue up behind those whom they met in their new party. But in Nigeria, this isn’t the case because the only reason to decamp is to become a leader in the new party. The philosophy of Nigerian politics is that an elephant doesn’t leave his house to become a rat outside! Consequently, in spite of all their open quarreling, decamping and “re-camping”, the Edo State APC governorship ticket “wahala” proves that Nigerian political Elephants continue to be relevant wherever they may be!