Quite a number of
Nigerians are politically aware, even if their level of political participation
hardly goes beyond voting in an election. They could be heard taking sides at
election time, arguing vociferously as to why they would support one candidate
against another. My recent visit to beloved Nigeria , coinciding with the Ekiti
gubernatorial election of June 14, 2018, reinforced my insight into the
thinking of the locals as to the possible direction of their votes in the
election.
At the highly-impressive Afe Babalola
University , Ado-Ekiti, I
encountered a local chief and another lady visitor to the institution who talk
animatedly about how they would rather vote for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), than that of the rival All Progressives Congress (APC). In
praising Aare Afe Babalola for founding a university that has provided job
opportunities for hundreds of Nigerians, they said Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the APC
would rather build his own university in Ghana ,
providing jobs for the people of Ghana instead of Nigerians.
*President Buhari |
Even if this was mere propaganda, it was one story that made the
rounds. The discussants also alluded to lack of patriotism on the part of
Fayemi, saying that his tenure as Minister of Solid Minerals has not resulted
in the discovery of mineral resources in Ekiti State in spite of its richness
in that respect. Further, the anti-Fayemi prospective voters asserted he had
agreed with the Federal Government to establish a “cattle colony” in the state,
despite the rejection of such an idea by the majority of Ekiti people.
For the pro-Fayemi supporters, and as if it
was outgoing Governor Ayodele Fayose of the PDP that was seeking re-election,
they said the latter was corrupt, crude and arrogant. The non-payment of
salaries to workers became an important issue. They said Fayose was seeking a
third term in office and that the official candidate of his party in the
election, Professor Kolapo Olushola, was a mere puppet. They further alleged
that Fayose was building a personal house in the premises of the state house
where he would be directing the affairs of Ekiti State .
In an electoral campaign in which Olushola was hardly visible, the “I will win
the election” monotonous utterances of Fayose did not help matters.
There was “vote buying” in the Ekiti governorship election. However, the
election was highly competitive. Fayemi polled 197,462 votes to Olushola’s
178,121. The small margin of victory suggests, in my view, that the PDP could
possibly have won the election if its post-primary election disagreements had
been amicably managed. Fayose was alleged to have imposed his deputy as PDP
candidate, disregarding the aspirations of more established members of the
party. There were quite a number of noticeable defections from the PDP to the
APC and the implications of such defections could hardly be underestimated in a
political environment where most voters owe their political loyalty to their
acclaimed leaders.
The culture of defecting from one political
party to another has been one visible aspect of the Nigerian political
behaviour, especially in the practice of the presidential system of government.
In the Second Republic
(1979-83), this writer observed the phenomenon and described it as “party
cross-building” (see my book, Party Coalitions in Nigeria ), not the least because the
observed mass movements were mainly from minor political parties to those with
capability or potential to win the presidency. However, the continuing defection
of politicians as an established or accepted culture suggests indiscipline,
intolerance, impatience, opportunism, political immaturity and lack of
commitment to serious ideological standpoints.
Sadly, these defections are encouraged and
will continue to attract the attention they do not deserve until we have a
community of voters that are adequately educated and imbued with confidence and
independent-mindedness in the political choices they make. We envisage future
prospective voters that decide for themselves why they support one political
viewpoint against another, rather than be blown about by the political wind as
it is today. Until that happens, the fortunes of the Nigerian state will
continue to be manipulated by undisciplined migrant politicians and shameless
political prostitutes.
The late Professor Anthony Kirk-Greene of Oxford University ,
who died recently at the age of 93, once described our purposeless politicians
as “cobwebs in the corridors of power”. He felt disappointed that our
politicians had doused the aspirations of ordinary Nigerians. It is to the
cherished memory of this quintessential intellectual and scholar, a specialist
in our politics and governance, that I dedicate this article. I believe his
illustrious academic outing ended with me. At his very old age, he spent
quality time to read through my manuscripts as well as write forewords to the
two books I published in 2013 and 2014. May his great soul rest in peace.
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