One-Party State: Nigerian Political Parties Are Mere Special Purpose Vehicles

 By Olu Fasan

Ostensibly, Nigeria is a multi-party democracy. But in reality, it is a one-party state. Those ululating over the recent gale of defections wrongly assume that there are material differences between Nigerian political parties. Yet, in truth, the prevalence of defections, decamping, cross-carpeting, or name it, only proves that nothing distinguishes political parties in Nigeria.

*Tinubu

Lord Palmerstone, a former British prime minister, famously coined the phrase “there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies but permanent interests” to describe relations between nations. However, Nigerian politicians have appropriated that saying and turned it into the leitmotif of their political culture. Indeed, Bola Tinubu used the phrase in 2014 when he and others were cobbling together the All Progressives Congress, APC, a potpourri of strange political bedfellows who were united merely by a self-serving agenda to seize and share power. “There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, but permanent friends, ” Tinubu said, without any sense of irony. Politics in Nigeria is all about selfish interests.

Edo Sham Poll: UN Must Safeguard Nigeria’s 2027 Presidential Election

 By Olu Fasan

Outrageous! How dare you say the United Nations should help run elections in Nigeria, a sovereign state? That’s how some will react to this intervention. But leaving aside the fact that countries often seek United Nations electoral assistance, what’s truly outrageous and utterly shameful is that Nigeria, so-called “Giant of Africa”, cannot conduct free, fair and credible elections, something less endowed African countries do routinely and successfully.

*INEC Chair, Yakubu and Tinubu

This week, on October 1, Nigeria turned 64 as an independent nation. Sadly, it’s 64 years of sham elections and hollow democracy. As John Campbell and Matthew Page said in their book, Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know, “massive election rigging has been characteristic of Nigeria since independence”.

Judges Are The Biggest Bribe-Takers In Nigeria: Wow! What A Country!

 By Olu Fasan

IT is official! The judiciary is the most corrupt institution in Nigeria; judges are the biggest takers of bribes in this country. A few years ago, I wrote a piece titled “Lord, give Nigeria bold and incorruptible judges”, (Vanguard, April 25, 2019). When I said that Nigerian judges are fantastically corrupt, it seemed as if I was just making an assertion, as if I was just expressing an opinion as a columnist.

But now, we have an official confirmation. According to a recent survey conducted and published by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Nigeria’s public officials received N721billion cash bribes in 2023, and judges topped the list of the recipients.

Return To Colonial Anthem: Who Really Owns ‘Nigeria’?

 By Olu Fasan

Nigeria is a product of two perverse rules. One is colonial rule; the other is military rule. Virtually everything that exists structurally in Nigeria today was either created by colonial rulers or military dictators. Nigeria’s very existence and name are colonial creations. Then, Nigeria’s Constitution, system of government – presidentialism – and governance structure – 36 states – are military impositions. Nigeria’s national anthem was colonial, then military, and now colonial again! 

Look around you, nothing structural, even symbolic, is a true reflection of the collective will, or choice, of the people of this country.

The implication is that colonialism and military rule produced a captive people called “Nigerians” who have absolutely no direct input in the creation, name, structure and even symbols of the geographical entity they call their country.