LET THE WEAK SAY I’M STRONG By Rev. Chris Okotie Okotie’revchrisokotie Follow on twitter @Revchrisokotie. 08078421451 (sms only) The democratic system envisioned by the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is based on the emergence of one strong, major party, which, of course will be the ruling party, programmed from inception to be the dominant force in the polity. That’s why it drew and still draws its heavy-weight members from the ranks of wealthy retired generals, big government contractors and other venal rich. That dream of political domination, based on the reality of the current realignment of forces, appears attainable. That is precisely why the party spares no effort in regaining lost members, and doing all it can to assert itself everywhere possible ahead of the 2015 general elections. President Goodluck Jonathan and his guys are leaving nothing to chance as they prepare for a bitter end game. This goal of long-term political survival is embodied in the declaration by PDP stalwarts that the party would rule Nigeria for 60 years but, that may in fact, be an outward projection of their internal insecurity. Every member of the governing cabal has, at one time or the other made a boast of it; and from what we can see, it is no empty boast. The PDP has controlled the Federal Government since the return to civil rule in 1999. Unless something dramatic happens, we may have to endure the party’s exclusive brand of democracy till 2015 if the electorate permits the cabal’s vaulting ambition. But faced with an opposition in disarray, without a convincing winning strategy so far, our worst fears of a PDP hegemony may be confirmed, except by divine intervention on the side of our long-suffering masses that are desperately yearning for change, but unable to seize its momentum, or align with the Vanguard of that paradigm, because our beleaguered masses are leaderless. When power intoxicates, it leaves no room for the remote possibility of sudden change. Those who study the structure of world revolutions recognize that sudden change or revolution comes when the ruling elites are overconfident. According to Shakespeare, overconfidence is “man’s chiefest enemy”. Yet my take is that, no political party, including the ruling PDP, can rule Nigeria for even 30 year at a stretch, not to dream of 60, because of the dynamics of our politics; the surging currents of our diversity, and the sheer power of change which is the inevitable constant that shapes world history. Not even the tenacious hold of the PDP on power can stop this change when the time comes. Obviously, PDP stalwarts do not reckon with the surprise element. Such surprises dot our political landscape in the shape of M.K.O. Abiola’s unexpected June 12, victory and other unpleasant trajectories of our political evolution. In essence, 2015 will come and go. New forces will emerge thereafter to shape post-2015 event and beyond; all the godfathers, the heavyweights or juggernauts we see today would be swept away by the tide of change which would inevitably usher in a new paradigm, starting from the end of this election. The PDP’s concept of a one-party state is an illusion which would soon blow in its face. Every dispensation presents new leaders, who invariably confront new realities and challenges; create new paradigms and engage new parameters, moving forward. The old assumption that the military would dominate the politics of Third World nations when coups were the popular medium for toppling dictators, no longer holds true. Soldiers who stage coups these days are driven back to the barracks with their tails between their legs, even before the sound of martial music resonate across their nations. The character and composition of geo-political, regional power blocks and the temperament of the increasingly polarized global politics no longer accommodates military regimes, regardless of their benevolent dispositions. The recent ouster by street protests of long-time dictator, Blaise Campaore in Burkina Faso is instructive. Rioting youths burned down the Parliament building to resist the president’s plan to extend his 27-year rule by one year. And he had no choice than to resign abruptly and flee to Coted’lvore where he is cooling off in political asylum. The PDP’s power show in Ekiti and the charade in the Abuja parliament building where APC opposition law makers had to scale the fence to gain access into the law chambers are symptomatic of the brazen abuse of power by Team Jonathan in their quest to capture power in 2015. If the President, who was reportedly drafted to run according to TAN, is that popular, why does he need this strong-arm tactics to brow beat the opposition? A strong incumbent with as huge a financial war-chest as Jonathan has, with full complement of the state’s coercive security apparatus, need not fear reelection as he clearly does. Perhaps, he’s affirming the Biblical nugget; “Let the weak say I am strong”. Rev. Chris Okotie, a Presidential Aspirant, wrote from Lagos
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 15:45:31 +0000
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