“I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” -Charles de Gaulle, former French leader and statesman For me, one of the most depressing presentations of Nigeria’s renewed democracy is that we have abandoned our fate to politicians. And seriously, I do not think any society, intent on sustainable development, does that, seriously. It is true that Nigerian politicians are peculiar in the mess that they make but essentially, politicians, all over the world, are not blessed with the ability to turn a country around all by themselves. No country, especially one emerging from dictatorship, should totally situate its destiny in the hands of politicians. Politicians, no matter what ideology they profess, seldom work for the people’s interest. In politics, it is the survival of the fittest; it is the interest that currently satisfies the end that the politicians of the day want to arrive at. Sometimes, they camouflage their interests as identical with ours, but that is no more than a smokescreen. For the average politician, everything is about the next election and not about the future of the country. This is why I find it disheartening that Nigeria is bereft of various levels of interventions from which citizens could bring their influence to bear on government. Here, in this country, politics and patronising politicians have become our lives and so, citizenship is now dormant, if not totally dead. I do not know if we can talk about a civil society existing in Nigeria. Those who pretend to belong to the civil society are too divided along partisan lines to be worthy of that name. Faith-based leaders are either playing politics or fanning the embers of strife much contrary to the tenets of their faiths. Even parents have lost the voice to lead their children correctly and caution them against lending themselves to the devious use of some politicians. Traditional and community leaders are of course more or less an extension of government houses as a result of which Nigerians are on their own. However, as the 2015 elections get nearer, Nigerian politicians are beginning to show us what they are all about. And that is nothing but winning the elections at all costs. Within the past 10 days, we have had actual statements of threats of violence from two elected representatives who should ordinarily be more responsible and circumspect. First was Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, seen on an amateur visual recording encouraging his party members to physically assault and possibly “kill” politicians of opposing views in the state like they would cockroaches. Some days after that , Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State picked up where his colleague stopped as he promised that his party would not just form a parallel government if it was not satisfied with the results of the 2015 elections, it would also go ahead and spearhead civil disobedience across the country. These actions which would without doubt be accompanied by violence, would, according to him, follow any electoral result, which does not favour his party, even if those results indeed reflect the desire of a majority of Nigerians. His party must just win otherwise Nigerians must prepare to turn the country ungovernable. Nigerian politicians like to play god in the lives of the people. They like to dictate the choices that people should make even when they have not earned the right to win the confidence of the people. Shema and Amaechi incidentally represent the foremost political parties in Nigeria - the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress. Highly placed personalities in Nigeria’s leading political parties mongering for wars and violence just for the selfish desire to continue to be in government, no matter what it costs. However, when the violence being preached by these politicians eventually manifests, neither of them nor their children would be anywhere near the scene. As Jide Ojo testified in his column in The PUNCH on Wednesday, “…a former member of the House of Representatives openly declared that what many of them do is to send their immediate families abroad about three months to Election Day. As they too go on campaign, they have on them valid visas to many foreign countries with a minimum of 2,000 pound on them. So, should anything go awry, they will head for the nearest international airport to exit the country. These are the same politicians who will arm other people’s children to go kill and maim their political opponents, snatch ballot boxes and perpetrate diverse electoral heists and malfeasance.” What a shame. This is why I am convinced that Nigerians of every persuasion must raise their voice against the excesses of the political class, which is determined to set Nigeria on fire unless things go their way. And we already have enough hints of what is about to come. Last week, political thugs wreaked havoc in Ibadan leaving three persons dead. On Monday this week, factions of the PDP in Lagos State took their turn, eyewitnesses said that the timely intervention of the police was the only reason why we did not have casualties. This last Wednesday, the APC in Kwara State issued a press release alleging that thugs of the PDP attacked the convoy of Governor Fatai Ahmed in the Kiama Loal Government Area of the state. Unknown people torched the PDP office in Cross River State. The list of violent political activities is just endless. If we are going to have a country after the 2015 elections therefore, Nigerians must stand up to seize the initiative from politicians now Religious leaders must go back to the essence of their calling. Nigerians need committed intercession in prayers at this juncture. Religious leaders must in addition to praying counsel their followers on not allowing themselves to be used as agents of violence. Civil society organisations cannot wait until February when elections start before they embark on the very important task of sensitising Nigerians to the essentials of good citizenship. They should enlighten Nigerians about the prospects of change and the powers available to them through their votes. They should also mobilise people, especially youths against being instruments in the hands of politicians who are inciting violence. Finally, parents must also take the position that nature has placed them. It is an anathema to find that parents can no longer caution their children from being involved in anti-social activities which would only benefit selfish individuals. I think it is pretty apparent that the political class is bent on bringing war upon this country. And I think that raising the consciousness of Nigerians is the only way we will avert this looming danger from which only the common man, unfortunately, has everything to lose.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:38:15 +0000
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