TheCable

BY SANI MUHAMMADU UZAIRU

Need answers why our democracy has been relegated to a mere political survival game bereft of ideological leaning and promotion? It’s not far-fetched!

Umpteen times Nigerians have lamentably elected to disturb themselves with acts of prejudice and discrimination on what they refer to us ethnic and religious sentiments. This is in disdainful and scornful disregard of the believe that all humans are created equal albeit with unique diversity. In Nigeria, religious and ethnic sentiments are strong and potent factors, and they influence political, educational and even business decisions a great deal. The political class in this light unceasingly utilize their wealth and institutions to gain mileage out of these trivialities on the blind side of innocent and unsuspecting electorates. This is partly due to the fact that the Nigerian political elite view the masses as pawns in the political chess game that must be manoeuvred for their electoral value.

These primordial sentiments aside, the recourse to defection from one political party to the other by desperate politicians to either maintain an unhindered access to thieving, halt their prosecution or to strategically position themselves to remain politically relevant has regrettable contributed towards impaling our democracy in the backwaters, nineteen years on.

Isn’t it a paradox that Nigeria has failed to learn any useful lessons from the United States and other western democracies? Take for example the United States that we supposedly copy from. In the annals of the U.S., it’s difficult to learn about Republicans defecting en masse and becoming Democrats or vice versa. The raison d’etre could be linked more to ideological belief and perception than bootlicking and yearn to remain politically afloat.

However, in Nigeria, defection from PDP to APC or vice versa can be accomplished within the stroke of a second. In the recent past, droves of politicians have migrated from the PDP to APC. And one does not need the services of a clairvoyance to project that should PDP win power in 2019, there will be an exodus of political jobbers from the APC to PDP.

So what makes the electorates reckon that the APC and the PDP are two disparate political parties? To the discerning mind, they are not different from a six and half a dozen. And this instructively was why in 2015, making a choice between Buhari and Jonathan was equated to a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. Apart from ethnic bigots and tribal jingoistic,  many somewhat elected to take a leap of faith by seeking alternative government (APC) at the centre because the PDP had lost the moral high ground.

But today, having witnessed the ramifications, Nigerians are smarting from that impolitic decision they made. Perhaps they reckon now that they should have chosen, from a different party, a young and honourable candidate who didn’t carry any baggage and had not been tainted by the corrupt system we operated. But, how were they to know that the alternative APC was PDP alter ego? The good news however is that having experienced both the stale air of PDP and retrogressive change of APC, the electorates are better informed.

With 2019 beckoning, little wonder both the APC and PDP are at each other’s throat, trading accusations as to who between them has sabotaged the country’s development. But let’s call a spade a spade, during the PDP (mis) rule those who called the shot are same politicians these two dominant political parties continue to recycle with impudence.

Technically, what we have today is no more than the Nigerian People’s Congress  (my coinage ), that is a patchwork of APC and PDP. Take political opportunist like Bukola Saraki, Yakubu Dogara, Nasir El-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, Audu Ogbeh, Abdul Rahman Danbazzau etc. metamorphosis as a case study. They were big wigs in the PDP and now hold strategic positions in the APC. In Nigeria today,  politics is based on greed and corruption and the current assemblage of old politicians on  Nigeria’s political landscape are all greedy and dishonest.

And this sad pass makes it imperative for the electorates to take the scales off their eyes and come to realisation that no compatriot is born with tribal or religious affiliation and behaviour until the individual is influenced by environmental factors. Having tasted the misrule of PDP and APC, Nigeria will be better off if the electorate will divest themselves of sentiments and vote in the right leadership, lest we continue to contend with the bad governance of the two dominant political parties that have stunted our growth.

Uzairu is a political commentator and can be reached via [email protected]