When the opposition becomes the enabler

BY CHIECHEFULAM IKEBUIRO

Let it be known: the strength, quality, and effectiveness of any democracy are directly linked to the competence, relevance, and credibility of its opposition. Let it be known that a democracy is sustained by a vibrant, visionary, and principled opposition. Let it also be known that where the opposition fails, democracy falters and remains unchecked.

This is why the state of opposition politics in Nigeria today is not just disappointing, it is dangerous. The recurring complaint about the ruling party attempting to create a one-party state has become a tired, lazy cliché. I have heard it over and over again -this idea that the incumbent is plotting to destroy multiparty democracy. But if we are being honest, is it truly the job of the ruling party to prevent a one-party state? Or should we, instead, be holding the opposition accountable for its glaring failure to rise to the occasion?

What we have right now is not an overbearing ruling party; it is an underperforming opposition. Take the PDP, for instance. For years, the party has been engulfed in endless leadership tussles, factional wars, and internal strife. Ideology? Policy direction? Alternative governance vision? These have taken a backseat to power struggles and ego clashes. The party nearly imploded over the appointment of its national secretary at a BOT meeting in January. Is that not a clear signal of how unserious it has become?

The Labour Party? That’s another party of factions- the Abure group, the movement, and the NLC group. Their house is not in order. There is zero mechanism for tackling differences. There is no institutional structure that inspires confidence, no solid groundwork that suggests long-term vision or readiness to govern. It’s a circus! The African Action Congress has been practically abandoned for activism. They should be back in 2027. The SDP? I plead the 5^th!

When was the last time the major opposition parties presented Nigerians with a well-articulated alternative economic policy? When did they last respond to national issues with substance, clarity, or cohesion? Instead, we are fed with a diet of online mob pleasing, half-baked rhetoric, baseless allegations, and social media theatre. It’s unserious. It’s dangerous. It is disappointing.

Let’s be honest, these so called opposition parties are the real enablers of a one-party state. When they fail to offer credible alternatives, when they focus more on internal wrangling than national vision, when they rely on pity and propaganda rather than policy and persuasion, they leave the political space vulnerable. They make the incumbent look like the only option. And that is a recipe for democratic decay.

We forget that today’s ruling party was once in the opposition. They did not play the victim indefinitely. They strategized. They built alliances, crafted a message (of change), and sold it to Nigerians. Whether you agree with what they have become or not, they earned their way to power through work, not whining.

The opposition in Nigeria needs to wake up. That you are being rejected shows Nigerians are not blind. What they see is not inspiring confidence. They see that something is fundamentally broken in your message, your structure, or your leadership. Fix it because this democracy will not sustain itself.

The opposition needs to stop playing the blame game and start doing the real work of building strong opposition parties and earning the trust of Nigerians.

If they don’t, they won’t just be spectators in this democracy, they will be its undertakers.

Chiechefulam Ikebuiro can be contacted via [email protected]