2015 And The Mood Of The Nation

Written by Timawus Mathias

This whole month has witnessed a flurry of political activity that makes you tremble at the approaching cyclone called 2015.
It is Nigeria’s year of transition and it is already fraught with destabilizing ambiguities. While rancorous Peoples’ Democratic Party lifted the tea-cup storm in Adamawa State to ad nauseous, General Buhari launched a merger team for the opposition, but not until he made it known that if asked to, he would contest for the position of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015 - IF ASKED TO!
Essentially the thought topics towards the 2015 are Leadership, Democratic Institutions, Political Culture and Good Governance. They are interlinked, and it is never possible to ponder on one without any or all the others coming in.
We have a Leadership in place, elected under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party. The situation calls for a dispassionate review of the leader’s, specifically Goodluck Jonathan’s track record since completing President Umar Yar’adua’s tenure and securing a second term. For some inexplicable reason, the Party has acted in ways that have portrayed in no small way, a President that is weak and indecisive - worse, apparently not in control of matters. This is the conclusion one is forced to draw from the gutter squabbles in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, which compounds the issue to the disfavour of the President, as he sits staring at how much the governor’s forum can get away with. If they have their way in the ongoing saga over Adamawa PDP, it would be akin to hounds tasting the sweet savour of blood, and it would have been the dress rehearsal for 2015 outside the control of the President.
How can President’s leadership of the country be assessed when against each gain, you can juxtapose a more debilitating loss? Thus, on the leadership question one finds more demerits than merits given the fault lines that are glaring in the operation of democracy throughout the tenure. We are in a position to now question President Obasanjo’s decision to deliberately tinker with the process of the emergence of leadership for a nation as diverse and complex as Nigeria. Was it appropriate to have excluded other aspirants from the run for the Presidency - given the prevailing circumstance? A ploy that served to foist only a State Governor on the polity has now become systemic. In the Peoples’ Democratic Party, the ground rules and logistics are permanently skewed to favour Governors in the run for the Presidency. What of the others outside of this Governorship clan?
We also have States where the performance has been despicable, but from the look of things, the people cannot change bad performers given the way the system is skewed. This phenomenon cuts across party lines.
Without any prejudices, the Peoples’ Democratic Party must not pride itself of being satisfied with the quality of leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan and recognize the need to enquire into options. The onus one hopes, does not lie on a former head of state sitting on his farm and determining who is fit for anointing as the country’ next leader. Thus all told, the Obasanjo gimmick has failed woefully, and the nation has suffered for it. It is never democratic, nor an answer to select a class of aspirants in a wide sea of well qualified and groomed nationals who may never have tasted public office as Governors.
A thriving democracy is noted for the institutions it sustains. Democratic Institutions are numerous, but the most fundamental is freedom of choice which needs to be guaranteed by leaders who may not benefit from the peoples’ exercise of those freedoms. A simple provision like a party congress where delegates are elected should not be undermined. Doing so means undermining all the other structures down the line.
Obviously, these ambiguities have conditioned our unacceptable Political Culture. The party in power emasculates all opposition and I feel so ashamed when I see a public officer gloating over the lie of a victory that was clearly not of the people. Sustaining this gloat comes only through a dictatorship, and a system failure as noticed in some states where governments come to a standstill, and governance becomes the struggle to maintain the dictatorship and even foist hegemony. Makes you wonder why we ousted our monarchies.
These past few weeks saw the opposition awake from its slumber. Essentially, the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change have announced that a process that would see to their merger is in place and their mission as stated is to dislodge the ruling peoples’ Democratic Party. That this is a cardinal aim is a factor of our political culture in which there are no belief divides, just an amalgam (that word) of associations with no objective to change except take over power. This to me is sunset at noon for it makes the task of thwarting the efforts of the opposition easy. The ruling party only needs to mine the seams and simply break up the union when it matters. In 2011, it was obvious that if ACN and CPC came together, the PDP would have been given a good run. Yet while Nuhu Ribadu in Yola was sounding the march to a merger, the owners of ACN announced that merger was untenable. It needs be noted that for all it appears, a Yoruba Nation exists in the Nigerian Nation and must be factored in all permutations. When the issue of who leads the congregation of the opposition parties into 2015, I see an old road well travelled.
Our experience of Governance has ensured that national ills worsened over the years since 1999. Insecurity in the North, Corruption, lack of fiscal discipline, and failures in the judiciary have all contributed to a fully eroded confidence in Governance. Particularly in Northern Nigeria, the revenue allocation formula and the inability of many Governors to deliver on promise has resulted in frustration and anxieties that their faith in the Government is misplaced.
It is the national mood that while we march towards the transition which is a significant democracy signpost, all stake holders must seek to redress all these ills to enable our country rise to the fullness of its God-given potential.




Via dailytrust