The fact that lives were lost during the 2019 elections should shame us at this age and time of our democracy. Nigeria as a country and the giant of Africa should have risen above electoral violence, claims of rigging and counter-rigging by the two major political parties-PDP and APC.
Where the foundation is weak, the collapse of the building is inevitable. The foundation of our electoral system is based on weak voters’ education and awareness. The political class is taking advantage of this as most of the voters’ votes on the whim of cash or other gratifications from the influential politicians. Political campaigns and promises are vague and not value-oriented. The educated ‘alakada’ who are the literate and can discern the politicians without value from few with contents are too busy analyzing events on social media platforms rather than voting on election date.
We are in the season of defection. The defection of politicians from one political party to another in Nigeria is a mockery of our democracy and is a major factor inhibiting us from benefitting from the ideals of a democratic system of governance.
In Nigeria, defecting from a political party to another is never on policy or political ideology but primarily for the interest of the politicians and their followers. It is our type of defection that makes our political parties look the same and appear without any difference. The people who are in PDP today are at a time the founding members of APC or vice versa. Politicians are defecting not on ideology but for personal, political, positional, financial and influential gains which are not in the interest of their followers and the country.
A few exceptions of politicians who appeared to have rooted political ideologies and have never run here and there in search for power and protection have made impacts in their political careers. Undoubtedly, the generalissimo of politics and the national leader of the APC Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu have no record of defection from one party to another. Though he had merged his party with other parties to give electoral advantages and seize power at the state and federal level, this is different from ‘porting’ from the loser party to the winning party after every election. In political merging or alliance, the ideals of the parties will be retained to some extent unlike where people abandoned what they have claim allegiance for in the name of defection.
I am not surprised with the content the governor-elect of Oyo state, Engineer Seyi Makinde is showing since being elected. His public messages so far show he has a political ideology which he stood by in the PDP for years until he got what he wanted recently. Without a doubt, he might do well for being propelled by ideology to stay with the opposition party for years unlike those who shift parties based on where the power is.
Politicians with a penchant for defection are psychological egoists. They are defecting not on principle or any political belief but to meet their needs for relevance, power, money and whatever they can get. To them, being in government is more of a business for personal gains rather than a platform to serve their people and the country.
Our democracy is porous and designed to meet the aspirations of the powerful politicians. Whereas defection cannot be legislated on, our political parties have huge roles to play in ensuring the defectors do not take advantage of the systems for their personal benefits and in the process weaken the structure upon which democracy can be effective as a form of governance.
The governing political party at every level should stop celebrating and accepting defectors as a show of strength. Nigeria is not and will never be a one-party state. No matter the perceived strength of the defecting politicians, it could not compete with credible performance and the delivery of visible dividends of governance to the people. The ruling party should rather focus on achieving its election promises rather than celebrating people who will add problems to the existing winning team. After all, you do need to add a new player to a winning team except there is exceptional value the player can bring to the team.
For our democracy to be institutionalized, losing elections should be seen as the opportunity to form a credible opposition that scrutinizes the policies of the governing party in the interest of all the electorates. Hence, being in the opposition party should be a call to serve. It is an opportunity to show you believe in the ideology of your party, and an avenue to checkmate those who are saddled with the management of the people’s resources for a period of time.
The electorates especially the educated group should mark the politicians with a constant history of defection. They are like hawks with no good intention for the people except for themselves. Check these politicians out, they move with the power like a prostitute and have no credible records of performance while in power. All their actions are in their best interest. They are weakening our democracy by making it ‘jeunjeun’ (chop I chop) game. They are bereaved of ideas and should not be allowed to hold leadership positions even at the ward or the party level.
Our political parties must be structured and operate like institutions. As free as freedom of association is, it is ridiculous to have over seventy political parties contesting elections in Nigeria. Nigeria does not need seventy political ideologies to be great. We need few and strong political parties with checks and balances against behaviours that are detrimental to the objectives of the parties and governance. Our political parties must be governed by ideologies, beliefs and structure that ensure top members are not defectors but people who are with the party come rain or sunshine.
If we want to see the dividend of democracy beyond the current level of governance, the political elites must be driven by value and not by their survival. They must take political steps for and in the interest of their community. They must be accountable to the people and stop the political prostitution. No defection, please. Stay in the party you are now for strong democratic and political structures.
Babs Olugbem
Babs Olugbemi FCCA, the Chief Responsibility Officer at Mentoras Limited and Founder, the Positive Growth Africa. He can be reached on [email protected] or 08025489396.
