Nigeria is preparing for a general election next year. The 18 political parties in the country have since concluded their primaries and submitted the names of their presidential candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Perhaps, never in the history of the country has there been such an awakening among the youth as it is being witnessed today, in terms of interest in participating in the electoral process.
This is evident in the number of the young people that have taken part in the INEC’s continuous voter registration (CVR) across the country.
The response was so overwhelming that the INEC decided to extend indefinitely the exercise which was originally intended to end on June 30th.
In the last seven years, Nigeria has witnessed the worst form of governance, which has affected every aspect of the country’s life.
These years have been marked by high inflation rate; high unemployment rate; high poverty rate; increase in taxes; high cost of living and above all, destruction of the future of the youth through a deliberate attempt to keep university undergraduates at home until after the 2023 general election by the refusal of the Federal Government to address the lingering impasse with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Among the politicians themselves, an unhealthy rivalry has since ensued, resulting in name-calling and cheap blackmailing.
In politics, politicians employ all manner of tactics to weaken their opponents. They try to psyche down their opponents in order to have upper hand.
The talk in society nowadays is about the 2023 general election and who among the parties’ presidential candidates has what it takes to lead Nigeria out of the woods.
Out of the lot, four candidates are outstanding, partly because of the platforms they represent and partly also because of their astuteness in the nation’s politics.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) belong to the two categories.
With a desperate search for a new Nigeria, many are looking beyond the established political platforms, hence, the move for alternative parties.
It was against this backdrop that the merger talk between Kwankwaso and Obi’s parties was predicated upon.
Both parties had announced they were looking forward to working together until Kwankwaso said he was not ready to play a second fiddle to a less-experienced politician.
He did not stop at that; he also said that the entire people of South East were tyros when it comes to playing politics.
While speaking with journalists in Gombe State last Saturday, Kwankwaso explained that it would not be possible for him to abandon the party he has built to merge with another.
“If now I decide to be a vice presidential candidate to anybody in this country, NNPP will collapse because the party is based on what we have built in the past 30 days,” he said.
Above that consideration was his belief that he was better a politician than Peter Obi, and any South Easterner for that matter.
According to him, the people of South East are good in business and are well talented but they should learn politics, for according to him, “In politics, they are at the bottom line.”
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He also suggested that the best option for the South East was for the zone to partner with NNPP, saying, “this is a golden opportunity; if they lose it, it will be a disaster.”
But in a veiled response to his observation and claim, Obi, while speaking on Arise Television interview Wednesday, noted that the major problem of Nigeria was the economy and not where the president would come from.
“The Nigeria problem is the economy, people don’t have jobs, it is pushing them into criminality, agitations and all sorts of problems we are facing today. I would bring brilliant young people into my administration to help pull Nigeria out of poverty,” Obi said.
According to him, “I don’t want people to vote for me because I am from the SouthWest, SouthEast or NorthWest, I want people to vote for Peter Obi because he can pull Nigeria out of the mess it is in today.”
Aharaonye Onunwa, a political scientist, believes that the former governor of Kano State may not be reading the handwriting on the wall or is in denial of the signs of the times in relation to who is where in the prevailing political equation in the country.
Onunwa said: “The former governor, Alhaji Kwankwaso seems not to know that the train has left the station. If he is not yet aware of the mindset of the new generation Nigerian youths, he will be shocked sooner than later.”
At a meeting in Lagos Monday attended by key private sector players, participants reviewed the recent claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that he had acquitted himself well in office and the claim by Kwankwaso that the North is specialists in politics.
The private sector players said that the surge in youth voter registration must have been set off by a certain determination by Nigerians to change the narrative in 2023.
They also noted that “anything can happen” in the next election since this is the first time in many years that none of the candidates of the prominent parties did not emerge through the imposition of members of the military and political cabal with entrenched interest that had over the years determined the political fate of Nigeria.
They noted that those that emerged this time around did so either by their own political clout or by reason of their war chest. They added that Kwankwaso may be misreading the times.
Joining issues with Kwankwaso on his claim that South East was at the bottom of politics and that the North was better at politics than the East, David Hundeyin, an investigative journalist and essayist, used his twitter handle to point out one or two things.
According to him, “The ultimate measure of how good at politics you are is the quality of life you are able to provide for your people. If your only measure is elections; then congrats. I guess Southern Nigeria by and large, is much better at politics than northern Nigeria. The north however, is good at elections.
“You’re ‘good at politics’ because your state can deliver 1.5 trillion votes from a 1 million total population. Fine. But if Microsoft sets up in your state tomorrow and asks for just 50 software engineers to hire, your state doesn’t have them. Good at politics? Give me a break.
“Encouraging education is politics. Outlawing pedophilia so women can become economically productive adults is politics. Encouraging private enterprise and competition is politics.”
Hundeyin further said: “These are the things that lead to prosperity. Never conflate politics with elections. Conflating elections and politics is like conflating who wins the referee’s pre-game coin toss with who wins the actual match. Completely different things. ‘Igbos aren’t good at politics’ isn’t even a smart opinion. 4 of the 10 states with highest HDI in Nigeria are in the southeast. 14 of the bottom 14 are in the north. You might be good at elections, but make no mistake about it, you’re terrible at politics
He pointed Kwankwaso to “Know who is good at politics? South Korea. The EU. Japan. Malaysia. Heck, even India. They have used political processes and decisions to engineer prosperity and better lives for themselves.”
A political analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, wondered where the type of politics the north has played over the years has led the country.
“For many years the Moslem North has been in control of the nation’s politics; but see where Nigeria is. Can anyone in clear conscience say that it is a progressive politics that they have played? What are the indices of good politics? Are they in the north let alone in the country? You claim to be masters of politics yet poverty is endemic in the north; illiteracy is prevalent and that section of the country has continued to be the sore toe on Nigeria’s leg, dragging down and backward every progress. Look at the last seven years; can any sensible person call that a fruit of positive politics? Alhaji Kwankwaso and his ilk can continue to deceive themselves; nobody can cover the truth,” the analyst said.
Another observer, said: “The objective was to provoke South East people into becoming overly defensive and possessive of Peter Obi. That way, the masses can perceive him as SE’s candidate thereby preventing his movement from being cemented as a national phenomenon.
“If you support Peter Obi, just stay calm. Comport yourself and watch the meltdown go on. But keep in mind you are making progress. If not, why are the people who say they own Nigeria scouting TV studios talking about a supposed social media joker who, they say, has no chance at the polls?”
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