Why politics is war in Nigeria

  admin 

Selfishness , the pursuit of self –
interest and self -aggrandisement a re the driving forces of Nigerian politicians .

From bottom to top and back again , of those emotions , not one is free , not one is clean , not even President Muhammadu Buhari , Nigeria ’ s widely touted emblem of what is sane and altruistic in the polity .

In the recently concluded elections, Buhari for instance , left no one in doubt as to the prime status of his ambition to be President again .

Even while he is the evident pillar holding the wobbling structure of his All Progressives Congress and the fact that the strengths and successes that parties make of their programmes are measured by the spread they are able gather countrywide, the President appealed to the electorate in more states than one to vote for him and forget party loyalty if they wished in subsequent elections.

It is doubtful that the treachery in this once and again repeated sentiment sank into most compatriots but regardless of whatever excuse or explanation partisans might attempt to provide , direct suggestions by the President and leader of the ruling party that the electorate may vote for people outside of the APC connotes more than a reborn mind that respects the will of the people .

A fundamental assumption of representative democracy is that each political party has ideals by which it lives and plans for the society it plans to govern and politics in Nigeria has also , once upon a time , lived this reality .

In the Second Republic for example , free education was a fundamental promise of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo -led Unity Party of Nigeria. And that was not just at the federal level , the party obligated itself to provide free and compulsory education for all Nigerian children across the federation .

This meant that every state the UPN governed benefitted from free education .

If the UPN had won governorship elections in all the 19 states that Nigeria had at the time therefore , all Nigerian children without exception would have acquired basic education with measurable impact on national development .

It goes to say that if the APC had a manifesto that prioritises education , Zamfara State would not have presented only 28 pupils for the National Common Entrance Examination into the Unity Schools as it happened in 2018 and Nigeria would possibly have been saved the threat that 13 . 2 million out of school children poses to its future . But that is a story for another day.

The issue at hand is that for the 2019 elections, every member of the APC, not to speak of its poster boy, should have spoken for the election of all its candidates across board , unless the party owns up to suggestions that it offers nothing different from most of the other political parties.

In any case , if the President truly spoke out of respect for the rights of the people to make choices , why was he not as magnanimous with the presidential election ?

The point here is that the number one man himself, even though he is not an everyday politician , has finally swallowed the “I, me and mine” pill of Nigerian politicians , leaving the nation in the hands of merchants without little or no inclination to provide genuine service to the people .
So , from Abuja , down to all the state capitals , local government councils , towns and villages, Nigeria has become a huge community of local fiefdoms where those who own the people are prepared to do anything to hold on to the reins of control .

So , things in Nigeria are such that the President would do anything to impose a successor and that would be in the interest of only himself. Not that he loves the state so much that he wants is legacy, which is most often than not one of rot, sustained or that he even loves his protégé so much that he wants his name entrenched in the gold of public service excellence , his fight , tooth or nail is just so that he is able to maintain his stranglehold on power and dictate the successor’ s every move; what you my call a third term by proxy!

The governor who wants a second term , regardless of the mess he may have made of his first term , deploys the resources of state towards retaining office whether the people want him or not.

And then there are politicians who want to look good with the big man in Abuja or at the state capital .

They are at the same level and would do anything to deliver their “ constituencies” to the man who is contesting the office .

Now, you would imagine that they do this for the love of their community or even the man for whom they are rooting but no, that is far from it .

That local politician desires nothing more than having a seat at the table of the one who sits at the Government House in the state capital or at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja .

To earn the bragging right which opens the door and provides access to the seat of power, that local politician would hire thugs, bribe electoral officials , hijack electoral materials or even kill !

This is the origin of the confusion and shame that serially visited as Nigerians voted in the 2019 general elections.

While elections should be the celebration of the democratic rights of Nigerians to elect , re – elect or change their leaders according to how much they have done or not done in the period under which they have been in office , a few people who have turned the country into their feeding bottles, hijack the process , maim and even get people killed in the process .

So , public service is not at the core of the politician here , which is why questions should be asked about Nigeria ’ s preparedness for democracy .

While politicians in most democracy seek office to serve the people , seeing their election and re – election as the case may be as the people ’ s benevolence, here, politicians lord it over the people .

By offering himself for office , the politician here sees himself as the one doing the people a favour and when he gets into office , he takes the seat of the ruler and the people become the servants , a pathetic role reversal that does the country no good.

6,799 thoughts on “Why politics is war in Nigeria ”

  4. I don’t know if it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else encountering issues with your site.
    It appears as though some of the written text in your content are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide
    feedback and let me know if this is happening to them as
    well? This may be a issue with my browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
    Cheers

    my blog post … I-601 waiver

    Reply

  6. Howdy! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
    My blog looks weird when browsing from my iphone.
    I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be
    able to correct this problem. If you have any suggestions, please share.
    Thanks!

    Reply

  7. Hey! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to
    make your site mobile friendly? My website looks weird when browsing from my iphone.
    I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve this problem.

    If you have any suggestions, please share. Thanks!

    Reply

  8. I don’t know if it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else encountering problems with your site.

    It appears like some of the text on your content are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let
    me know if this is happening to them too? This may be a problem
    with my browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
    Thank you

    Reply

  9. Great work! That is the kind of information that
    should be shared across the net. Disgrace on the
    search engines for not positioning this submit upper!
    Come on over and talk over with my web site .
    Thanks =)

    Reply

  13. You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but
    I find this topic to be really something that I think I would
    never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for
    me. I’m looking forward for your next post,
    I will try to get the hang of it!

    Reply

  16. Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment
    but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.
    Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say great blog!

    Reply

  18. certainly like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on quite
    a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling
    problems and I to find it very bothersome to tell
    the truth nevertheless I’ll surely come again again.

    Reply

  21. Very good blog! Do you have any suggestions for
    aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own website soon but I’m a little
    lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free
    platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that
    I’m completely confused .. Any tips? Bless you!

    Reply

  22. I absolutely love your site.. Excellent colors & theme.
    Did you build this website yourself? Please reply back as
    I’m trying to create my own personal site and want to find out where you got
    this from or just what the theme is named. Many
    thanks!

    Reply

  26. I’ve been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or
    weblog posts in this kind of house . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this
    web site. Reading this information So i am satisfied
    to convey that I’ve an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I came upon exactly what I needed.
    I most undoubtedly will make certain to do not omit this website
    and provides it a glance on a continuing basis.

    Reply

  32. Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website?
    I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems
    with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform.
    I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

    Reply

  35. Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.

    The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Ie.
    I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but
    I figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though!
    Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Kudos

    Reply

  38. Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff
    previous to and you’re just extremely magnificent. I really like what you have acquired here,
    really like what you are stating and the way in which you
    say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it smart.
    I can’t wait to read much more from you.
    This is actually a wonderful website.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Loudspeaker4naija Entertainments