₦airaland Forum

Lalasticlala is the man!

When aggrieved politicians within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) decided to join forces with members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressives Peoples Alliance (APGA) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, they had well-defined, if not so clearly stated, even if poorly conceived objectives: to send President Goodluck Jonathan out of power, displace the PDP which had clearly become a dominating hegemonic party, exert vengeance and offer the people an alternative.
The triumph of the APC in the 2015 elections resulting in victory at the Presidential level, in 23 states out of 36, and also in the legislature, state and federal, was propelled on the wings of the people’s embrace of this slogan of change. Change became the aphrodisiac of Nigeria’s search for democratic progress. The new party’s promises were delivered with so much certainty and cock-suredness. Those who were promised free meals were already salivating before casting the first vote.
The permanently opportunistic players in Nigeria’s private sector could be seen trading across the lines as they have always done. Everyone knew the PDP had too much internal baggage to deal with. The opposition exploited this to the fullest and they were helped in no small measure, not just by the party’s implosion, but also the offensiveness of the claims by certain elements within the PDP that their party will rule Nigeria forever. This arrogance had gone down the rank and file resulting in bitter conflicts among the various big men who dominated the party. The party failed from within, and even after losing the 2015 elections, it has further failed to recover from the effects of the factionalism that demystified it and drove it out of its hegemonic comfort zone. It took the PDP 16 years to get that hubristic moment. It is taking the APC a much shorter time to get to that same moment.

The displacement of the PDP gave the impression that Nigeria’s political space, hitherto dominated by one party, and a half, out of over 30 political parties with fears of a possible authoritarian one-party system, had become competitive. But the victory of a new party over a dominant political party in power such as occurred in 2015, has not delivered the much-expected positives: instead, questions have been raised about the depth of democratic change and the quality of Nigeria’s political development. The disappointment on both scores has been telling.

The ruling APC has not been able to live up to expectations. In less than two years in power, it has been behaving not like the PDP, but worse. Not a day passes without a pundit or a party member or a civil society activist suggesting that the only way forward is the formation of a new political party. There are over 30 registered political parties in Nigeria; no one is saying that these political parties should be reorganized and made more functional; the received opinion is that a new political party would have to replace the APC.

The implied message is the subject of political science. Many political parties in Africa, not just in Nigeria, lack substance. They reflect the problematic nature of party politics in the continent, even after the third wave of the continent’s democratic experience. Party organizations are weak, their organs are inchoate, their fortunes are mercurial. In Nigeria, this seems to be more of a post-military rule reality, for in the First and Second Republics, some of Nigeria’s political parties appeared to be more relatively people-based and socially-rooted. The military left behind an authoritarian streak at the heart of Nigeria’s party politics, producing political parties since 1999 that do not fully reflect or assimilate the people’s yearnings.

There isn’t therefore yet in place a mass-based, people-driven political party to replace the elite-based hegemonic parties we have, despite early efforts in the past in this direction by the likes of Aminu Kano and his People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Movement of the People (MOP), Tunji Braithwaite’s Nigeria Advance Party (NAP), Gani Fawehinmi’s National Conscience Party (NCP) and Wole Soyinka’s Democratic Front for the People’s Federation. There was also the Labour Party, mentioned separately here, advisedly, because it ended up abandoning its social democratic base, and became like the regular parties, an elite cabal, with the initial progressives who championed it on the platform of the Nigeria Labour Congress, moving ideologically to the right in an attempt to align with the Nigerian mainstream and its ready benefits. A profile of this political party and its initial principal promoters would reveal just how alimentary Nigerian politics is.
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Our immediate concern, however, is to argue that those who are raising the flag of a new political party as the answer to the emerging failure of the APC and the growth of factions among its members, and by extension, the spreading despair in the land, are missing the point. They are not promising any revolutionary change nor are they interested in deepening Nigeria’s democratic change. Permit me to quote Danjuma Gambo, of the Enugu Chapter of the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) who reportedly said: “A new political party is what we need. A new party with new plan, (and an) ideology that will bring succor to the sufferings of Nigerians is the answer.”
Gambo deserves some credit: he phrases the matter delicately as a commentary on the incumbent dominating political party and government. His “what we need”, “new plan” “ideology” means change, another form of change to end, he tells us, “the sufferings (sic) of Nigerians”. We ask him, although he seems to have answered the question already: what happened to the change that happened in 2015? So we ask another question: if the formation of a new political party did not solve Nigeria’s problems since 2015, what is the guarantee that a new party would gain power and perform better than the ruling APC? Professional politicians don’t comment on the matter as carefully as Gambo attempted. They are brazen about it and they have been loud too. They make it sound like a threat and a given solution. When you hear them boasting that a new political party is on the way, you are left in no doubt that they are issuing a threat. But is a new political party the solution to Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis or the people’s angst?


The conundrum is easy to resolve. It is easy for the political elite in Nigeria to change their garments, sans remorse, ideology or sentiment and that is how some of the most prominent political figures in Nigeria today have changed party membership cards more than five times in the last 17 years. The politics of elitism in Nigeria is simply about access to power, position and privileges. It has nothing to do with the people’s interests. The APC is in crisis for this reason, very much like the PDP, and even the smaller parties, because these are political parties of big men of influence. Conflict results when they are not allowed to exercise that influence by other competing big men, who are similarly if not equally driven by ego, religion and superior ethnic considerations.


The exercise of influence as a party big man follows a known pattern: after electoral victory, the big man wants the spoils of victory; he wants positions for his followers, contracts for wives and children and the freedom to have a say in the new government. Any attempt to shut him down, oppose him, or sideline him or her, immediately creates a crisis within the party. The greater the number of such big persons who feel short-changed and marginalized, the greater the chances of such factionalism that would trigger threats of a new political party. New groups can create new tendencies in society, but in Nigerian politics, new groups don’t really emerge, it is the same recycled set moving from one political party to a new or another one, looking for benefits.


Poverty, low literacy and the weakness of public institutions make the people vulnerable. The people embrace slogans and the dividends of what is now known in Nigeria as “stomach infrastructure.” They are deceived by the politicians’ display of affection and empathy. Because they are hungry, they accept money to attend rallies to help create an illusion of populism and acceptability. On election day, they sell their votes and sign off their freedom. After the election, they are too ashamed to speak up or they compensate for their psychological distress by subscribing to the politics of vengeance. A patrimonial and neo-patrimonial political system such as we run in Nigeria promotes nothing but difference, disappointment and distrust. Those who are plotting to create a new political party should be told that the harvest is predictable: more intense leadership competition, high level conflict among big men, greater deception, increased difference and tension within the polity. Political parties are governed by rules: the Nigerian political system operates above rules. It is possibly one of the most Machiavellian in Africa.
What do we need? Not recycled politicians posing as new party men and women. But this: effective party organizations, like the NCNC, the NEPU, the NPC, the AG, APGA, UPN, UMBC of old which belonged to the people and reflected their aspirations.


The only difference should be a necessary disconnect with the politics of ethnicity at the heart of the party formation process in Africa which, as seen, defeats the objectives of true democracy and modernization. Institutionalization of the political party system will also ensure stability within the democratic order: after a bitter political contest in the United States in 2016, the two dominant political parties – The Republican and the Democratic have remained stable, and the country is being projected as supreme.

We should end this then where we started: leadership is the principal challenge. Until we sort that out, Nigeria’s politics will remain trapped in the throes of ethnicity, patrimonialism, authoritarian dominance, the threat of system volatility and fragmentation and the politics of revenge.


https://www.today.ng/opinion/221383/threat-political-party

ambrosini593:
nothing like up jimoh, just say up justice abang okon with his numerous kangaroo judgment. what is DSS waiting for

give us prove that he was bribed, and he will be swooped on.

Lexxy84:
Kayode Fayemi has not spent 100
hours outside Ondo State since
October 25.
He relocated to Ondo State with
Egghead Odewale, Yemi
Adaramodu, Mojeed Jamiu,
Hakeem Jamiu, Deji Adesokan
(Jarule) and Kayode Oyebanji.
They have been shuttling between
Emperor Hotel, Royal Parklin Hotel
and and Sun View Hotels, Akure.
Strategy 1.
Collation will be stopped at exactly
9pm on Saturday till 10am on
Sunday. Already collated Results
will be changed midnight.
N250million has been released to
INEC by Fayemi and Plateau State
Governor, Simin Lalong.
The money was handed over to
FUOYE VC, Prof. Soremekun (INEC
RETURNING OFFICER) few minutes
ago at a hotel along Oba-Ile road,
Akure.
Strategy 2.
APC will share their money to
voters midnight. They will
commence the sharing by 1am till
6am.
They anticipated that AD and PDP
will not share money until 7am.
Security men have been mobilized
to keep tab on AD and PDP leaders
any where they plan to share
money. Money will be seized while
leaders sharing money will be
arrested and detained till after the
election.
Strategy 3.
The following AD and PDP leaders
and supporters have been
earmarked for arrest so that APC
leaders will have a free chance to
rig and do anyhow on the poll day.
1. Senator Ajayi Borofice.
2. Commissioner Femi Adekanmbi.
3. Barrister Tolu Babaleye
4. Hon. Expensive from Akure
5. Mr Bola Ilori from Ondo town.
6. Hon. Akinbo of House of Reps
from Ilaje/Ese-Odo
7. And several other AD and PDP
leaders.
With what is on ground, Akeredolu
of APC may not win more than 3
local government areas tomorrow
so Fayemi, Elrufai, Lalong,
Tambuwal, Ngige, Amosun, Isiaka
Adeleke, Okorocha and Yahaya
Bello who are all presently in Akure
want to rig for Akeredolu so that he
(Buhari) can annex Yoruba land.
Over N5bn has been is flying
around.
On

blind liar!

dayo23:
Aketi will win and nothing will happen

tell them!

If Fayemi is in Ondo to take his pound of flesh from mimiko, then I support him 100%. Mimimiko was among those that orchestrated his fall in ekiti leading to emergence of that rascal.





PDP una never chi chomtin!

My idol!


RIP!

thunder74:
This guy is a kid.

he's a smart guy. Mimiko talks too much and this is the best way to deal with him.



Up jimoh!

For politics section? This is political libido.

kassy777:
well well river river.

stream stream ocean ocean.

9jaBloke:
The only thing I find shockingly embarrassing is the voice over.

don't mind those hungry bastards .

These hungry flatti'es and their dead TV .

English dey hard them sef and dem de complain buhari.


What's wrong in helping someone to fix a headphone?

Go get yourself a job!

Gentle2015:
Alas! He was indeed used by APC to destabilize PDP... A!P!C!...Fraud!!!

so it was apc that made fayose to wake sherrif up one faithful morning and made him the chairman of pdp.






Sai Aketi!

This jimoh is mouthed-he's mountain!

This headline is somewhat misleading.

She's be consigned to where she belongs.

CENTRAL : 615;157 = 39:78%
NORTH : 418,926 = 27.10%
SOUTH : 511998 = 33.12%.

This election go too de close to call.

zero8zero:
been following your posts on this election. hope you won't show up after the election. hope your cave is large enough to contain you(noted a few of you)

Truth is mine*

we shall see.

Trash!

tbanty1:
guy no dare ondo people o. At times i keep wondering weather our source is from the syria country. Because we can do and undo, if people notice that the election is bein rigged in favour of APC, 4get it, they can murder Aketi. Abi no be alagbaka for akure their candidate go wan kor rule? And do not forget that akure indigen is also contestin in this race and i think you know what Akure indigen can do very well? I dont think the man is save in that city my man, if they findout that d election is rig.

Nothing go happen to Aketi by God's grace. Nobody will rig the election, it will be won fair and square.

seunmsg:
I am not a card carrying member of APC. That I support the Buhari administration doesn't mean I must support all other contestant on the APC platform. Akeredolu will lose Ondo state tomorrow and your doubts will be cleared. The north will not impose leaders on the people of the south west.

so when Akeredolu contested in 2012, Who brought him?


You can do better than this.

seunmsg:
All this noise won't change the fact that Oke is okay for Ondo state. The will of the people will be done in Ondo so, FFK should shut the fuçk up.

tinubu effect abi?

So, apc should lose?


Are you not having cognitive dissonance?


Akeredolu go win and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

lexiconkabir:
How is this possible?

it's strange right? Well, "UP Lawal" was among my favourite governors then. May Allah grant him jannat!

Maiyi akayiwa.

richidinho:
Sorry!
I dnt exchange words with people from your fake religion

well, I'm not intellectually arid like you to bring on a myopic selectivity when engaging people.



Well, I'm not saying you should engage me, I want you to face the sales of your cheap visas.


Let me tell you , no religion can be faker than yours- it shows in the gibberish called "speaking in tongue'.

If I was part of your religion , I'd gone into atheism long before now.


You're one of those internet infestations who have invaded this forum in recent time. It will be belittling of me to even engage you- you lack substance.


Who pays attention to kids!

Already, statistics show that Hillary leads Trump in popular votes, by over 2 million votes.

How can the American system be so flawed to allow this injustice? I don't like both of them, but I'd like a situation where someone of low profile is thrown up!




Importers of fake products e.g , plastic rice etc, won't like this news.

richidinho:
Honestly, we are tired of Buhari govt

Maurice Iwu we are sorry

With what is going on in today's INEC, you are a saint

you will be good at marketing your Mongolian or Cambodian visa than commenting in politics section.

Idiot!





Sai Aketi!

EMMAUGOH:
Since Apc wants to win all state by all means..I think the people has no choice than to Apply force

I just dunno the word to use to describe you.

uplawal:
hot hot hot,topic,ogbona feli feli bi amala to jina,pls lets contribute

me i dnt get on my knees when greeting,because i have to do the same for Allah everytime of salat,i will rather bend a bit and smile beauifully,like this

Eka san ma/sir or Asalamu Aleikum ma/sir.

More to come,still thinking about misnorms in our tradition that is not in conformity with Islam

I like your moniker.

God forgive me. Death is better than this.


This girl saw hell!