EDITORIAL: Party Politics And Death Of Political Ideology
IN Nigeria, many political parties are perceived to have lost their core principles and ideological moorings. This is evidenced by the prevalence of “cross-carpeting,” where politicians switch parties without a strong ideological basis, and a focus on personal gain over party platforms. This phenomenon weakens party institutions, hinders the development of strong, ideologically-driven parties, and ultimately undermines democratic consolidation.
The absence of any ideologically-driven focus is not just an academic issue, it is clearly a key factor in Nigeria’s under-performance. Political parties in the real sense of the word are expected to produce data driven navigation to create a better society. Much of the great advances that have occurred in the past one hundred and fifty years or so have come from the political manifestos of political parties whether or not they actually win elections and get into office to effect such programs. Parties in office often raid or poach ideas from the parties they defeated during the elections.
Political parties in Nigeria were not always like this. For example in the first and second republics the parties had properly structured research departments. At that time the research departments were actually the engine rooms of the political parties. If in doubt you can always go into the archives and look at the manifestos of the parties in the 1950s and 1960s and also the political parties which succeeded them during the all too brief second republic.
They were actually really interested in the process of development and were focused on the creation of jobs as well as the development of human capital at the foundation towards achieving sustainable development.
Today that is all gone, it has been replaced by the political economy of rent-seeking and a stampede to drink from a diminishing trough. This is why the country has become the poverty capital of the world with millions trapped in multidimensional poverty, a shrinking middle class and mass haplessness.
The way out is to develop a proper and unambiguously clear data driven alternative perspective. At a critical juncture in the history of nations this is what has been and must be done. The alternative is the continuous and slow erosion of both democratic and human values. This alternative must be prevented.
The real issue in Nigeria today is how to rebuild purchasing power parity thereby waging a war on poverty and developing human capital to achieve sustainable development. Those who are presenting themselves as an alternative should focus on this and get their messages across to the electorate.
The situation is far more perilous than it’s been taken before and a new program based on a radical departure from a dismal past must now be worked out and the public carried along. There is no other feasible course of action to shore up our democracy.
