THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-West Zone Election Convention has come and gone, typical of almost every convention by major parties. In order to understand why we are stuck with the mentality of winning at all cost, except fair and square, we must journey back to pre-independence times.
In 1914, the Northern and Southern Protectorates of the River Niger Areas were amalgamated into a single political entity, a country, by the British “owners,” but in the late 1950s the original owners of the land were ready, after significant struggles, for self-rule and independence.
Following a few earlier attempts at constituting inclusive governments through elections, the outgoing Britons realized they must leave behind an Electoral Act that govern elections in a multi-ethnic amalgam of large and small groups to forestall domination, oppression and injustice that may lead to the doom of the artificial contraption.
So, in 1958, they proclaimed an Order-In-Council which became our first Electoral Act, so to speak. It created an Electoral Commission, Voters’ Card, and more importantly, Electoral Offenses ahead of the 1959 elections to be based on Universal Adult Suffrage. Smartly and significantly, they upheld that any person in politics caught committing electoral offenses, and proven so, will be banned along with his party in that locality from future contest for 5 years – a tough deterrence indeed.
By 1960, we were free as an Independent country and the next election will be ours to independently conduct. To demonstrate independent capacity we needed to amend the electoral act inherited, which we did with the 1961 Electoral Transition Provision Act, the 1962 Electoral Act and the 1964 Electoral Amendment Act.
What really did we amend? We maintained virtually all that the colonial masters left us but cancelled the 5 years ban and replaced it with fines, having created an elections petition body. All parties in existence then, and all politicians, at least on record, agreed to that! From inception, therefore, there had been the unholy communion and believe by every political clique in its capacity to somehow find a way around the rules, aware that fines can easily be paid even when caught in the act and proven, and thereafter, game on again!
Population Census is thereby manipulated, money inducement and thugs deployed, unwanted politicians on the stage framed up or eliminated outright, and all the stuffs that the Afrobeat legend eventually summed up as “demonstration of craze” in his immortal classics, “Teacher, Don’t Teach Me Nonsense.” What then happened? In summary, Civil War!
It is a confirmed experience of life that only an insignificant number of shortcuts really lead to happy endings; the majority becomes long journeys filled with trials and tribulations on the fast road to nowhere. In the end, you have to find your way back and take the correct road to the desired destination, with all the feared but surmountable challenges.
Democracy is a surrender of a significant amount of personal liberties by citizens to an elected few to organise society in such a manner that it guarantees the greatest good to the greatest majority. That surrender is meaningful only to the extent that the rule of law and separations of powers lead to governance that upholds equal rights and justice firstly, then through participatory involvement leads to improved welfare of citizens in all social and economic parameters.
Organising a system to put that kind of government in place through popular will has, however, become a mirage for almost all African countries, particularly our beloved Nigeria.
The failure begins from putting a political party, with a noble, developmental manifesto on the basis of progressive ideals in place, and getting it led by men of vision and integrity who are ready to follow the rules. Power-mongers for selfish and clique interests with no sense of social responsibility but with many “ways and means” usually gather, fully aware and ready to exploit the climate of mass poverty and ignorance, to form a “party,” and then proceed without any intention of following the political rules of engagement.
This is a political culture that will lead us nowhere but to ruination. Democracy is all about rules, intra-party, inter-party and into the larger society.
Although the electoral processes has been cleaned up significantly (from voters register to result announcement) and may even advance further in cleanliness into full electronic voting, we will always have setbacks unless the main actors, politicians, go through a rebirth, abandon their undying love for cutting corners with their crude accumulation of wealth and embrace playing according to the rules.
Deploying thugs and political violence in the process of choosing those to serve society is not only a contradiction but damning indictment of anti-people disposition and base values of majority of our ruling elites across board.
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