Absence of ideology among political parties and toxic campaigns by candidates characterise 2015 politics, instead of attention on issues affecting Nigerians, Assistant Editor (South South), JOE EZUMA, argues.
Informed observers point to the lack of ideological content in the programmes of Nigerian political parties as reason for the on-going campaign of hate. This copious absence of ideologies and party discipline has led to constant migration from one party to another by politicians, in the process, heating up the polity.
Some other critics blame the lackluster campaign on the inability of the government to implement the recommendations of the national conference held last year.
The report contained over 600 recommendations after equally rancorous debates by participants. It was greeted with huge sigh of relief, with both the presidency and conference handlers beating their chests for a historic feat. To this end, Nigerians had thought that the National Assembly would work on the report and come up with a template that would enhance restructuring and true federalism among other ingredients that would pave way for peaceful elections.
The argument was that Nigerians must consolidate covered grounds in the constitution before entering into a national poll. But this was not to be. Thus, entering the 2015 election without first consummating the provisions of the report was like putting the cart before the horse, critics have insisted.
This, perhaps, finds explanation in the allegation that what always lead to controversies in elections and national censuses are rooted in the structural imbalance of the country, ethnicity, insincerity as well as mutual mistrust which arises from these.
Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Princewill, has particularly argued that it is this lack of ideological content that is causing the migration of politicians from one party to another. He also noted the ideological hollowness of the current campaigns, especially with some politicians shunning political debates.
Observers believe that it is this ideological hollowness that has led to lack of originality, imagination in parties’ slogans and cloning one another’s programme. Some note, for instance, that the clamour for change, which is the bedrock of All Progressives Congress (APC) programme, is similar to Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP)’s Transformation Agenda.
Even at that, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, one time presidential candidate and leader of the Nigeria Advance Party (NAP), insists that Nigerian politicians talk of structural change (re-structuring) rather than of change and transformation.
He urged Nigerians to re-visit the country’s federation and change the unitary structure in areas such as resource control, security, crime prevention, education and other fundamentals, as contained in the report of the national conference.
Some agree with the constitutional lawyer, arguing that the failure of Nigerians to stick, first, to the implementation of the constitutional conference before any election is, perhaps, not only the cause of the current acrimonious politicking, but may affect the electoral fortunes of President Goodluck Jonathan in some parts of the country, especially in the South West that is seen as the bastion of APC in the South.
Jonathan has, however, pledged implementation of the confab report, if re-elected. Perhaps, on account of that promise and other developments, the president has been making in-roads into the zone, lately. Recently, for example, the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, the Afenifere, Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC)’s leaders, Gani Adams and Frederick Fasheun, in declarations that may have rattled the APC camp, vowed to give their support to the PDP.
Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo; Presidential Advisory Committee chairman of the national conference, Senator Femi Okurounmu; and Ondo state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; had all said that the Yoruba would work to ensure that the conference recommendations become reality. The attraction of the Yoruba bodies and groups to support Jonathan’s re-election is apparently hinged on their passion for the implementation of the conference recommendations.
They commended Jonathan for yielding to the yearnings of the Yoruba and the generality of Nigerians by convening the 2014 national conference which, perhaps, can be described as the most courageous step ever taken by any president since the return to democracy in 1999.
Secretary-General of YCE, Kunle Olajide, also one of the South West representatives at the national conference, said Afenifere endorsed Jonathan because of his pro-restructuring credentials.
“I would tell my people to vote for somebody who is going to look into the over 600 recommendations of the national conference. I worked day and night as a South West delegate to brainstorm and put things together,” he said.