Ninety something political parties in Nigeria! Must be a joke, I said. 91 political parties registered by INEC. How? I wondered. The time drew nearer, and INEC prepared to accommodate all 91. And all were expected to field presidential candidates in the upcoming elections.
I had been told by friends and colleagues who know better that political parties are identified by their ideologies. Could it be that all 91 had 91 distinct ideologies? Difficult to comprehend. The scenario that finally emerged is difficult to comprehend.
My judgement is that 2 out of the 91 political parties are about 98% politically relevant at the presidential level. In other words, the remaining 89 parties occupy only 2% on the relevance band. Isn’t this an oddity? That is, even if the 89 parties bunch themselves into one party they will still amount to practically naught! Completely irrelevant.
Yet each of the 89 presidential candidates wants to be president of Nigeria. Are they proud of this odd picture? Are they still standing to be seen? Why couldn’t they see it early enough? Why couldn’t they do something about it?
Politics is about building coalitions targeted at achieving declared objectives. Maybe some of the inconsequential presidential candidates persisted in their singular but ineffective pursuit for some mid-term goals.
Inability to immerse oneself in a group remains a sign of low level of social evolution. In four years’ time we will have another round of elections. Now may be the time to begin in earnest to build durable political structures not for selfish interests but for national interests, not around individuals but around ideologies. More so as most of the current political gladiators would have effectively retired in four years’ time.
The two main rivals are really the factors that matter in this dispensation. They would attract similar support irrespective of what political parties they belonged. How did this come about? Maybe I should now drop the question that has been on my mind for some time now: can any of our many Mr. Know-All (especially those always complaining of domination) explain to the rest of us why the two most prominent presidential candidates are both Fulani? And both ex-uniform men? It may be wise to start from here.
In all this, don’t forget that both prominent candidates are like one-legged sprinters: one has had an opportunity but has performed far below expectations and the other has serious integrity problems. Yet each of them is F-A-R taller than all the others combined! This must be seen as a wakeup call for all of us to see participation in party politics as a way of life and take it serious without delay.
The more people participate, the greater the chance of having many spotless eligible options from whom to choose, and we will be well on our way to great heights. Considering that Nigeria is awash with great minds, it surely deserves more than we have now. All it will take is sharpening the zeal, to be driven by a burning desire to serve. So, let’s get up and join.
