In all ramifications, the young and old people of Ekiti State were great. When one considers the barrage of terror and fascist character of ruling party then one will appreciate the resilience and doggedness of our Ekiti compatriots. The heroism of our Ekiti compatriots even propelled the state AC leaders including the governorship candidate to lead serious of protests against the electoral coup of the PDP – the nest of killers. The declaration of the agent of retrogression as the governor of the peasant state after ten years of civilian horrors is a setback for the courageous people of Ekiti. Moreover, the pyrrhic victory of the PDP in the Ekiti electoral coup is a setback to the Nigerian working and toiling people’s genuine wishes to end the miseries in their daily.
Therefore, the Ekiti re-run tragedy has clearly laid bare the fact that there cannot be any so-called “peaceful” (mere voting and legal action) resolution of the contradictions that currently define Nigeria. The Ekiti election crisis has again given a clear lesson for those who still nurse the illusion in the ability of some section of the ruling party, especially the president to listen to reason. Despite all attempt by Yar’Adua and his kitchen cabinet to present themselves as innocent of the crimes of their brethren in southwest, they are all linked to the Ekiti electoral coup.
While several reports fingered the police chief and many PDP bigwigs in rotten connivance to thwart people’s will, the president looked the other way. The same president, in a cynical but hypocritical manner, rather than probe the allegation claimed by Mr. Adebayo in her letter, issued a statement begging Mrs. Adebayo “to follow her conscience” (?). Few days later, some electoral staffs who worked in the controversial local government (Ido-Osi) were fingered in a N250 million bribery scandal. While the bribe takers were so confident in their composure about the bribery, the president, in the name of zero-tolerance to corruption did not deem it fit to establish a full fledge probe into the finances of the INEC officials. If INEC staffs could take N250 million and felt no qualms, what then is expected at its top echelon, taking into cognizance the arbitrary actions taken by INEC leaders to ruin people’s will. The so-called promise by Yar’Adua to order probe of the bribery is only in response to public outcry that had dogged its government’s so-called anti-corruption and re-branding fraud. The same way the several other probes and committees have been set-up to silence the public and launder government’s image, all of which ended in futility, the same way this so-called probe will go. At best, it will be a slap in the wrist for many of the officers and a cover-up for the big shots in government and INEC. This is time for the labour movement to expose Yar’Adua’s hypocrisy by demanding an open probe and trial where the public will bring all evidence against all culprits in the Ekiti electoral mishap including police and INEC officers, politicians, etc. But to Umaru Yar’Adua, the end justifies the means; inasmuch as its party can get away with blue murder, while claim “the holier than thou”. The same president, who promised not to use the army to secure election later, used the same military men to repress protests arising from the electoral coup. A reasonable government should know that prioritizing political justice is the only way to secure the society.
The national assembly, comprising mostly of PDP members that is also playing the saints could not explain what five of its members including two from outside the state were doing in Ekiti during the election, when there was no official assignment given to them even as accredited observers. Yet, all of them were fingered in one form of violence or the other. One of them, Isiaka Adeleke who claimed to be acting in the capacity of a senate committee chairman on INEC, failed to tell the world he had already criminally endorsed the villain of the millennium – Maurice Iwu and his INEC. Also, the house of representative speaker, Dimeji Bankole had previously bragged about the ruling PDP’s ability to use the military to rig Ekiti elections. This same individual has been junketing the world, representing the nation in fora discussing democratic sustenance, collecting huge Estacode and travel allowances, but openly inviting the military to perpetrate civilian coup. Tragic-comically, it is this same national assembly, majority of whom were rigged to senate that will “reform” the electoral system! Will it be more realistic for labour leaders campaigning for electoral reform to rely on mass mobilization for a referendum than appealing to the so-called legislature?
The Ekiti election also shows the clear limitation of the PDP-led neo-colonial establishment. The rabid manners in which the PDP nationally, especially in south-west, intervened in the election shows that these elements cannot just move this nation forward an inch. To its strategists, losing Ekiti after being ousted in Ondo and Edo by mass of people is the same as opening a floodgate for mass rejection of PDP in the south west and indeed in the whole country. They know that judiciary with its integrity crisis (even its most pliable section) cannot safe them, so they relied on brazen use of state coercive power. Behind their desperate attempt to sustain themselves in power is the total failure to uplift the working poor in the past two years of Yar’Adua and PDP state governments, despite huge resources at their disposal. The manner in which they rigged the Ekiti election clearly reflects what will happen when they face total resistance from the people – route for military coup. One thing that has stood out in the whole election brouhaha is the gallantly of the Ekiti people. They, like other genuinely minded Nigerian will do, rejected the PDP. They also protested the subversion of their wish. Note that every vote against the PDP is a vote against the dysfunctional state of the country; against capitalist neo-liberal policy and particularly a vote for a change. The coup plotters could not even associate openly with the “victory”. However, we should ask ourselves, why were people defeated despite their gallantry? Or should we assume that the ruling class will always have its way as some pundits are inferring? The answer to these questions lies in the character of the opposition party and its figures.
As it has been earlier posited that one thing that an average Nigerian will wish is the ouster of PDP a monster party from governance. Therefore, like in every society the opposition Action Congress (AC) is seen as expression of people’s hatred for the ruling party. But this hatred for the ruling party is not the same as total acceptance of the AC as the political organ of transformation for the people. While people see AC as a party that has the wherewithal (political structure, finance, etc) to fight the much-despised PDP, they do not see the AC as their party: the party that can fulfill their ultimate desire for an egalitarian society; a party they can live and die for. In fact, the AC cannot be said to stand on the same pedestal as UPN, in terms of policies, programmes and acceptance. Take Lagos for instance, while Jakande’s UPN government embarked on massive housing projects and free education at elementary level (and subsidized tertiary education) and healthcare, the AC governments of Bola Tinubu and Fashola sold public houses, and where they build some, they are for the highly rated middle and high class while education especially tertiary education are commercialized. While Fashola’s government has embarked on some commendable road construction, the reality is that this still falls short of radical changes the society needed. Moreover, its Mega-city project has meant attack on some workers (health workers, teachers, etc) and petty traders. Can this then make the poor people in Lagos identify AC as their own party?
The AC, while as an opposition party may mouth some slogans that sound populist, stand for the same pro-capitalist, neo-liberal policies like PDP. AC has shown its commitment to privatization, commercialization, deregulation, etc even more than PDP. While the then AD governors (now AC leaders) pioneered retrenchment in the current civilian experiment, the Fashola government is a pioneer in the concession of public roads to private managers – a daylight robbery. This explains why the likes of Atiku Abubakar, who presided over the criminal handing out of public properties to private hands for over six years, could easily become a favourite in AC in 2007 in the name of fighting PDP. While Nigerians are disgusted with the use of N1.2 trillion as politicians’ salaries, AC’s politicians in power did not raise highbrow on this official robbery or even cut their salaries. AC, like the ruling party, also used billions to fund elections. The question is: where do these billions come from? Is it donations? Whoever foots, the bill it is people that will pay the price through bogus salaries for politicians and inflated contract to supporters.
In Ekiti State where AC was leading, what manner does the AC brought to the contest? In the first instance, the state find itself in the current mess as a result of the false economic and political policies of AD (now AC) as a ruling party. It will be recalled that despite the economic and political bankruptcy of the Obasanjo government in moving the nation forward in its first tenure, the AD leaders heavily mobilised for him under an absurd promise of insuring their emergence as governors and their access to the federal government – a government that could not explain how the nation’s chief law officer who doubled as the leader of AD, Bola Ige was murdered. Furthermore, it was the abysmal performance of the Niyi Adebayo’s AD government in Ekiti that drove the people to the hands of PDP marauders ably led by Ayo Fayose. Funny enough, the same AC leaders that led campaigns against the repressive but highly corrupt Ayo Fayose’s government uncritically embraced him into the Fayemi’s campaign.
This dual character of opposing the PDP’s monstrosity while also sharing its feature can not make the people, traumatized for ten years to prepare to lay down their lives for AC. This however does not mean that they will not vote for the opposition or protest rigging, because their hatred for the PDP will definitely overshadow the contradiction of the opposition. Such rejection of the ruling party will continue inasmuch as anti-poor policies are implemented. But the protest without a viable organization to organize people into sustainable mass political movement against the continued emergence of Segun Oni, will not lead to ouster of PDP. But while AC wants people to protest against the ruling party, at the same time it does not want the protest to challenge the foundation of neo-liberalism or people’s direct control of the party. At best, it wants to use the threat of mass movement to get concession from the ruling party. This explains why an average Ekiti indigene we want to vote AC but not join AC even passively. This is reflected in the result of the elections in Ekiti. While it can be claimed that the elections were rigged and electoral materials manipulated, this should have at least ginger a stronger interest in Ekiti people’s defence of the votes such that the PDP’s camel would have had to pass through a needle’s eye in order to manipulate Ido-Osi. That the PDP could adequately rigged out AC in places like Ijero shows there is a kind of disillusionment in political parties especially the opposition by the people. Even in places where AC won like Irepodun/Ifelodun, it was with a minimal margin.
The fake tactics of AC only accentuate this contradiction. While AC leaders rejected the use of military as a ploy to rig the election, they kept quiet on the character of the Police thus portraying it as acceptable coercive force. But everyday, the newspaper is awash with police’s abuse of people’s rights which its hierarchies eager to justify or cover. While it may be correct to oppose the use of military for election, as this confers a messianic title on the military – a good recipe for military intervention, the best way to stop rigging is to form election vigilante groups in communities. This will confer power to the people who will see the election as theirs and not that of a preferable party or candidate. Comically, AC was banking its victory on the “conscience” of Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo rather than organizing mass protests until the fraudulent results are thrown to the trashcan. Dependence on personal quality of politician in a country where selfish political interest and nepotism pre-dominate is a reflection of either political naivety or underlining treachery. What happened in Ekiti is not an isolated case. In Osun State, while people courageously rejected the anti-poor, repressive Oyinlola government, as seen in massive support for Rauf Aregbesola, the false policy of AC has only embolden the ogre of corruption in Osun State in connivance with the judiciary, to further attack people with over 400 people (including AC supporters) thrown to detention. While there were spontaneous protests against the rigging spree in 2007, especially in Osogbo and Ilesa, the party could not organize people’s anger into a consistent movement in the state and provide a genuine alternative to every Oyinlola’s anti-poor policy. This definitely created dichotomy between people and political parties, especially the opposition.
The Ekiti debacle again underlined the absence of a mass working people’s party which has seen the AC, another neo-liberal party, to become the main opposition party. It is only a working class party that is democratically built from the grass roots to the national levels with a clear programme of socio-economic transformation that can lead people out of the misery of neo-liberalism and capitalism. Such a party will counterpoise public ownership of the economic under the democratic control of the working people and the consumers to privatization; massive public works – massive building and equipping of schools (and provision of free and quality education at all levels); adequate and well-equipped health system (and free health care at the point of use); cheap public housing; potable water system; integrated and environmentally-friendly energy system (hydro, solar, wind, tidal and biomass); poor-peasant-based, mechanized and environmentally-friendly agricultural system; etc – to commercialization and retrenchment; among others. The party will counterpoise moneybag politics to a rank and file party politics. This party will not limit itself to electoral issues but will champion every struggle of the common people from the grassroots to the national level. This kind of party will definitely have to adopt anti-capitalist, revolutionary policies which will put the resources of the nation, over 80 percent of which is in the hands of just one percent, in the hands of the people for the development of the society. Such a party will have to draw its members from workers, peasants, petty traders, artisans, unemployed, students and youth. This is the challenge before the working class leadership and activists.
On the other hand, the labour leadership’s so-called neutrality is a recipe for opportunism. While central labour unions’ leadership appeals to sentiment of Yar’Adua, it at the same time uncritically supports the opposition’s fight against the PDP government. Its state leaderships only use the fog of neutrality to support the ruling party and government. The labour leadership should divert its energy to convene a national summit of working class organizations, peasant and petty trader movements, artisan organizations, students and youth movements, pro-democracy organizations, socialist movements, leftwing parties, self-determination groups, etc where political future of the poor people will be fashioned out. Such a summit will evolve from similar ones from local, state and regional sections, with membership democratically determined. Without a conscious political action of the labour and working class activists, what happened in Ekiti will only be a dress rehearsal for a serious catastrophe in 2011, as the corrupt ruling class represented by PDP will build up arsenal to sustain itself in power while the working people will be seeking an alternative. Without a radical political alternative of the working people, 2011 may lead to another setback and defeat for the working and poor people with far-reaching consequences. While the LASCO planned protest rallies are commendable, this should lead to the fermentation of a radical alternative for the working people. It is only this platform that can defeat the fast emerging neo-colonial fascism.
Kola Ibrahim ([email protected], 08059399178)
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
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