May 3, 2010
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by its constitution inserted the now vexed rotational presidency (whatever that means) purportedly to balance power between the Northern and Southern regions of the country. PDP by that insertion threw merits into the lagoon for regional sentiments which tends to breed mediocrity over concise logical reasoning.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by its constitution inserted the now vexed rotational presidency (whatever that means) purportedly to balance power between the Northern and Southern regions of the country. PDP by that insertion threw merits into the lagoon for regional sentiments which tends to breed mediocrity over concise logical reasoning.
Having said that, this article is not about the totality of the People’s Democratic Party’s constitution which in itself is a party document which non members are not bound to read, talk more of obeying. By writing this I intend to raise the bar of the arguments to a different level for you the reader to draw your conclusions.
The PDP’s Rotational Presidency:
Given the nature and the composition of the mass called Nigeria, it is silly and naive for a party to adopt such a conclave idea likely to cause troubles in our political milieu. Whatever the thinking of the drafters of that constitution was at the time of the insertion, it will be bountiful to equate their reasoning to foolishness and lack of coherent foresight. Given that Nigeria is a country with diverse issues and abundance human resources, limiting presidency to regional consideration will provide necessary ingredient for lameness.
That Nigeria has six acceptable regions makes the Northern and Southern insertion a laughable thing. Plugging Nigeria into Northern and Southern rotational presidency is outright rubbish; presidency in a democratic setting is not awarded to a group or region as PDP wants to make us think. Where is the dividend of democracy if we are not allowed to elect the person whom we feel strong for? Should we continue to pretend that all is well with this PDP arrangement?
Nigeria’s Constitution or the PDP’s Constitution. You Decide!
My lawyer friends told me where there is a clash between two laws the national constitution is supreme. In this case, it will be negative to continue thinking that we are all bound to follow or allow one party decide our future by seeking to impose their beliefs on all of us. Whichever group or party you belong to, I am sure we can agree PDP’s constitution does not mean well for the Nigerian State.
The party’s constitution cannot be substituted for the Nigerian constitution which gives every man the right to vote and be voted for. Proceeding with PDP line of thinking will produce the likes of Umaru Musa Yar’adua against the teeming lots of men and women of high intellect and moral standing across different regions. Time is now for Nigeria’s 1999 constitution to take its stand rather than allow a group of people have the leverage of deciding the progress of all Nigerians.
The Opposition Parties and the PDP constitution:
In normal democracies, what distinguishes the opposition parties from the ruling party are the diverse political ideologies which they have, but sadly it appears that in Nigeria our opposition parties are not less different from the PDP. I have read in many newspapers that Nigeria has no existing opposition party as all of them seem to have the heart of PDP and the body of whatever party they align with. Little wonder when you see people who are supposed to be in the opposition run to PDP for their selfish interest. Benchmarking the US system, the prototype of our democracy will give credibility to the school of thoughts that suggest opposition parties in Nigeria are illusive.
If the opposition want to be taken seriously in Nigeria it has to stand for something tangible, one of which is to disassociate itself from this PDP constitution that awards presidential powers to regions. I have great respect for some individuals who are strongly committed to the progress of the Nigerian State by opposing the thinking of PDP and its doings. However my reservations arise when they oppose with their mouths and marry PDP’s ideas in their hearts. If the opposition parties carry on with the rotational presidency idea of the PDP then we are safe to conclude that the 60yrs rule threat by PDP is soon to become a reality.
Opposition Parties an extension of PDP?
There seem to be a pattern that Nigerian democracy seems to follow; I christen this as the “Democracy of Friends”. So many people we have today (about 90%) in the opposition parties were once members of the PDP. I have no issue with people who feel different about their original political parties thereby embracing another platform that align with their ideology, but issues come to mind if the reason for their exit is for election purposes and not ideologies as claimed if after losing their elections, they return back to their old party. A classical example is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The question I would like to ask him personally (if I get to meet him) is what changed since he left PDP that attracted him and his followers to their vomit? I don’t know if I am the only person that listened to Atiku demonized PDP just after his exit, he used every known and unknown name in the book to castigate his old party, only to stage a comeback because he lost the election in 2007 (if there was one).
What is the attraction there? Did PDP change from the ‘do or die’ party it became? Or has PDP lightened up our homes and our roads are now expressly functional with our kids seating in schools? Or is it that our youths are all employed and our health centres amongst our Africa’s best? I want to ask if the PDP has stopped rigging elections and quit the ‘do or die’ politics the party is known for that attracted Atiku and his fellows back to it?
Just like Atiku, there are others who have little or no emotion for their new parties. Andy Uba was quoted in an interview with a newspapers shortly after the February election in Anambara State as saying “yes I am a PDP man, my heart is still with PDP” even as a Labour Party member under whose platform he contested the election. Who says such? That is why we have Governors and other political office holders who got elected under a different platform returning back to PDP because they are now in position to take their piece of the pie.
PDP, other Parties and our Democracy:
Since the start of the current democratic dispensation, it is difficult to pin-point the moral standing of the political parties we have in Nigeria. Like other democracies where political parties have different ideologies to which they are distinguished (for example, the United Kingdom, US, Spain, Germany and others; their political parties are known and voted for based on the ideologies. The Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, Green Party all in the UK, have their followers based on the party’s stand on issues of national interest such as tax, immigration, human right, heath, education, foreign policy and so on. If we remember correctly during the US presidential elections the Republican Candidate (Sen. McCaine) and the Democratic candidate (Sen. Obama) both dealt with issues defined along their party line of thoughts.)
In Nigeria, once elected, the President or Governor abandons his party road map and introduces his own personal agenda. A European friend of mine asked me if PDP is rightist leftist, socialist, capitalist, liberal, conservative or extremist. I had no answer because to be honest I don’t know, and I doubt if anybody will successfully answer that question. What are our different party’s views on Green Environment, Foreign policy, Tax, Social Issues such as Abortion, Gay marriage, Human Rights, Immigration, Indigenization, Gun control, etc?
Issues Based Democracy:
I mean PDP, AC, ANPP, APGA, PPA, AC, MEGA PARTY and the rest, what are their individual views on these and other issues. They all cannot pretend to believe in same ideology or have the same position on these things. The very obvious question that comes to mind is WHY ARE PEOPLE VOTING FOR THESE PARTIES? I think the clear answer will be because they are financially induced or bullied to vote, because no sane voter will go to a party that has no clear agenda.
When you listen to most candidates seeking elections talk about issues, they generally lack informed knowledge of what they want to do. Ask them to discuss Job Creation, Infrastructural development, security etc; you begin to laugh because these folks have no understanding of the things they talk about. This is so because the political parties like PDP have exchanged sensibility, technicality and skills for ethnicity, regions and tribal politics.
A trip to our National Assembly and you will be shocked to discover that some of our representatives are very uneducated and uninspiring. What sensible laws or debate will emerge from such gathering? Watching the National Assembly debates on TV you will be amused to breakdown. Have you listened to most of our Governor’s answer questions on issues? Folks, we will agree that education lost its ground long time ago in Nigeria. I have followed some US and Europe politicians and I can say when these guys talk, be it for or against your political beliefs they talk with intelligence, decorum, smartness and audibly clear that a listener understands clearly the point being made. I suggest a public speaking and posture tutorials for those who want to contest elections.
There is a particular member of the House of Representative whose use of grammar has since turned him into a joke, I once followed his interview and concluded that he was in the wrong place, being that he is more of a comedian than a federal legislator. The national assembly is not a place where you speak without your audience understanding what you are saying; his turgid uses of words are totally uncalled-for and lack intelligence. I once made a date with my dictionary to be sure he was saying something meaningful; to my disappointment he talks rubbish and uses words that are completely irrelevant to subject discussed as most words are grammatically inaccurate. The act of public speaking includes speaking clearly for your audience to fully understand what your points are. If we have people of such characters in our National Assembly together with those who neither speak nor make any useful contribution to debates, then we don’t have to look further to see why we have remained backward for this long.
2011 Elections, the PDP and Jonathan Goodluck:
That PDP went to press to declare that its constitution will be enforced soon after the doctrine of necessity which saw Dr. Goodluck Jonathan elevated into the position of Acting President is no longer news. However, the news is that PDP is now extending this impunity to all Nigerians. I would not necessarily have troubles with the said-declaration if PDP had reminded Jonathan Goodluck of the option of exiting the party to enforce his fundamental rights if he so desired. Instead the party went about acting like all Nigerians are bound to PDP ideas.
I will not try to lure Mr. Jonathan into seeking office in 2011 because like every other sensible person I have adopted the ‘watch and see’ attitude towards Jonathan Goodluck’s presidency; it is solely his decision to do so if he chooses. However from the early signs using the popular cliche “so-far so-good”, we can see a clear direction of the Jonathan presidency. An onlooker would agree that the signals are not bad at all, although my mother tells me it is too early to determine what the day will bring when night falls.
Should Mr. Jonathan tackle the very obvious pressing matters that beset Nigeria today such as electoral reforms, visible power generation and distribution plans, fix some of the roads like Lagos-Benin road, intensify and extend the war against corruption, dislodge the cabal responsible for our lack of fuel amongst others, I will be at the front leading the campaign for his election in 2011 with or without PDP.
Why Jonathan Goodluck?
Well like I said above, if he is able to show that he can do the job why not? It will be in the interest of the nation for Jonathan Goodluck to become substantive from 2011 so that the gains of this acting presidency will be nurtured and crested in our national development.
As we know Yar’Adua’s administration refused to continue with the gains of President Obasanjo’s years; we witnessed unprecedented reversal of Obasanjo’s policies either by lame substitution or abandoned completely. Some polices were reversed and re-reversed again thereby prolonging the time meant for their completion or implementations. The effects of all these on our economy and polity is better imagined. When Jonathan came on board he reversed some of Yar’Adua’s anti-people policies and introduced his own; we cannot afford to experiment in 2011.
Allowing some other person to come in 2011 and reverse Jonathan Goodluck’s policies may be counter-productive because of the possibilities of current project suspension and extension. This will be an exercise we cannot afford to party with. The effects of all these will be too grave for Nigeria that fancy a spot on the G20’s book in the year 2020.
Having said this much, it will be stupid of me to suggest a vote for him Jonathan Goodluck in 2011 if he fails in his current position.
May God Bless Nigeria!
[email protected]
Having said that, this article is not about the totality of the People’s Democratic Party’s constitution which in itself is a party document which non members are not bound to read, talk more of obeying. By writing this I intend to raise the bar of the arguments to a different level for you the reader to draw your conclusions.
The PDP’s Rotational Presidency:
Given the nature and the composition of the mass called Nigeria, it is silly and naive for a party to adopt such a conclave idea likely to cause troubles in our political milieu. Whatever the thinking of the drafters of that constitution was at the time of the insertion, it will be bountiful to equate their reasoning to foolishness and lack of coherent foresight. Given that Nigeria is a country with diverse issues and abundance human resources, limiting presidency to regional consideration will provide necessary ingredient for lameness.
That Nigeria has six acceptable regions makes the Northern and Southern insertion a laughable thing. Plugging Nigeria into Northern and Southern rotational presidency is outright rubbish; presidency in a democratic setting is not awarded to a group or region as PDP wants to make us think. Where is the dividend of democracy if we are not allowed to elect the person whom we feel strong for? Should we continue to pretend that all is well with this PDP arrangement?
Nigeria’s Constitution or the PDP’s Constitution. You Decide!
My lawyer friends told me where there is a clash between two laws the national constitution is supreme. In this case, it will be negative to continue thinking that we are all bound to follow or allow one party decide our future by seeking to impose their beliefs on all of us. Whichever group or party you belong to, I am sure we can agree PDP’s constitution does not mean well for the Nigerian State.
The party’s constitution cannot be substituted for the Nigerian constitution which gives every man the right to vote and be voted for. Proceeding with PDP line of thinking will produce the likes of Umaru Musa Yar’adua against the teeming lots of men and women of high intellect and moral standing across different regions. Time is now for Nigeria’s 1999 constitution to take its stand rather than allow a group of people have the leverage of deciding the progress of all Nigerians.
The Opposition Parties and the PDP constitution:
In normal democracies, what distinguishes the opposition parties from the ruling party are the diverse political ideologies which they have, but sadly it appears that in Nigeria our opposition parties are not less different from the PDP. I have read in many newspapers that Nigeria has no existing opposition party as all of them seem to have the heart of PDP and the body of whatever party they align with. Little wonder when you see people who are supposed to be in the opposition run to PDP for their selfish interest. Benchmarking the US system, the prototype of our democracy will give credibility to the school of thoughts that suggest opposition parties in Nigeria are illusive.
If the opposition want to be taken seriously in Nigeria it has to stand for something tangible, one of which is to disassociate itself from this PDP constitution that awards presidential powers to regions. I have great respect for some individuals who are strongly committed to the progress of the Nigerian State by opposing the thinking of PDP and its doings. However my reservations arise when they oppose with their mouths and marry PDP’s ideas in their hearts. If the opposition parties carry on with the rotational presidency idea of the PDP then we are safe to conclude that the 60yrs rule threat by PDP is soon to become a reality.
Opposition Parties an extension of PDP?
There seem to be a pattern that Nigerian democracy seems to follow; I christen this as the “Democracy of Friends”. So many people we have today (about 90%) in the opposition parties were once members of the PDP. I have no issue with people who feel different about their original political parties thereby embracing another platform that align with their ideology, but issues come to mind if the reason for their exit is for election purposes and not ideologies as claimed if after losing their elections, they return back to their old party. A classical example is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The question I would like to ask him personally (if I get to meet him) is what changed since he left PDP that attracted him and his followers to their vomit? I don’t know if I am the only person that listened to Atiku demonized PDP just after his exit, he used every known and unknown name in the book to castigate his old party, only to stage a comeback because he lost the election in 2007 (if there was one).
What is the attraction there? Did PDP change from the ‘do or die’ party it became? Or has PDP lightened up our homes and our roads are now expressly functional with our kids seating in schools? Or is it that our youths are all employed and our health centres amongst our Africa’s best? I want to ask if the PDP has stopped rigging elections and quit the ‘do or die’ politics the party is known for that attracted Atiku and his fellows back to it?
Just like Atiku, there are others who have little or no emotion for their new parties. Andy Uba was quoted in an interview with a newspapers shortly after the February election in Anambara State as saying “yes I am a PDP man, my heart is still with PDP” even as a Labour Party member under whose platform he contested the election. Who says such? That is why we have Governors and other political office holders who got elected under a different platform returning back to PDP because they are now in position to take their piece of the pie.
PDP, other Parties and our Democracy:
Since the start of the current democratic dispensation, it is difficult to pin-point the moral standing of the political parties we have in Nigeria. Like other democracies where political parties have different ideologies to which they are distinguished (for example, the United Kingdom, US, Spain, Germany and others; their political parties are known and voted for based on the ideologies. The Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, Green Party all in the UK, have their followers based on the party’s stand on issues of national interest such as tax, immigration, human right, heath, education, foreign policy and so on. If we remember correctly during the US presidential elections the Republican Candidate (Sen. McCaine) and the Democratic candidate (Sen. Obama) both dealt with issues defined along their party line of thoughts.)
In Nigeria, once elected, the President or Governor abandons his party road map and introduces his own personal agenda. A European friend of mine asked me if PDP is rightist leftist, socialist, capitalist, liberal, conservative or extremist. I had no answer because to be honest I don’t know, and I doubt if anybody will successfully answer that question. What are our different party’s views on Green Environment, Foreign policy, Tax, Social Issues such as Abortion, Gay marriage, Human Rights, Immigration, Indigenization, Gun control, etc?
Issues Based Democracy:
I mean PDP, AC, ANPP, APGA, PPA, AC, MEGA PARTY and the rest, what are their individual views on these and other issues. They all cannot pretend to believe in same ideology or have the same position on these things. The very obvious question that comes to mind is WHY ARE PEOPLE VOTING FOR THESE PARTIES? I think the clear answer will be because they are financially induced or bullied to vote, because no sane voter will go to a party that has no clear agenda.
When you listen to most candidates seeking elections talk about issues, they generally lack informed knowledge of what they want to do. Ask them to discuss Job Creation, Infrastructural development, security etc; you begin to laugh because these folks have no understanding of the things they talk about. This is so because the political parties like PDP have exchanged sensibility, technicality and skills for ethnicity, regions and tribal politics.
A trip to our National Assembly and you will be shocked to discover that some of our representatives are very uneducated and uninspiring. What sensible laws or debate will emerge from such gathering? Watching the National Assembly debates on TV you will be amused to breakdown. Have you listened to most of our Governor’s answer questions on issues? Folks, we will agree that education lost its ground long time ago in Nigeria. I have followed some US and Europe politicians and I can say when these guys talk, be it for or against your political beliefs they talk with intelligence, decorum, smartness and audibly clear that a listener understands clearly the point being made. I suggest a public speaking and posture tutorials for those who want to contest elections.
There is a particular member of the House of Representative whose use of grammar has since turned him into a joke, I once followed his interview and concluded that he was in the wrong place, being that he is more of a comedian than a federal legislator. The national assembly is not a place where you speak without your audience understanding what you are saying; his turgid uses of words are totally uncalled-for and lack intelligence. I once made a date with my dictionary to be sure he was saying something meaningful; to my disappointment he talks rubbish and uses words that are completely irrelevant to subject discussed as most words are grammatically inaccurate. The act of public speaking includes speaking clearly for your audience to fully understand what your points are. If we have people of such characters in our National Assembly together with those who neither speak nor make any useful contribution to debates, then we don’t have to look further to see why we have remained backward for this long.
2011 Elections, the PDP and Jonathan Goodluck:
That PDP went to press to declare that its constitution will be enforced soon after the doctrine of necessity which saw Dr. Goodluck Jonathan elevated into the position of Acting President is no longer news. However, the news is that PDP is now extending this impunity to all Nigerians. I would not necessarily have troubles with the said-declaration if PDP had reminded Jonathan Goodluck of the option of exiting the party to enforce his fundamental rights if he so desired. Instead the party went about acting like all Nigerians are bound to PDP ideas.
I will not try to lure Mr. Jonathan into seeking office in 2011 because like every other sensible person I have adopted the ‘watch and see’ attitude towards Jonathan Goodluck’s presidency; it is solely his decision to do so if he chooses. However from the early signs using the popular cliche “so-far so-good”, we can see a clear direction of the Jonathan presidency. An onlooker would agree that the signals are not bad at all, although my mother tells me it is too early to determine what the day will bring when night falls.
Should Mr. Jonathan tackle the very obvious pressing matters that beset Nigeria today such as electoral reforms, visible power generation and distribution plans, fix some of the roads like Lagos-Benin road, intensify and extend the war against corruption, dislodge the cabal responsible for our lack of fuel amongst others, I will be at the front leading the campaign for his election in 2011 with or without PDP.
Why Jonathan Goodluck?
Well like I said above, if he is able to show that he can do the job why not? It will be in the interest of the nation for Jonathan Goodluck to become substantive from 2011 so that the gains of this acting presidency will be nurtured and crested in our national development.
As we know Yar’Adua’s administration refused to continue with the gains of President Obasanjo’s years; we witnessed unprecedented reversal of Obasanjo’s policies either by lame substitution or abandoned completely. Some polices were reversed and re-reversed again thereby prolonging the time meant for their completion or implementations. The effects of all these on our economy and polity is better imagined. When Jonathan came on board he reversed some of Yar’Adua’s anti-people policies and introduced his own; we cannot afford to experiment in 2011.
Allowing some other person to come in 2011 and reverse Jonathan Goodluck’s policies may be counter-productive because of the possibilities of current project suspension and extension. This will be an exercise we cannot afford to party with. The effects of all these will be too grave for Nigeria that fancy a spot on the G20’s book in the year 2020.
Having said this much, it will be stupid of me to suggest a vote for him Jonathan Goodluck in 2011 if he fails in his current position.
May God Bless Nigeria!
[email protected]
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