It’s certainly too late to do anything about the choice and character of those who will fly the flags of Nigeria’s political parties—at the presidential, governorship and legislative levels—in the 2023 general elections whose electioneering campaigns will officially kick off today.
This is because the party primaries, which were dollarised in the main by politicians who have no respect for the Nigerian currency, have been held, concluded, vetted and accepted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the statutory umpire of those elections.
Because Sections 65(2)(a), 106(d), 131(c) and 177(c) of the Nigeria Constitution provide that only candidates who are registered members of and are presented by political parties registered by INEC can contest for political offices in Nigeria, the script and the cast of 2023 general elections is known.
For the avoidance of doubt, here are the actual words of those Sections of the Constitution: “A person shall be qualified for election… if… he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party.”
This forecloses any chance for Independent Candidates, whom “orthodox” politicians will argue have no structure, the way they deride the audacity of Peter Obi for asking to be Nigeria’s President under the auspices of the fledgling Labour Party.
This reality may have forced some Nigerians to adopt the “siddon look “ approach attributed to late Bola Ige, former Governor of Oyo State and Attorney General of Nigeria, who was once described by one of his military successors as a “Prisoner of war.” And their unpardonable, unacceptable, silence is deafening!
To be sure, this is not about the silence of those who should proclaim the (underwhelming) achievements of the government of retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari, but did not, and caused the president to lament in the following words: “Those who should be speaking about my government are not doing so.”
Some think that his complaint is not limited only to his media aides and handlers, who are probably bewildered at his near-clueless approach to governance, but also to the media that some of the president’s men have labelled as hostile to his government.
They accuse the media of under-reporting the activities of the government, concentrating on unflattering news about the government, and inventing and publishing fake news to embarrass the government.
There are some individuals and organisations that the people of Nigeria expect to speak truth to power on their behalf but these seem to have forgotten this unwritten mandate, have compromised or are overwhelmed by the existential pressures confronting all Nigerians.
For instance, The Patriots, a group of eminent old guard Nigerian citizens, led by venerable Prof Ben Nwabueze, credited for crafting the text of the Unification Decree of 1966 that has been the bane of Nigeria, is in a bubble of deafening silence!
It appears the group literally went on some audio silence after their pioneer Chairman, legal luminary, Frederick Rotimi Alade Williams, whom they claimed “preached, practised and lived by the ideals of truth, principled behaviour, integrity, probity, selfless service and patriotism,” died.
The Patriots, once described as a conglomeration of ethnic intellectuals and politicians largely from Southern Nigeria, notably called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo to rethink on his quest for re-election in 2003, even ahead of his rumoured third term bid of 2007.
They asked him to ensure that “the top and most important political office in this nation goes round in a way that manifests our conviction that no particular ethnic, cultural or linguistic group is accorded preferential treatment over others.”
They added, “On this ground alone, the rotation of the office of the President every five years among the geopolitical zones is likely to be a more effective demonstration of the equality of the nationalities in each zone if no one person from a particular geopolitical group stays in the office for more than one term.
“This is why we consider that in the interest of peace and unity in Nigeria, Mr President ought to reconsider his decision to stand for a second term. We very strongly suggest to him to make this gesture in the interest of national unity.”
Even if you do not like or agree with what may be their radical sentiments on power rotation, a right that you are entitled to, you have to recognise that they at least spoke up when they thought they had to, when it seemed to matter.
You must also recognise that the concept of rotation has not only become the convention of politics in Nigeria, it has gone on to become part of the statute in the Constitution of at least one political party, though the same political party recently chose to dump its own prescription.
It is inexplicable that The Patriots have chosen to keep quiet in their duty to guide the next generation of Nigerians, many of whom seem to be waking up to expressing their demands for the Nigeria of their dream. Some attribute their silence to the vagaries and challenges of gerontocracy. Admittedly, many of the members are in their winter years.
But how do you explain the silence of the relatively younger Concerned Professionals that took up the despotic General Sani Abacha, who captured and held the Nigerian state hostage after General Ibrahim Babangida, Military President, and his predecessor once removed, annulled the fairest and freest presidential election ever conducted in Nigeria?
The Concerned Professionals, a pressure group, too seems to have lost its voice, not quite to the realities of gerontocracy but maybe to the attraction of public office that took over the passion of its convener, Prof Pat Utomi, who may have donated himself to partisan politics for now.
He seems to be making up for lost time in the Labour Party, though he stepped down for Peter Obi as presidential candidate. He once confessed that he regretted not going into politics immediately after the military, under General Abdulsalami Abubakar, signalled they were returning to the barracks in 1999.
But after they had realised their mistake, The Restoration Group, the political wing of the Concerned Professionals, at least attempted to redirect the 2003 presidential elections discourse toward wholesome issues, instead of the transactional politics of those Prof Utomi described as “merchants of fortune.”
Apart from interventions from Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin of Women Arise, Attorney Femi Falana and Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, the voices of the civil society, that now prefer to be addressed as non-government organisations, have become shrill in their stillness!
Somebody suggests that NGOs are under government surveillance and have therefore decided to stay away from the radar of the secret police. In other words, their voices have been cowed by morbid fear.
Of course, you must acknowledge that SERAP has been engaged in suing the Buhari regime for a lot of things, including the recent repatriation of $23 million Abacha loot from America. But that’s not nearly enough.
Apart from the Nigerian Bar Association that tied its 62 Annual General Meeting to the interrogation of the 2023 general elections, most of Nigeria’s professional and trade groups, like the usually fiery Nigeria Medical Association, have been slumbering.
But the worst culprit is the media, which is failing in its constitutionally appointed duty to hold the feet of the politicians to the fire.
