Page 1 of 27 Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason 7/21/2008
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Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason Page 1 of 27 Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: Political Assassinations, Decampments, Moneybags, and Public Protests By Victor E. Dike Introduction The problems facing Nigeria emanate from many fronts, which include irrational behavior (actions) of the political elite, politics of division, and politics devoid of political ideology. Others factors are corruption and poverty, lack of distributive justice, regional, and religious cleavages. All these combine to create crises (riots and conflicts) in the polity, culminating in public desperation and insecurity, politics of assassinations, decampments (carpet crossing), moneybags, and public protests. All this reached its climax during the 2003 elections. When the nation thinks it is shifting away from these forces, they would somersault and clash again creating another political thunderstorm. It looks that the society would hardly outgrow ‘the politics of unreason’ (Lipset and Raab, 1970), which is often politics of extremism, because the political class is always going beyond the limits of what are reasonable to secure or retain political power. During the 2003 elections moneybags (instead of political ideology) directed political actions in political parties; and it also influenced the activities of many politicians. As a result, the presidential candidates of the two major political parties (PDP and ANPP) cliched their party tickets by stuffing the car boots, so to say, of their party delegates with Ghana-Must- Go bags. This frustrated and intimidated their political opponents within (and those in the other minor political parties). Since after his defeat by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in the 2003 PDP primary in Abuja, Dr. Alex Ekwueme has been protesting, to no avail (Vanguard, March 30, 2003). And the election (‘selection’?) of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate of the ANPP during its 2003 party primary led to mass protests from the other presidential aspirants, such as Chief John Nwodo, Chief Rochas Okorocha, Chief Harry Akande and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke (Daily Independent, Jan 15, 2003). As already mentioned, after the 2003 party primaries the politics ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bags took the center stage and every other thing went to the dogs. The nation was shocked by the donations made to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at a fund raising party organized for the automatic re-election of Obasanjo and Atiku. For example, Aliko Dangote and Emeka Offor donated N1billion to the Obasanjo-Atiku re-election bid; Dasab Airline donated a Boeing 727 (150-seater), and some companies contributed N400 million. To appreciate the magnitude and influence of corruption in the 2003 electoral process, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) -a federal government agency, was among the public organizations that dolled out money to the Obasanjo/Atiku re-election campaign (Nas: Weekly Trust, March 8, 2003). In additions, all Federal Cabinet Ministers donated N10 million; and the 21 state-controlled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors contributed N210 million. Worse still, the managers of some of the ‘solvent’ government parastatals handed in millions, while an anonymous individual dolled out 1million Euro to the campaign. Thus, everyone was falling over each other to make his or her presence noted. In all, about N2 billion was raised at the party (The Guardian: Feb 25, 2003). However, this was a tip of the iceberg! The fund raising party served, in the opinion of this writer, as a conduit for corrupt government officials to channel their loots to the party in the name of political contributions. But, the praise-singers and political mercenaries of the presidency rushed out in drove to tell the world that the governors and public servants made the contributions out of their private funds. One wonder what makes them to think that Nigerians are fools; any person, who was not blind or idiotic, could see that the deception was nothing but a ‘money laundering’ activity. http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/narticles/nigeria_and_the_politics_of_unre.htm 7/21/2008 Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason Page 2 of 27 However, the questions are, if the governors could afford to donate millions of Naira to their party (the PDP), why are the teachers and civil servants in their states owed many months of back pay? Why are the roads in their Sates not maintained? And are the streets are littered with trash? One cannot ask enough questions here: why are water fountains often dry in these states that dolled such amount of money? Why are state hospitals, clinics, and universities in the States under funded and unequipped? Are civil servants permitted by the Constitution to contribute to political campaigns? If the answer is affirmative, how much are individuals and businesses permitted to donate to political parties? Nevertheless, on donation to political parties, Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution states: "No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election" (The Guardian, Feb 25, 2003). Yet, the Chief Obasanjo administration, which vowed to fight corruption in the society, defended the fraud. Thus, Nigeria withers, if those who are supposed to protect and defend the Constitution are the most violators! No wonder why corruption is self-perpetuation in the society! Nigeria is a place where politicians can threaten lives, kill, steal and turn the Constitution upside down to remain in power. It is no longer news that political parties and politicians in the society represent nothing other than bribery and corruption. However, lack of political principles make the politicians to shift like ‘Sand Dunes,’ and quickly abandon their political parties whenever they fail to achieve their selfish political ambition in the parties during the 2003 elections in Nigeria. And the failure of the political parties to control their members made the situation worse. With monetary inducements, political thugs working for political parties get involved in political assassinations, thereby exacerbating the insecurity issue in the society (Dike, January 30, 2003). This article, therefore, examines the 2003 Nigerian elections and some of the frightening anomalies experienced in the 2003 electoral process. The discussion shall begin with a brief review of the political activities in the society. Historical survey of party activities Party politics in Nigeria dates back to pre-independence era1, but Nigerians began to participate fully in partisan politics during the 1959 general elections, which ushered in the First Republic (1960-1966). However, going by the desperate manner with which the politicians conduct their political affairs, it looks as if party politics is a new phenomenon in the society. Nevertheless, twenty-six political parties were authorized to contest the 1959 elections leading to the First Republic. Some of the parties were Democratic Party of Nigeria and Cameroon (DPNC), Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) Borno Youth Movement (BYM), and United National Independent Party (UNIP). 2 However, three main political parties dominated the political landscape during the period. They are the Northern People's Congress (NPC), the Action Group (AG), and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon's (later called the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, (NCNC) (Dike, 1999 & 2001). The 1964 general elections witnessed the alliance of parties, which produced two big political parties: the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) and the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA). 3 The NNA was made up of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), Midwest Democratic Front (MDF), Dynamic Party, Republic Party, Niger Delta Congress, and Lagos State United Front. The UPGA was an amalgam of National Convention of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC), Action Group (AG), Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), United http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/narticles/nigeria_and_the_politics_of_unre.htm 7/21/2008 Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason Page 3 of 27 Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) and Northern Progressive Front (NPF). However, this alliance eventually disintegrated (Andrain 1975). The elections, like the preceding elections were riddled with crises. For instance, there were intimidation and killings of politicians and the destruction of properties was rampant. In November 1962 Chief Obafemi Awolowo was jailed for treasonable felony. The controversies surrounding the 1963 census raised the temperature in the polity. The crises the emanated from the political process (unreasonable partisan politics and ethnic animosities) apparently caused the military to take over power, and political activities were suspended. The 1979 general elections, which came after 13 yeas of military rule, saw the creation of new political parties in the polity. The major parties during the period in review are, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP), and the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). These parties, like the previous ones, were more or less controlled by particular (but major) ethnic groups. 4 During the 1983 general elections, the Nigerian Advance Party (NAP) joined the main parties in the race. But its impact was not much, as the party could not control any State. However, three