We must understand the times. It has been said that the only thing that is permanent in life is change. Understandably, humans are perpetually engaged in the struggle to make change happen. Sometimes, in a hurry to effect change, little thought is given to the direction of that change. The obstacles to be overcome may be so daunting that an opportunity to instigate a change is seized without delay and without reflection.
There are instances where the challenges are so complex that people go numb or simply become indifferent. You could call that the frog-in-the-pan syndrome – although no frog has actually remained in a pan with boiling water without leapfrogging out of the pan!
We can identify the future by looking at the past. The arts have been excellent consciences of societies. Through paintings, sculpture, poetry, fiction, prose, movies, music and others, we receive impulses for action and warnings in times of inaction. Remember songs such as Redemption Song, War and Africa Unite by Bob Marley. And how about the one by The Mandators who asked Where are the prophets? We may throw stones at artistes, disagree with them and even kill them, but their ideas and messages remain and demand to be explored.
These are interesting and challenging times. However, as in all epochs, the key to finding resolutions lies in being able to identify the critical issues of the time. In other words, understanding the time is a key challenge that must not be underrated. However, having a common understanding of what constitute these challenges is understandably difficult in complex societies such as Nigeria. This is one reason why our political terrain is so slippery and treacherous.
The ongoing electoral process in Nigeria has revealed so much that most thought had become a thing of the past in the nation. The stern warning by the president that ballot box snatching would be the last unlawful act of anyone that tried it evoked much debate, but evidently did not deter those determined to subvert the popular will. We saw and read of blatant ballot box snatching, ballot paper burning, arson, kidnappings, underage voting, thump printing and outright violence.
The announcement of election results is an interesting exercise. Taking the job of being the chief returning officer in an election in Nigeria must be like walking wide-eyed into a nightmare. And so, we must pity Professor Mahmud and all the electoral umpires. Some of us were astonished to hear that INEC officials at the collation centre in Abuja were seeing the results for the first time at the same time that citizens saw or heard of them on television. The manual transmission of results leaves much to be desired and reduces voters’ confidence in the process. This should not happen in 2023.
The fortunes of the newer parties at the polls did not come as a surprise because most of them started rather late and apparently did not have the resources to navigate the tedious and cumbersome Nigerian electoral terrain. 2019 served to bring up some new faces. It will be a shame if they go to sleep and wait to wake up in the next campaign season. This is the time for the parties to reexamine their platforms and see if they can forge alliances or merge to build greater momentum than they can build separately.
While the newer parties have a lot of reengineering to do in order to reposition themselves as forces to be reckoned with, the dominant parties equally have to seriously reexamine their platforms and modus operandi. The ruling party’s efforts at providing support for the unemployed as well as small scale entrepreneurs has been routinely criticized as avenues for waste or vote-buying. One way of understanding the criticisms is to see them as being based historical mistrust built on perceptions and the generally opaque nature of governance in the nation. Thus, the efforts would meet the same criticisms whether operated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) or by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The two parties will have to campaign on clean or at least new slates at the 2023 election because they will be forced to campaign on ideas and not on personalities.
The morning is the best time to test ideals that may initially be uncommon or unpopular. Such ideals may become the norm by noon and get celebrated by evening.
How should the parties, new or old, generate the ideas and platform for the next seasons? First, let us reiterate that they must understand the times. Being devious in a crooked system may no longer work in the coming years. Nigeria has travailed for decades and the time for the birth of a new nation is on the horizon.
Political parties and entities must have clear and distinct organizing ideas. Such ideas must have socio-economic and ecological justice at the core. The building blocks around the core would necessarily have to be on building solidarity and collective action to empower the grassroots and to disempower the oppressors. Our youths have served as the fodder for murderous conflicts and this scenario can be tackled by building them into a vanguard for transformative and collective undertakings.
Political parties will have to construct and rebuild internal democracy, develop long term visions and halt the pattern of prostituting between platforms. Indeed, one way to weed out fickle and corrupt fellows is to build a map of their shifts from one party platform to another. A person that cannot be known for particular ideals will turn out a traitor and should not be trusted. It is true that politicians thrive on short term opportunistic visions, but that cannot build enduring legacies.
If the land, waters and the air support life, citizens will enjoy enhanced health and be better positioned to carry out economically productive activities. It is time to go to work. Staying quiet is no option.
As soon as the ballots are cast, results announced and irrespective of who gets elected or not, we must pick up the pieces and rebuild the nation. There are no options here. The revealed fissures should serve as specific targets for repair or for dramatic surgical actions. The morning is the best time to test ideals that may initially be uncommon or unpopular. Such ideals may become the norm by noon and get celebrated by evening.
With Nigerians being innately enterprising and hardworking, a party could build its manifesto on protecting the integrity of our environment. If the land, waters and the air support life, citizens will enjoy enhanced health and be better positioned to carry out economically productive activities. It is time to go to work. Staying quiet is no option. Politicians never rest and citizens should be encouraged to sign up to parties, demand clear policies and aim to influence the spaces. Unengaged systems either breed autocracy or make the accommodation of mediocrity inescapable.