CRUSHING THE NIGERIAN POLITICAL PAROCHIALISM IS BEYOND CRUCIFYING THE PARTY DELEGATES.

 

CRUSHING THE NIGERIAN POLITICAL PAROCHIALISM IS BEYOND CRUCIFYING THE PARTY DELEGATES.

By - Iranloye Sofiu Taiye 

I will discuss why the justifications that occasioned the parochial political idiosyncrasies should be negated and substituted with rational/progressive Political mannerisms, before crucifying the party delegates for now

It is no more a rumor but a reality, that primary elections ongoing in the country have been marred and blemished with vote buying, which translates to the highest bidder getting the votes. Most of the delegates participating in ongoing party primary elections across the country are induced if not influenced by money by political party aspirants to cast their votes against competency, rich manifestos, and purposeful representation.

However, the inducement of the delegates by aspirants with humongous cash has catalyzed a serious and very hot debate by Nigerians both on social media platforms and offline. My subscription on this debate was propelled, by the fact that many Nigerians thought that primary elections were the first electioneering process in a democratic system, not knowing that the product of several decisions of the political parties gave birth to the delegates.

Democracy is a form of government through representatives, where the interest of the citizens of a state will be articulated through political parties. This system gave the right to every adult in the state to join any political party of his choice in other to have either direct or indirect influence on those who would pilot the affairs of his State. 

Realistically, in Nigeria today, many of us who usually rush to criticize the government are mere armchair analysts and social media blitzes without a membership card of any political party and often we still want to influence the political juggernauts who control battalions of foot soldiers. How's this possible? A Yoruba maxim says "Absence leads to nonparticipation". You can only influence and sell your ideas to others if you are part of them.

Holistically, it would be an Injustice to equate Nigeria's political problem to a particular social class, because not only the elite but the masses also have contributed to the decadence of democratic norms in Nigeria. Who's to be blamed, Is it the masses that see politics as a means of enriching themselves by demanding money from aspirants before voting, or the elite that deploys their resources to amass votes?

Our political mannerism can be deduced through the interpretation of Niccolo Machiavelli's thought on Politics, where he argued that a ruler or regime can use any instrument of power, force, and other instruments at his disposal to achieve his interest, even devoid of constitutionalism, moral and ethic to protect the interest of the state or regime and that "the end shall justify the means". We all believe today that, during an election,  if you are not manipulating others,  then, they are already manipulating you.  This is the level of our political civilization. 

Here we are today, with the impression that anyone vying for the political position must utilize any means available at his disposal to dislodge his opponent which may include: vote buying, bribing the electoral umpire, snatching ballot boxes, harassment of opponent with thugs, even using law enforcement agencies to intimidate voter and so on, against any rules of conduct. Albeit, we've all believed that jettisoning your political ambition for any rules of conduct makes you a fool and unserious politician.

Sadly, political party delegates are just a victim of time currently!

How would you expect a person who bought his delegate ticket from his party member with money, to now vote for an aspirant during the primary election without demanding money in return? Yes, It's a game of ( tit for tat), because the system has rakish and corrupted them already.

However, what's pertinent now is the advocacy that will invariably negate and nullify our archaic political behavior that is always motivated by sectarianism and parochialism. Engaging ourselves with holistic reorientation beyond "delegate" is paramount now because the general election is almost with us, to guard against another tsunami that will completely hold our democracy for ransom. If we want the change in our politicking to see the daylight, the entire system must be ready for reorientation.

IRANLOYE SOFIU TAIYE (Optimism Mirror) is a public affairs analyst, public speaker, writer, and youth advocate. He can be reached via iranloye100@gmail.com