Graveyard silence appears to have taken over Nigeria, once the home of strong, vibrant political opposition, that it may have lost its voice at a time the people are in dire straits. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, recently advised Nigerians to grab foods wherever they can get them. This suggests that the times are hard, and that government is aware of the hardship the citizens are passing through, even though its approach to curbing the ravaging hunger has not yielded any positive result.
The Gani Fawehinmi Park, where civil rights activists, church leaders of different denominations gathered to demand for the peoples’ right, is today, regrettably, a quiet arena, diminishing in what the park symbolises; a rallying point for the people when past administrations attempted to remove the oil subsidy. Those who led the protest at the time of former President Jonathan’s administration may have withdrawn into their shells, and most likely have surrendered, sensing that Nigeria’s leaders lack compassion, and are not ready to listen to the yearnings of the people. It’s unfortunate that everything here has been reduced to politics.
Fortunately for the leaders, the people remain divided along ethnic and religious lines, despite the hunger and suffering taking its toll on the masses without discriminating between the Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, Tiv or Urhobor, for example. The scenario paints a grim picture, and why the centre can no longer hold. This is not also unconnected with the manner the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is reported to be going after the opposition parties, including those that criticise the government. There are those who believe that the Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu government is authoritarian for allegedly silencing opposition groups, and that the signs of the time lend credence to the accusation that his government is unrelenting in tightening its grip on the opposing parties to become irrelevant in the scheme of things.
Again, political commentators believe that the internal crises almost tearing apart the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and by extension few other political parties is a clear indication that the President Tinubu administration may have mastered the act of dealing with parties that are out to give the APC a run for its money, in whatever form. A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, in a television interview, admitted that PDP is really in deep crisis, and may likely go into oblivion if the leaders of the party fail to wake up and address the internal rivalry among the party chieftains.
We make bold to say that what makes democracy interesting is the vibrancy of the opposing political parties, and the free speech it guarantees, but whereby the opposition is muzzled and not allowed to express its opinion freely and challenge the sitting government on national issues as it borders on the security and welfare of the citizens is antithetical to the tenets of democratic rule and whatever it represents. The struggling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ruled the country for 16 years, and today is no more at the centre. Such could be the fate of any political party in the future. Therefore, government should allow and create level playing field for all political parties in the country to thrive.
The idea of going after the opposing groups, and planting discords here and there in order to capture the state and turn it into one party system is unacceptable in a democratic setting such as Nigeria. We want to remind the political leaders also that what is happening in Rivers State, to an extent, shows that more works really need to be done in our democratic journey. This is the time to begin to build strong institutions and not individuals who may think they have captured the state, whereas the led who should be their primary responsibility to cater for, are languishing in misery and penury.
The state of the nation at this time demands surgical operations in all aspects and in every sphere in our polity. Tinkering with the idea of turning the country into a one-party state for political exigency is dangerous, and should not be contemplated at all. Political parties should be allowed to compete for any office as guaranteed by law, and should not be emasculated because democracy gives room for competition and strong opposition for healthy growth.
