THE political parties of our borrowed presidential system are not opposing parties in the context of adversarial politics. Political parties of American-style democracy are programmed to be able to work together.
Even when a political party does not control the Executive arm of government, it plays a major part in the Legislature. The concept of “opposition leader” or “opposition party” hardly exists in American political discourse or literature.
That concept belongs in the Westminster-style democracy, which we discarded in the First Republic. Hopefully, we will be able to sustain our democracy and improve on its culture.
One hopes for a future when our political parties would have matured and developed individual characters and Nigerians simply refer to two major divides as “The Progressives” and “The Democrats”, or whatever.
The political party is a product of its environment; the quality of our political parties will always be a reflection of our collective advancements in all spheres of human endeavour. The recently concluded presidential election of 2015 has its own significance, being the first election in the history of Nigeria in which an incumbent President was defeated in an election that was relatively free and fair.
President Goodluck Jonathan, even when some might have reservations about his electioneering style and pronouncements, did play the part of a gallant sportsman by conceding victory to his opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari, in an admired democratic manner.
That symbolic gesture of his can only be rubbished by the Orubebes threatening to challenge a clear and predictable victory in the tribunals. President Jonathan has played a gallant role in the democratic process and should not be part of that joke.
The essence of periodic elections is to afford the voting public an opportunity to decide on who governs them from time to time. It is also a warning to the ruling elite that the public must not be taken for granted.
Defeat at the polls provides the leadership of the affected political party an opportunity to regroup, re-assess strategies, and plot its way back in a future election. And, of course, the victorious party must not over-celebrate because it does not take long before the political music changes.
One cannot but congratulate the man of the moment, General Buhari, on a well-deserved victory. Jimmy Cliff must have had him in mind when he wrote his song, “You can get it if you really want.” Not many would have been as dogged as he was on the campaign trail since 2003, pursuing an ambition or an aspiration.
There is hardly any doubt that the man has an ambition to make a positive mark on history and we pray with him that he succeeds in the interest of all of us. Buhari was our leader between December 1983 and August 1985. We had cause to celebrate him then, and we also had cause to chastise him.
He has matured with age, and he has had decades to reflect on things. He must prove his admirers right, and his doubters wrong. He owes that to himself, the nation, and history.
General Buhari should know that Nigerians are in a hurry to see results. His mission to rescue Nigeria must begin in earnest. He needs our co-operation and goodwill. He needs the support of those who, along with him, have been elected into the legislative arm of government. In tune with the realities of contemporary Nigeria, our demand to these individuals is to trim their excesses.
The salaries and allowances they corner to themselves do not portray them as a class of politicians who mean well for the future. They must be reminded that they are lawmakers and their so-called constituency allowances cannot exceed what they need to maintain administrative offices. We have not elected them for the purpose of distributing goodies to friends and political associates.
The voters must also be educated about the limits of the functions of those they have elected into various offices Please do this for us General Buhari – sell off some of the presidential jets as a message to the Nigerian public that the war against corruption and official profligacy has returned to our shores!
GUARDIAN
END
Be the first to comment