As we journey towards the 2019 general election, there is a looming danger of mob rule as characterised by emerging trend of repression of freedom of political choices that must be nipped in the bud if Nigeria will have peaceful elections. An ugly situation where people are attacked, defamed and blackmailed as a result of their opinions or political decisions is not only barbaric but also retrogressive and anti-liberalism which propounded constitutional democracy. It hits the ideological foundation at which our democracy rests.
In the course of contributing to national issues, I have been consistently maligned, abused, insulted and even threatened by those who parade themselves as supporters of one political tendency or the other. Supporters of the President, in particular, view every contrary opinion to government position as a declaration of war on the President. They misunderstand parallel views as sheer hatred for the President. They don’t believe in contestation of ideas. They first look at the name of the writer to ascertain their ethno-religious make-up, before dissecting the pros and cons of their argument. They bury every sound, informed and superior assertion on the altar of partisan politics.
First, let it be stated that there’s nothing like “supporters” and “enemies” of President Muhammadu Buhari. Instead, it is Nigeria first! We want a nation that will be the pride of Africa out of Nigeria. Both “hailers” and “wailers” are needed in any developing democracy to check the excesses of power intoxication and destructive criticisms. The creeping danger of mob rule mentality is that it starves the spirit of democratic ethos and ideals, while the body gets swollen in despotic tendencies, which in turn poisons the soul of democracy. The nationalistic objective of pundits is to strike a much-needed balance between the two extremes of insufferable sycophancy and destructive criticism, on the ideological spectrum of the polity.
Tyranny of conformity has become a reprehensible force of silence, used by fascist agents of the government of the day to coerce outspoken Nigerians into cowardice. Every critic of the government is perceived by the President’s “supporters” as a “hater-wailer”, who has refused to join the bandwagon of those playing the ostrich, by burying their sea of heads in the volatile desert sand. They attack any notable opposition politician at the slightest opportunity. It’s high time President Buhari told his supporters that the PDP members are not of Boko Haram affiliation, massacring Nigerians in the North-East.
The reported assault on Atiku Abubakar and his so-called supporters at the PDP Secretariat recently, when the former went to submit his nomination forms, allegedly by elements who were seen waving the APC flags, can be described as the dearth of liberal democracy and the emergence of mob rule in the country. It is a confirmation that Nigeria has distinctively regressed into a jungle where the opinion or proclivity of the mafia leader reigns supreme above individual rights. Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has been on political “exile” from Kano, a state he governed for eight years, because the police have repeatedly told him that his security won’t be guaranteed if he dared step into the state, simply as a result of his political difference with Governor Umar Ganduje.
Where then lies liberalism in our democracy? Where is the place of intellectual flexibility and superior argument? Who will stem this stifling of our democratic space? Can I engage a pro-government analyst in an ideologically driven and issue-based exchanges without being stereotyped along ethno-religious prisms? Can I critic the government’s wrong policies without being branded a “looter” or accused of working for the PDP? Paradoxically, this is a government that rode to power on the back of freedom of expression and association. But is working assiduously to destroy the ladder of liberality that brought her to power.
If this trickles of mob rule being driven by a herd mentality turn into a flow, and are left uncurbed, the 2019 elections could be marred by violence. It is time for liberal democrats—those who are proponents of democratic suffrages; apostles of freedom of expression vis-a-vis political choices, as enshrined in our constitution, to lift their gaze from their navels, grasp the bigger picture—and brace themselves to the dangers of mob rule and tyranny of conformity. The liberals must check the extremism of staunch conservatives before it is too late. Nigerians should be allowed to freely express their opinions and make political choices, as stipulated in the constitution. Presidential aspirants should enlighten their fanatical supporters on the need to respect other people’s opinions and choice of candidates to guarantee peaceful electoral process.
Chidiebere Nwobodo, Abuja, chidieberenwobodo@yahoo.com
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