National Accord Newspaper

First, we have to state right from the outset that the NATIONAL AC-CORD newspaper is fiercely independent when it touches on politics. Yet, it would be foolhardy for anybody and any institution in Nigeria not to have interest in a phenomenon that promises to change the very face of the Nigerian polity and may affect every fibre of Nigeria’s existence – for good or for ill.

Since 1999, Nigeria has been suffering from a peculiar malady: the lack of a real alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). No, we are not canvassing that the party which boasts that it is the largest political party in Africa should or should not have dominated Nigeria’s politics as thoroughly as it has done. Once it has been voted for in a free and fair election, it can maintain its political dominance of the country for as long as the voters wish.

Yet, the voter must be given a real choice. Such a choice, not just in terms of candidates but more importantly rooted in ideas and ideals well-articulated, husbanded and disseminated nationwide by nationally entrenched parties that are not easily driven by given personalities as “one man shows,” must exist before a voter could have the means to actually make an informed “election.” This is because, the very idea of a general election, somebody’s casting a vote, or making a choice, presupposes a multiplicity of opposing or variant candidates conveying various but opposing ways of bettering the lives of the voters.

Since 1999, Nigeria has been very unfortunate not to have had a party strong enough to actually jostle with the PDP in the four-yearly ritual of the peoples’ going to the polls to “elect” from among various political parties, the one whose agenda for the next four years promises to suit Nigeria the best.

The merger being brokered among some opposition political parties at present may fit the bill and produce for the country a strong opposition party that can be fit to establish visible presence in all states of the federation and so be national in word and indeed. Such a national opposition party would remove the totally unneeded stressing of geo-political and even ethnic and religious nuances that often becloud serious national issues in our national politick. Such ethnic and religious nuances and squabbles do nothing but weaken the ties that bind the nation’s federating units together.

Even the PDP stands to gain, as illogical as this may seem, from the existence of such a strong opposition party. If the saying that “he who wrestles with us strengthens us” is true, then the PDP can only but gain from the existence of a formidable opponent. Without such an opposition party, PDP’s formidable muscles can only wither. Such opposition will not only challenge the ruling party to reinvent itself, but if need be, to reach out for its hidden strengths, its unquestionable national spread, and come up with manifestos and leadership that should be taken for granted in a party with such a critical mass of members – spread across the country – something that not even its enemies can deny. It is only when such a party, formidable in terms of national spread, in terms of individual membership, in terms of untapped latent wealth hidden in the uncollected membership dues of the party’s sons and daughters – not just founding fathers (and mothers too), strives from its very soul, tests every sinew, to deliver, that its real potency can be on display. A strong opposition party enriches the polity, keeps the ruling party on its toes, gives the voter another vista of looking at issues and evaluating proposed national policies.

Yet, even as the opposition has yet to sire a real and stout opposition party, talks already abound about who should fly such a party’s flag at the 2015 presidential election. That is the worst way to begin building a party. The reason for the existence of that party has to be defined; the party has to be built and sold to the public as a way of governing Nigeria aright. Any other thing is just crass politics – and Nigeria has had enough of that nonsense already.