I have been watching with amusement the defection fever that is currently rocking members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the new governing party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and so many unanswered questions have kept ringing in my head.
De-camping from one political party to the other has remained a constant feature of our political life as a nation. Checks showed that the defection rate is expected to be more in the northern zones where reports confirmed that key leaders of the PDP are closet APC sympathisers. The situation is reported to be worst in North-West and North-East while it is about 40 percent in the North Central. The defection rate is also billed to be high in some states in the south west such as Osun,Ondo and Ogun states.
Before we go further, let’s take a look at the role of the opposition in every sane political setting. The Opposition’s main role is to criticise the government of the day objectively and hold them accountable to the public. The opposition also represents an alternative government; it is responsible for challenging the policies of the government and produce different policies where appropriate. Attitudes to the role of the leaders of the opposition should be taken into account by people who wish to anticipate what the opposition might do.
The government remain’s answerable to the public at all times, and a good opposition can put the spotlight on serious issues and have them resolved quickly. An active opposition will also have a strong say in the legislative arm of government to ensure that legislation receives careful consideration.
Since the return to democracy in 1999, a single party system has dominated the political scene and has remained relevant till date. One must state here that the PDP like other parties at that time, was not established with any clear cut ideology. They were merely created as a platform to transform Nigeria from military to civilian rule. Thus, these political parties were hurriedly put together, because of the peculiar circumstances at that time. This lack of ideological structures, has seen parties disappear into thin air.
Although some of them metamorphosed into other parties through change of names, their existence was short lived because the ideological frame work required to form a party remained lacking.
Beyond the flurry of denunciation, there are critical factors to consider, especially the inherent consequences of reckless, mindless, selfish and weird political defections which is presently assuming a disturbing dimension in the progression of democracy in Nigeria. Constant recourse to defection underscores the hollow-ness and dearth of principled ideological leanings, lack of clear-cut vision and idealistic pursuit of noble motives and convictions for which Nigerian politicians are becoming increasingly well known for.
Regrettably, it seems that, over the years, our politicians have imbibed, internalised, cultivated, nurtured, displayed and placed self-enlightened interests, selfish instincts for personal political survival, relevance and crass opportunism far above the common good of the Nigerian citizens and the development of democratic institutions in the country.
From all practical purposes, the motive has always been driven by the prospects and advantages of exploiting perceived political expediency and optimisms on one hand and apprehensive appraisal of the uncertain portents of future political irrelevance and obscurity, on the other. You will not be far from the truth to say here that in responsible act of high profile defections is hanging on the wheels of democratic advancement in Nigeria with its disruptive tendencies and mockery of the democratic process.
Given the fact that Nigeria’s democracy is still blossoming, evolving in varied, complex and volatile dimensions, the recurring incidences of defections may well be the product of the social dynamics and intricate elements of our national birth.
A critical survey or study of the political evolution of individual politicians in Nigeria would reveal strong, common affinities among them, usually broken as a result of disenchantment borne out of losers in power tussle, strategic political positioning and devious scheming and not on the basis of failures in the noble, democratic tenets of integrity and selfless, patriotic service to the father land.
Virtually all the defectors did so either as a result of grievances bordering on failures to actualize their unbridled political ambition or in pursuance of self-enlightened interests. Most defectors, by their actions and calculations simply demonstrate lack of depth, principled behavioural patterns, integrity and honour in their political re-engineering process.
In as much as there is no section of the law that stipulate that a political party should not welcome defectors from other party’s, the APC need to be very careful so that these un idealistic elements will not confuse them.
