As the 2023 elections draw closer, many politicians who are at daggers drawn with their political parties have started mulling the idea of forming an alternative platform to nurse or pursue their political ambition. Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano state and founder of Kwankwasiyya political movement, recently berated both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Kwankwaso stated that,”these political parties have failed Nigerians and have nothing to offer any more”.
Kwankwaso, who was a member of the two dominant political parties in Nigeria but floated the National Movement (TNM), may be right. But he cannot exenorate himself from the rot in the country. That is why many Nigerians describe his vituperation as that of drowning politician who has lost relevance and wants to reinvent himself. However, Kwankwaso is not the first to root or call for the formation of a third force. Former Chairman of the Independent National Electora Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, had also called for a third force to replace or wrestle power from APC in the forthcoming general elections.
The slow pace of the country’s development since the return of democracy in the last two decades is worrisome to any right thinking Nigerian. But this can be attributed to leadership problems rather than political parties. Political parties are mere platforms for leadership recruitment or simply avenues through which leaders emerge. In 1999 when the military administration headed by Abdulsalam Abubakar proposed a transition to civil rule, it hurriedly packaged and sold multi-party system to Nigerians.
The political parties were bereft of intimidating ideologies as obtained in the first and second republics. In the first and second republics, political parties had good manifestations and well crafted policies for the country’s growth and development. One cannot match the qualities of the defunct NPC, NEPU, NPN or PRP with our current PDP, APC or any other contemporary political party in the country. No wonder, in spite of political the intrigues that marred those regimes, Nigeria witnessed strong leadership and institutions which resulted in socio-economy development.
Our today’s politicians are only looking for power. They are birds of a feather. They see politics as a gravy train for power and primitive accumulation of wealth. Do they even care about ideologies? Certainly, no. These politicians hardly stick to one political party. They easily decamp from one political party to another for the sake of political power.
This is the main reason many Nigerians see the “third force” as another old wine in a new wine bottle. To them, the third force can never be a better alternative in 2023. Those who will float, bankroll and contest under it, are the same failed politicians who have contributed to the country’s current challenges. While it may be true that both the APC and PDP have failed Nigerians, the third force is nothing but another political gimmick aimed at swindling Nigerians.
With the “third force” looking like an offshoot of APC and PDP, do Nigerians have an option? I think we do. For Nigeria to have a good leadership capable of addressing the country’s socio-economy malaise, Nigerians need to discard parties politics. Party politics is a process by which the electorate vote along party affiliation. It has, inarguably, done much harm than good to Nigeria’s democracy. Instead, Nigerians should lay emphasis on electing credible candidates, irrespective of political parties or affiliation.
Ibrahim Mustapha,Pambegua, Kaduna state08169056963.
