Government Without Opposition (1)

Good Governance and effective leadership thrives in the
midst of effective opposition. Without effective opposition, governance is
prone to dictatorship. Governance and leadership in such situation become
ineffective and would lose legitimacy or authority to function effectively.

The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo in his books, “Voice of
Wisdom and Path to Nigerian Greatness,” noted that the evils of foreign rule
may be far less than the evils which may be perpetrated under self-governance
by the affluent natives or the local moguls who, if left to their own devices,
may constitute themselves into class oligarchy and secure the supreme power for
themselves in the form of tyranny and arbitrary dictatorship.

He stated further that native tyranny and oppression will
become more pronounced when a cabal or group of feudal lords seize political
power and refuse to hand over to others outside his own hierarchy.

For Chief Awolowo,
the inability of a regime, civilian or military, to extricate itself from the
‘sweet uses and chuckles’ of power breeds tenacity of office. He defined this
as a ‘political monstrosity whose characteristics are inordinate and shameless
love of power for its own sake…’

Chief Awolowo must be turning in his grave now because of
the political situation in the country.

My concern is that absence of a virile opposition has
reduced governance to dictatorship. My aim therefore, is to suggest ways
through which political opposition in the country may be more effective.

To arrive at these suggestions however, I took into
consideration some fundamental principles of politics supported with examples
from the Nigerian situation.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,
politics is defined as “the activities involved in getting and using power in
public life, and being able to influence decisions that affect a country or a
society”.

Dr. Mabawonku, a
development policy analyst in his book, “Rethinking Political opposition for
Greater Effectiveness,” examines three fundamental principles of politics,
which in his opinion, explains some of the problems of effective political
opposition in the country.

First, he posits that power is the essence of politics just
as money is the essence of business. Secondly, he noted that while every
political position has attached to it some political powers, the effectiveness
of the power depend’s on the influence of the politician; and lastly he says,
political power and influence are never given, they are taken.

Mabawonku said although
these principles may not be generally acceptable, the continued success
of the patronage system of politics in the country may be explained partially
by these three principles.

I cannot argue less with this school of thought. Biblically,
without Satan mobilising cross section of angels to oppose the leadership of
God, there would never have been the need for God to exercise His authority to
create the earth and place man to take charge, lead over Satan and all that
oppose the rule of God. So, opposition is necessary for governance and
leadership to be effective.

For partisan politics
and opposition to be effective and beneficial to the electorates, government
should allow and create enabling environment for virile opposition. For  opposition to be effective, it must be virile
and responsive not necessarily to demonise Government activities, but to
present alternate policy direction to government. If opposition parties cannot
show in real term what they have done in the past to lead and identify with the
needs of electorates yearning for change, they cannot serve as better
alternative.

There is need to have a critical rethink of the political
system in Nigeria, particularly the system and style of opposition. Perhaps,
the most important fact to consider in this respect is that we now have a
democratic system of governance as against military dictatorship. Unlike during
military rule when there were very few institutionalised means of opposing the
government in power, there are a wide range of opportunities for constructive
political opposition in the new democratic system of government.

First, the opposing political groups have the opportunity to
contest any election through registered political parties. Secondly, there are
opportunities for the opposition groups to lobby for specific legislations and
policies either by lobbying the legislators or through systematic public
outreach activities. Lastly, there are opportunities for political opposition
groups to take legal actions against the ruling party or the government.
Therefore, for a more effective political opposition in the country, the
following may be taken into consideration.

As postulated by Dr Mabawonku, power is the essence of
politics just as money is the essence of business. Unless a politician has
power, he can not have much influence in public life. Many of the existing
political parties in the country do not seem to have any real interest in power
and as such they cannot provide effective opposition to the ruling political
party in the country.

It is reasonable to expect that if the Alliance for
Democracy had contested the presidential elections in April 2003, the outcome
of the elections would have produced a totally different result and the
political situation in the country would have been more competitive.

Again, considering the large financial resources and
experience of the present ruling class, it is very unlikely that the opposition
group can oppose the political entrepreneurs effectively in their own game.
Therefore, there is need for the opposition groups to shift the focus of
political debates away from sentiments to address concrete development issues
and problems as well as processes.

It is particularly quite unfortunate that only one or two of
fifty nine political parties in the country are making systematic efforts to
challenge some of the unpopular policies of the present government.

Dr Akpogena, a Christian devotional consultant, writes from
Port Harcourt.

Lewis Akpogena