That Call For Political Harmony

The Nigerian Senate President, David
Mark in his opening remarks at the
resumption of plenary last week warned politicians not to overheat the polity ahead of the 2015 general elections.
According to Mark, the Senate should restore confidence in the ability of government to rise to the challenges elicited by public expectation. The Senate, he said should pursue legislative agenda that would promote the common good and national interest.
Mark also warned that the Senate, under his leadership, would not entertain any talk about the balkanisation of Nigeria, a position that tends to address calls for the convocation of a ‘sovereign’ national conference. These, among other admonitions by the Senate President are not just bold and timely, but highly patriotic and commendable.
We salute Mark’s courage and zeal in addressing, head-on, such contentious issues as the political divides in the National Assembly, which tend to serve individual political interests for the 2015 elections at the expense of the collective good of Nigerians.
We agree with Mark that working together at this time of evolving democratic culture should be seen as paramount if the National Assembly hopes to justify the trust and confidence reposed in it by the Nigerian peoples.
While every Nigerian may not agree with all the points raised by Mark, it is pertinent that we do not forget that a heated polity is an ill wind that would blow no one any good. Every Nigerian looks forward to good governance and no nation can experience it if its political class continues on the part of self-serving career advancement, divisive politicking and group interest.
The rowdy session witnessed at the beginning of plenary in the House of Representatives was, to say the least, unfortunate. It is indicative of the fact that members could not draw a line between party and national interest. Internal wranglings in one political party out of the many that constitute the House should not be elevated to becloud the focus and functions of the House.
Since PDP is only one of the many political parties in the country, it will be in the interest of the Assembly to focus more on its legislative duties rather than reduce everything in this country to the quarrel in one political party. Those duties that would help in strengthening democracy to bridge the huge development gap between Nigeria and her contemporaries should receive priority attention.
The fact that after 13 long years of democracy, many Nigerians still ask for the basic needs of life should worry every well-meaning legislator much more than what political office one occupies in 2015. That political intolerance similar to what is happening now had aborted democratic regimes in the past and should serve to call the political class to order.
Nigerians have expected to see the bridging of the huge infrastructure gap and development deficit. That the nation’s universities have remained closed in the last three months and Nigerians are spending through their noses to send their children to smaller neighbouring countries for higher education, should rather be a source of serious concern than intra-party squabbles.
We insist that members of the National Assembly should call themselves to order and work harmoniously, as suggested by David Mark, so that they do not fail Nigerians and attract to the country the woes of politics rather than its benefits. It must be noted that both elections and politics have their purposes and our politicians cannot pretend not to know the difference.