It was quite instructive but not surprising, to hear Rochas Okorocha of Imo State confess recently that what he had feared and detested in an old political party which made him to decamp to another party, also featured in a greater degree where he found a new love. Not long ago, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State made a similar lamentation, or confession, over a wrong judgement of decamping from one political party to another.
The unique issue about these two gentlemen is that they are loved, admired and revered by a large number of people, both in their states and outside. They are not only charismatic politicians, but they also have deep attachment to and empathy for the grassroots.
With regards to Akpabio as Governor of Akwa Ibom State, it was him, rather than the university that I had served for 34 years, that used South-South Monarchs’ Forum Retreat, to give me a disengagement party. It was quite a touching gesture in Uyo, long ago.
At the level of personal relationship, many of our politicians can be quite nice, humane and full of compassion for people. But many people wonder what it is about power that makes those who wield it to become blind sometimes. In the case of the two gentlemen mentioned here, it can hardly be said that politics or the power derivable from it can make any of them blind to issues around them. Neither can it be said that decamping from one political party to another is a wrong decision to take, if one has serious reasons to do so. But decampment is often a gamble.
The real issue akin to blindness with regards to politics in Nigeria, is the question of personal conviction. To engage in politics without personal conviction, borne of deep commitment to some ideal, is to turn politics into a mercenary activity. Therefore, the issue about decamping from one political party to another has to do with the integrity that goes with personal conviction and deep commitment to a worthy ideal.
The philosophy of idealism has to do with a strong belief in principles and standards, which makes the difference between people who can be bought and sold as commodities, and those who are committed to values that money cannot buy. It is true that in a material-minded environment, sticking to principles and standards may be difficult, but life would be meaningless if an individual does not have something to live for.
Politics, among other things, is principally the search for value and meaning, upon which platform, a nation can be built and its people aspire to uphold as a standard of value. This makes it imperative that those who engage in politics as a calling should be people who can stand as pillars upon which the masses can look up to for support and inspiration. Without such role-model status, a politician becomes merely a mercenary or gold digger.
Political parties are supposed to be pillars or beacons encapsulating and flying the values, principles and standards that give meaning to a nation and its citizens. Individuals who identify with such orientations can then subscribe to the ideology of the parties which represent their personal convictions and values. But in a situation where decampment becomes a common feature of those who identify with the ideologies of political parties, the probability is that there is a structural deformity: a vacuum of value!
Structural deformity in the ideology of political platforms often arises from the content and vision of the ultimate goal and meaning of life. A materialistic worldview usually results in an unsound structure which would collapse sooner or later. Political decampment usually depicts an unsound structure of a party edifice or blind and mercenary nature of the decampees. Those who suffer most in such a situation are the masses who, like lost sheep led by blind shepherds, lose their bearing in life.
Political leadership is a serious calling and only those called from Above (not manipulators of ballot boxes or decampees) are in a position to bring inspiration and succor to the masses. For my two friends, Akpabio and Okorocha, the issue is not disappointment for changing camps and becoming frustrated, but revisiting the structure of the Nigerian polity. All is not well! Politicians are overwhelmed by the enormity of the task!
Dr. Amirize is a retired lecturer at the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.

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