Political Acrimony And Democracy

Man’s fierce inclinations and struggles to acquire, control and maintain political power at all cost, is linked to his desire to determine and manipulate economic factors, which by extention, is borne out of his inherent motivations for economic pursuits and needs.
Because it is believed that the relationship between the people in the production processes are symbiotically connected with the nature and direction of the political struggles, the craze to capture political power in order to determine economic factors, has made politics in our own clime appear so intense, anarchic and violent.
This is probably why Dudley (1965 cited in Etannibi, 2004) wrote that “the reality was that Nigerian politicians perceived politics and political office as investment and as an avenue for the acquisition of extra ordinary wealth (through corruption) which they think is not possible through other forms of legitimate vocation and enterprise.” According to him, the shortest cut to affluence in Nigeria is through politics. Thus, “to be a member of the government party means open avenue to government’s patronage, contract deals and the like”.
Claude Ake , an astute political scientist, in (1964), affirmed the above assertion when he said that “those who win state power can have all the wealth they want even without working, while those who lose the struggle for state power cannot have security in the wealth they have made “.
Therefore, rather than highlight their credentials borne out of their potentials for public assessment and subsequent approval, elections in Nigeria now draw out the bad sides of our politicians instead.
On the contrary, the ideal electoral process bequeathed to us by our founding fathers was one replete with resounding contributions towards democratic consolidation in any given society. Through elections, the electorate is provided with the ample opportunity to vote for the candidates and parties that would represent their varying interests.
Today, the reverse has become the case. Desperate and power-drunk politicians have hijacked the political space, heating up the polity against their perceived political opponents to their own advantage and detriment of the poor masses.
Olowojolu Olakunle, Rasak Bamidele, Ake Modupe, Ogundele Oluwaseun and Afolayan Magdalene, of the department of Political Science and International Relations, Landmark University, Omu Aran Nigeria; once wrote that since the independence era, elections in Nigeria have been characterized among others by high scale of electoral violence to influence the voting patterns of the electorate.
These emerging amorphous complexities unleashed by the manoeuvring of inordinate ambitions of the current actors and actresses that we have on the stage of our polity today, have become the albatross of our democracy.
It is not only selfish, it is also mono-dimensional, coercive, and extractive, which result is unbridled inequality. This I consider an absence of political muscle to manage prejudices and differences and to turn the ugly tides of all political odds around into a critical mass for service to the expectant electorate.
This seeming dance to the dangerous rhythms of disunity is currently being played out in the Edo political landscape, as the State prepares for its gubernatorial election. For unpopular reasons, the Edo gladiators are bent on taking it to the extreme as leaders have thrown caution to the winds, to display uncouth behaviors, unbecoming of any leader
Like Zebulon Agomuo, a writer, pointed out in his reaction to the seeming political turmoil in Edo, ahead of the September 19, 2020 gubernatorial election, “the vibrations ahead of the September 19 gubernatorial election in Edo State are suggestive of a war in the offing. They point to something more than mere selection of a governor. It appears a battle is being set in array”.
Agomuo may not be prophesying doom on Edo, neither is he a harbinger of evil, he is merely raising an alarm over a misdemeanor which result if unchecked could be devastating in the long run.
No doubt, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, which inherited Obaseki courtesy of the political turmoil that arose in the All Progressive Party, APC, would want to reclaim the state it governed for nine years from 1999 to 2008. On the other hand, the ruling APC would want to show it controls the state and has permanently ended the reign of the PDP in Edo. But how do these varying positions culminate in unguarded hostility to the magnitude that is being orchestrated in the Edo political sphere at the moment?
In all, corroborating the thoughts of Agomuo, getting Edo back to PDP is a sweet dream that the party would cherish so much and celebrate. Conversely, the APC getting the state back with all the recent developments will help the former national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, regain his receding political influence and worth, not only in the state but also in the country.
Yet, all of that do not justify the ongoing altercation between the incumbent governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, and Oshiomole over who eventually keeps custody of the key to the Osadebe House. The whole drama is quite regrettable and leaves much to be desired.
The tension already raised by the duo can only heighten the scepticism of the helpless electorate over their safety on the election day. Already, the voters are getting apprehensive over the possibility of a violence-free exercise.
The unguarded war of wit between the stakeholders of the two political parties runs against the spirit of the election as articulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and should serve as an early warning sign to the security agencies that Edo State is not turned into a battlefield on the Election Day.
Nigeria cannot afford a repeat of the wanton shedding of blood that happened in Kogi in November last year, Bayelsa and a pocket of other states in the name of election. Thus, Edo must not constitute itself a theatre of violence for political warlord.

By: Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi