Humans are dull in learning  new things or learning from the past, if their mind is set on achieving a selfish end.   God’s word in the Bible, foretells the characteristics of the last days, part of which is that there will be increase in learning without understanding. True, this is an Information, Communication and Technology as well as Knowledge driven age, but there is no understanding. The philosophy of Education says that “until there is a doing learning has not taken place. The litmus test of learning is the ability to do or apply. That is why I agree with the saying that knowledge is not power, only applied knowledge which translates to Wisdom that is power.
Today, Nigeria boasts of political scientists, professors in Political Science, and other disciplines of learning, yet such academic attainments have not refined our disposition and philosophy to politics.
Most politicians have played the game of politics as long as they attained biological maturity. Some have never worked in the civil or public service, some have been into politics for the past 16 years. Sixteen years of unbroken academic endeavour would earn a diligent student a Doctorate, yet  most politicians have not shown maturity in their actions and inactions during political campaigns and other public interfaces.
I thought that by now our dear political elites shall have learnt why the First and Second Republics failed. I mean why the military intervened and truncated the democratic governance of those years. Unfortunately, the people are yet to learn. The Bible Solomon lamented: woe are the people whose king (leader) is a child.
I know that part of the characteristics of a stunted child is mental retardation (slow in learning or low intelligent quotient) and lack of will to do what is right. I think  most of Nigerian politicians have not demonstrated the mien to show that they are mature and competent to be saddled with the responsibilities of the processes that lead to a peaceful general elections.
In “Nigeria’s Give Majors”, the author, Ben Gbulie gave an in-depth and incisive account of what led to the Major Chukwuma Nzeogu- led bloody coup. Part of the reasons was degree of stinking corruption among the political leaders and spate of unprecedented violence across the various regions of Nigeria which resulted to loss of lives and property. Life was brutish.
That was in 1966, about 57 years ago. In 1983 the military ended the Second Republic giving the same reasons why the First Republic was stalled.
Today, a comparatively worse scenario is playing out, showing that Nigeria’s political leaders have not learnt from the dark past of the country’s political history. History repeats itself because people do not want to learn from the ugly past so as to avoid a reinvent and use the bleak past to reconstruct the future. I wonder what makes some of the men and women who parade the political space, leaders when they lack the ability to control their followers’ inclinations to violence. I would not want to be misconstrued for an alarmist. But it is not far from the truth that Nigeria’s democracy is tottering on the brink of collapse, except something is done urgently to redress the down turn of events.
I feel disturbed at the spate of crises that characterise the campaigns of political parties towards the General Elections billed for February and March, this year.
Campaigns are meant to sell candidates and to show to the electorate the comparative advantage an aspirant has over the other. It serves as a platform for aspirants and political parties to tell the public what they will do when they are voted into the office they are vying for, so that the public through the mass media will hold them accountable for their campaign promises.
Life is competitive yet violence is not an integral part of it. The way and manner a product is packaged and advertised, determines its acceptability in most cases. Therefore, if a candidate is well packaged, manifests decorum in public speech and presents what he or she could offer in office in a lucid and compelling manner, such candidate can enjoy public sympathy and acceptance.
Unfortunately, what is playing out today at political rallies across Nigeria is violence, mudslinging, character assassination, intimidation and several other unacceptable practices that are antithetical to the true Spirit and letter of political rallies. Party leaders and supporters leave the substance for shadow.
Party popularity is tested by how well the party conducts its affairs, carries out its manifesto-based campaigns.
This is not in the best interest of our nascent democracy, about 24 years of unbroken democratic governance in Nigeria notwithstanding.
Leaders of political parties should  save our democracy from truncation by sincerely warning their supporters to desist from violence or any act capable of leading to it. The peace and interest of the society should be considered supreme.

By: Igbiki Benibo