In Nigeria,  politics cannot be described as a decent game. The intrigues, variegated interests, ethno-religious sentiments and the new found principle of zoning elective offices have all rendered the water murkier than many anticipate. Whereas it is ludicrous to pontificate that only the elites play the game of politics, the down – trodden masses do not even have the opportunity to meander through the murky waters, for if they venture, they automatically sink into the billows of the ocean.
It is difficult to believe that Nigeria has been rendered a rogue state by the political elites. It is even more contentious as to whether or not Nigeria is a failed state. One thing is sure, although the nation is being harassed by banditry, insurgency, religious extremism and socio-economic insecurity, we are yet to cede our basic responsibilities as a sovereign state like Somalia did some years back.
To a large extent, Nigeria bears all the characteristics of a failed state. Nigeria is incapable of providing basic amenities such as health, education and law enforcement. This is the only explanation why the mindless Owo massacre of June 5, 2022 can only end in newspaper damnation. The embarrassing poverty the masses are subjected to and the regime of crime and interminable violence, kidnapping for ransom, and the well orchestrated assault on the collective sensibility of the masses show that the collective security of the nation is vanishing.  The nation has totally lost the crusade against corruption, the decay in infrastructure and its cumulative effect on investment is equally troubling. Judicial tyranny walks tall on four legs, making even the elites to ponder whether the judiciary is really a purveyor of the rule of law and an indispensable pillar of democracy.
Though Nigeria is neither Mogadishu nor Damascus, the nation still wrestles with access to clean water, internally displaced persons owing to the activities of Boko Haram, clear cases of human rights abuse, brain-drain, a decline in basic services and poor representation at all levels of government.
In this land, even the elites are factionalised. There is hardly any institution of state that is not a victim of internal disharmony. Whereas the elites monopolise power, they build a make-belief world of social utopianism for the people, sometimes promoted under the cloak of religion. Promises made on the soapbox during electioneering are empty platitudes designed to delude the people. These bouts of broken promises have eroded public confidence in the empire-building bourgeois and technocratic kleptocrats. The Nigerian political elites inflict horrendous psychological injury on the masses, hound them to submission during elections and trade-off their future for instant wealth and materialism.
However, recent events have demonstrated that the ordinary Nigerians are not stupid. It has become a standard practice for the oppressors to buy the conscience of the people with salt, groundnut oil, tins of tomatoes and poorly bagged rice of the Abakaliki variety. What most people do now is to accept those “Greek Gifts” and still vote candidates of their choice. This is a payback strategy to punish the self-serving political elites.
The paradox however, is that because of the pervasive ignorance, hunger and poverty even undergraduates, who have been sentenced to a life of strike, join the bandwagon of campaigns during electioneering. They mock the real essence of the not-too-young to run political promise and vilify their struggle for a commodious life befitting of their contemporaries in other climes. It is the only way to explain why undergraduates campaign for the same politicians who have taken actions leading to industrial disharmony in the ivory tower.
Like a rogue state, the bourgeois political class abuses the citizens by denying them their socio-economic and welfare rights. A sad reminder of how weak we are is that Nigeria operates mickey mouse economy. Promises of reviving the economy through Small and Micro-Enterprises are often hijacked by lackeys of the oppressors.  Economic policies easily crash because there are no strong institutions to shore them up. Social investment schemes are poorly administered while loans for farmers are treated as retirement benefits of some corrupt bureaucrats in conspiracy with the rogue political elites. In a malfunctional political environment, even Zeus can hardly fathom the goings-on in Athens. The activities of the retail politicians in the major political parties have made it even more difficult for Poseidon to figure out the waves of the Atlantic.
The truism is that masses of this nation have been taken for granted for too long. It is difficult to predict that a revolution can be possible, but Nigerians can conjure the nerves of the Gideon Urhobo to identify pseudo-politicians from real leaders. Ultimately, the power of the state lies in the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, of the electorate.
As the political parties conduct their primaries to elect flagbearers preparatory for the 2023 general elections, it can only be advised that the electorate should vote their conscience, individuals who can govern, deliver good governance. 2023 is not a year to create an easy window for thieving politicians. Nigeria is too precious to foist her destiny on political parties. it is time for the electorate to vote for purveyors of democracy in the true sense of caring for the people. Nigerians will distinguish between party politics and good governance.

By: Idumange John
Idumange  is a public affairs analyst.