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 economic pursuits and needs. As a given, 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.
Thus, in Nigeria, the shortest cut to affluence is through politics. …to be a member of the government party means open avenue to government’s patronage, contract deals and the likes”. Claude Ake , an astute political scientist, in (1964) affirmed the above assertion when he wrote 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 bequeated to us by our founding fathers, was one replete with resounding contributions towards democratic consolidation in any given society.
Through elections, the electorate are provided with 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; and Department of Sociology Landmark University, Omu Aran, Nigeria, once wrote that “since the Independence era, elections in Nigeria have been characterised 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 our 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 our political land scape, as the nation jostles for its general election. For unpopular reasons, leaders tend to throw caution to the winds, to display uncouth behaviours, unbecoming of any leader.
The tension usually raised by politicians at moments like this, 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 stake holders of the competing political parties should serve as an early warning sign to the security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police that they should ensure that our nation is not turned into a battle field on the Election Day.

By: Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi