The race for the 2027 presidency has started quite early. It is neither strange nor illegal. It is a distraction for any country’s governance, especially Nigeria, which has been beleaguered by insecurity and economic turmoil.
These perennial challenges do not seem to bother the average Nigerian politician, who is willing to ride on the back of chaos to either consolidate or claim power, as has been the case for most of this democratic experience.
From a gross ideological deficiency to a rabid craze for the pillage of the commonwealth, the political class has become one engrossed with a winner-takes-all mentality that disregards restraint and decency.
So, there is a fresh gathering or, better still, a regrouping of former political allies who, in the recent past, worked at cross purposes.
This gathering, which picked up pace at the turn of this year, tells a familiar tale, one steeped in grievance arising from a loss of political relevance.
So far, we are witnessing a repeat of the political drama that heralded the 2015 season, where aggrieved ruling party members joined forces with opposition elements to take power.
The outcome of that supposed “movement” left the country in a worse shape than the promised change. The economic and social indices attest to this sad reality.
From the benefit of hindsight, even estranged supporters of that movement have since said it was nothing more than a quest for political power rather than a movement for positive change. Of course, the former ruling party was no better. It had become so drunk with power that it took Nigerians for granted.
Most Nigerians were exasperated with the former ruling party, which heralded the new democratic dispensation. But those who took power proved not to be any better, if not far worse. Not long after the new party got into power, it became clear that it was merely a continuation of the old system in a worse form.
Today, most of those who orchestrated and galvanised the 2015 movement are regrouping to fight the incumbent political order they worked to put in power barely nine years ago.
Yet again, they have been accused of being angry with the incumbent, not necessarily with a system that has far from lived up to expectations.
The nation is witnessing a repeat of history. The ruling party is, yet again, not living up to expectations, and the people are inundated with its failings by the regrouping aggrieved figures.
To be clear, we have no qualms with the rights of people to associate, convene or express themselves as guaranteed by the Constitution. Neither do we have a problem with robust opposition in a multi-party democracy. These freedoms and rights are the pillars of any progressive society.
The place of constructive, uncompromising, insightful and conscientious opposition can never be faulted in a democracy. We encourage this kind of opposition even as we worry that the opposition is yet to live up to its responsibility.
That responsibility, sacrosanct as it is, to hold the incumbent to account and provide alternative ideas while seeking to gain power is ultimately for qualitative selfless governance. This is the basis upon which every representative style of government rests. Anything besides this is an abuse of power and anathema in the social structure of political consciousness.
Sadly, Nigeria’s political power quest has been mainly for selfish reasons since 1999.
With each political dispensation, the political class in Nigeria has become brazen about acquiring power for self-aggrandisement. They no longer pretend to care about the Nigerian people.
Their jaundiced approach to politics has caused a massive retrogression in the political evolution for decades and stifled the promise of Nigeria’s place in global affairs.
As much as it bears repeating that we are not against political realignments and opposition gatherings, we say a big no to the repeat of a sad recent past.
Any gatherings going into 2027 should be driven by a conscientious zeal to improve Nigeria’s social, political, and economic conditions.
We are also not unmindful of politicians’ ability to mouth the right things, which they don’t mean as they have done before. We hope the Nigerian people would judge by the content of character. Each political actor’s previous words and actions should be weighed against whatever new promises are made going into 2027.
It is sad enough that politicians have turned the average Nigerian into a mere tool for power acquisition. Perhaps it is time for the electorate to become more discerning and not be held back by primordial sentiments of tribe and religion, as these same politicians have wantonly exploited.
