BAYELSA STATE AND PARTY POLITICS:
Introduction:
In view of the
forth coming December 5 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa state, an
assessment of the psyche generally of Bayelsan populace has become
pertinent as to the determination of their readiness to embrace a
positive leadership or their willingness to stick to the unfavourable
party politics that has afforded them with so much to desire in terms of
deriving the dividends of democracy from a supposedly constitutionally
elected Executive. This has been stratified into the Comtenian and
Spencer school, as some quarters believe the individual is who is
inherent with the ideas while the bulk of others are still sticking to
the group mentality, believing that having an identification with the
centre or a particular party soothes and derive some sort of
satisfaction. The former believes the individual is greater than the
group while the latter believes the group transcends the individual and
so, no individual is indispensable.
Democracy provides the
opportunities for the people to freely exercise their voting rights in
the selection of representatives who govern them. Democracy depends on
parties to survive, since the structure of elections, right from
citizens participation to candidates’ selection and presentation of
competing political programmes is done by political parties and voting
is carried out by the electorates based on the preferred obvious party
on the ballot paper. It is on this note that political parties occupy a
special place in the democratic equation in the state and the nation at
large.
The result of examination undertaken revealed that
Bayelsans care less. It also reveals that Nigerian political parties
does not possess features of political parties such as ideology, party
manifesto's, like-minded people as well as viable opposition (it's a two
party system from what is obtainable). All parties are engaged in intra
party conflict rather than embarking on programmes that would benefit
the masses. The result of undemocratic conduct of political parties such
as candidate’s imposition, unclear manifesto's as revealed in this
paper, gave rise to assassination, intimidation, political violence
inter alia that portrayed Bayelsa state and Nigeria as one of the most
risky nation in the world. Such dogged conviction does not only portray
an indictment on our educational sector for failure to discharge it's
public responsibility, but the severity of our intellectual mal
nourishment. However, the findings showed that the enlightened few of
30% of respondents agreed that money and class were the major factors
that undermined or determined the position of candidates in Nigerian
election, while 47% of respondents also agreed that the power of
incumbency and godfatherism greatly determined the emergence of party’s
candidates. Almost 70% of respondents agreed that tribalism, ethnicity,
nepotism, greed and sectionalism were major factors that have caused
party’s lack of internal democracy in Nigeria. The study concluded that
party politics in the area of nomination, selection and elections have
negative implications on democratic consolidation in Nigeria. Among
other things, the study also concluded that lack of internal democracy
within political parties as a limiting factor in Nigeria’s attempt to
deepen democracy, sincerity, integrity, honesty, transparency,
people-oriented and straight forwardness are sacred words and character
traits of a
Government that are alien to our political parties who
sometimes lack the stamina to call their erstwhile candidate to order
after emerging winner of an election, such candidate is presented with a
carte blanche opportunity who sees himself above the people, party,
state, and law sometimes.
Sometimes, Bayelsan's to a discerning
mind are bereft and void of reasonable justification as to why they are
pitching their tent with a particular party. At times, aligning with the
centre is sufficient to satisfy their myopic and alarming brain.
Though, with the pitiable situation of Bayelsa state, Bayelsan's are yet
to learn, with our inchoate democracy and the level of impoverishment
and under-development that has assailed our very existence and almost at
the verge of shaking life from us only recently, some anti-people
elements have dared to declare out of the ignorance and a sheer lack of
understanding of facts a particular party, an Ijaw party. Just to
argumentum ad populum and gather sympathy votes from Bayelsan's who the
said 'Ijaw party' refused to development for 6 years with an Ijaw man in
power.
One sad commentary about our democratic experience is the
wanton glorification of responsibility and irresponsibility as
dividends of democracy. In saner climes, the performance of a Leader’s
statutory obligations and Constitutional functions such as Staff
welfare, Community welfare
and Institutional strengthening do not
constitute achievements (or giant strides as we say here). It is a
Leader’s capacity to craft and fashion out a vision that
will manifestly translate into the total liberation of his subjects from the interlocking clutches of poverty,
socio-economic exploitation, geo-political
domination,
ethno-cultural dislocation as well as a neo-fascist enslavement
implanted by past and present years of myopic and tyrannical leadership
(the Bayelsa story for the past seventeen years) that constitute what is
known as achievements in office. It is in line with this intellectual
wavelength that Plato posited that “our object in the establishment of
the State is the greatest happiness of the whole and not that of any
class.” But sadly here, a Governor will gladly tell the whole world that
some of his numerous achievements are payment of salaries (though
belated), building of a glorified over-head bridge. It is tragic, indeed
lamentably tragic that we are blessed with the Seriake of a Governor
who has turned the Bayelsa
Civil Servants into civil slaves and the
entire Bayelsans into the Willing who are led by the Unknowing and are
doing the impossible for the Ungrateful and have done so much for so
long, with so little that we are now qualified to do anything with
nothing. And now, the government has resolved into recruiting
professional liars on daily basis giving out bogus and unverifiable
information to feed the gullible and unsuspecting public. They insists
they have built us a State in the Art schools, but how many of their
children belong to any of the schools? Having mammoth turnouts in his
Town-Hall meetings because it has resolved in doling out cash to
Bayelsan's who he has subjected to perpetual poverty in their own land,
flowing with milk and honey.
Yet, with the foregoing, the chunk
of Bayelsan's are still gambling with their future, playing party
politics in lieu of the credibility of the candidates. Two (2) out of
the three (3) contestants are responsible for our dismal condition as a
state and deserved to be lynched. One sold everything that was to
obviate the state and it's Citizens the hardship they are faced with and
the other built prison yards in lieu of Schools we voted for. Our Court
(judiciary) is properly funded by the state because it is the readily
place to haul my kinds who would make a fist to their obnoxious policies
and tax laws. Playing into the psyche of Bayelsan's and appealing to
their selfish interest is a way of garnering support for another four
(4) years of slavery, imposition and political bondage for the people.
It
is understandable that it is far too early to expect “giant strides”
from a state that is just 17 years old, but the truth still remains that
solid steps and actions imbued with the innate capacity to
engender
qualitative development of the people and infrastructural resuscitation
can be made in 17 years. A baby that cannot survive, learn the rudiments
of manhood and be able to fend for himself at 17 years is only fit for
an Orthorpaedics reclusion, and not the Creeks.
Oil rich Bayelsa, the glory of all lands,
has gone through a most excruciating journey for the past 17 years in the hands of intellectual blunt-leaders who
have
only succeeded in perpetuating infrastructural decay and backwardness,
thus presenting her as a standing example of an institutional irony, and
can
ill-afford, the speeding antics of a snail, in its destined march to greatness.
The age-long aphorism and cliche of “moving the State forward” should be denounced for what it is, an empty,
stultifying
clause that oozes deception. Owing precisely to the beguiling
attractiveness of the spoils of office, our Leaders usually fixate on
the metaphor
of propulsion, mistaking the image of motion with the
idea of progress. Moving the State forward into what? Crises, chaos or
crass corruption and insecurity? Only recently, the astronomous rate of
crime is too much any state can bear, instead of our Countryman governor
to be touring round the state in his bid for a re-election he should
channel some of these resources to the state security outfit to curv the
menace of kidnapping in the state as well as wanton destruction of
lives and properties by these livid un-employed youths whose aged
parents you have crassly refused to pay gratuity and a year and 7months
salary. The state university (Niger Delta University) has purportedly
been gentrified only in the news headlines, with students paying an
alarming ammount of N120,000.00 for a session with poor infrastructure
and inencourageable educating environment is another educational fraud,
encouraged by the Restoration led government. Our recent history is
replete with Leaders that have moved us forward into ineptitude, misery
and unimaginable self-enrichment.
The time is right for Bayelsa
to take that gargantuan stride from Party politics to issue based one,
electing leaders based on their credibility and not on the platform
which they stand. It is individual that owns the idea and not the party.
I say Bayelsa deserves better, a disassociation with every strings from the past and move onto something/someone new.
Bayelsa deserves a leader who is accountable, passionate and responsible.
We deserve Moses Siloko Siasia of People's Democratic Movement, the party with the torch logo.
Written by:
Aluzu Ebikebuna Augustine
New Media Coordinator for Moses Siloko Siasia Campaign Team.
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