In order to effectively tackle corruption in Nigeria, it is very important to ‘get elections right’. Political will is a key determinant to curbing corruption. The ability to select good leaders can only happen when we begin to have election campaigns that are focused on issues and present clear strategies on how to address them. The 2011 elections in Nigeria were a first step towards this as for the first time the country held presidential debates. However, we still have a long way to go in improving elections. Political parties in Nigeria lack identity. For example, what does PDP stand for? What do they believe in? What role do they see for the state in terms of provision of services?
There is a need for our political parties to have clear identities and strategies to address issues. This will help reduce sentimental voting as people will be more informed to vote based on issues proposed by the parties and not by tribe or religion, evident in the presidential elections.
There is a need for our political parties to have clear identities and strategies to address issues. This will help reduce sentimental voting as people will be more informed to vote based on issues proposed by the parties and not by tribe or religion, evident in the presidential elections.
Indeed the correlation between getting elections right and tackling crippling corruption cannot be faulted. It goes without saying that the power then resides with the people and they could easily vote out parties that have failed to deliver on their promises- a feat which is difficult to accomplish in today's Nigeria because ascending to political offices is more reliant on the depth of the pocket of the aspirant, political 'God Father' and electoral 'muscles' that could be mustered by way of the number of thugs that could be deployed on election day!
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I would still argue that complementing good elections with other effective institutional processes of good governance you mentioned in a previous posting cannot be over-emphasised. This is because good leaders that are transparently elected could go 'bad' on the job if they realise that the mechanism for accountability and transparency are either absent or weak.
I also agree that issue base politics will aid the electorate in aligning their aspirations and interest to what each party symbolises- hence conferring and strengthening the identity of the political parties. This will in turn help in no small measure in deepening the political and democratic culture we all seek. On the other hand, it is debatable as to whether at this point in our political development, it is a necessity to worry about party identity in order to deal with issues of good governance. From this stand point, the question that becomes pertinent is whether, the provision in the current manifesto of the key political parties in Nigeria could still transform Nigeria to a better place, if diligently implemented. To my mind, the answer is in the affirmative. In other words, if a system that allows for accountability and transparency is fostered for now, then a decently prosperous and well informed polity could go a long way in helping to organically evolve a party politics whereby Identity and Strategy becomes the hallmark of political parties. I deliberately choose the word 'organically' for a reason.
This argument becomes poignant against the background that party politics in Nigeria has faced the misfortune of constant interruption by the military in the past- and who knows, may be in the future! This has got serious repercussion in terms of the opportunity for deepening good practices, learning lessons and overall bestowing some kind of identity to the political parties. I'm not joining the band wagon of blaming every political woe on the past military misadventure in politics but viewing this objectively. How does one nurture an organic political process when contending with the imposed two party system by Babangida? How could the cause of party identity be helped when one throws in the contradiction of the infamous Abacha's five political parties aptly dubbed 'five fingers of leprosy' by late Ige?
Once again, this is not to underplay the importance of identity for political parties, but to pragmatically look at what is critically needed for Nigeria to begin to make a head way in human development that will help to usher in other more nebulous variable that although are very important, but could wait- to my mind, herein lies the dilemma of party identity.
Sunny- I like your points which are well argued, but it seems like you see no role for social contract in all this? It is as if you believe these other governance reforms would take place in the absence of any accountability to the citizens. If this is so then the only hope for Nigeria is that we have fortune to have a leader who, under no compulsion from anyone, decides to implement a reform agenda of good governance and does not get side-tracked on the way with the type of selfish pursuits that have been typical of our leaders. We should be so lucky!
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