“BREAKING NEWS: PMB has just announced to APC NEC his intention to run for a second term of office. Alhamdulillah.
– Nasir El-Rufai.”
In whose world is this breaking news?
The Electorate?
I doubt so. In our world, the day PMB got sworn in for a first time, was also the day he declared his intention for a second term. Since our recent transition to democracy, I do not know of any political office holder who ever stepped aside after one term of office, without running for second term. This begs the question, if everyone aspires to a second term in office, why do we really need a second term? What if every office was restricted to single tenures of 6-years? Of course, many may retort with the fact that America, which is the poster child for democracy, also has the double-term opportunity. However, I believe that at this our “formative democracy”, double-terms
- Encourage laziness (politicians ensuring they start projects at the tail end of their first term, to manipulate people into need for a second term),
- Amplify waste (our 4-year terms currently only even leave 2-years of serious work for those willing to, as the first year often spent consolidating, and the last year spent electioneering),
- Make it difficult for real power transition amongst ideologies. In a single-term limit, it may not be easy to produce godfathers like Bourdillon and his ilk.
- Impeachment and recall are strong control tools for entrenching democratic dividend. Unfortunately, the prospect of playing it safe and aligning with interests in a double-term trumps any need to use these tools, by those empowered to use them.
So, maybe as a people, as we go into 2019, we should start questioning if we really need a two-term system.
The Ruling Party?
I doubt so. The APDPC formation is extremely fragile at the moment, with too many strange bedfellows mouthing mantras, but lacking ideological alliances. It’s best for the party to have PMB run again, as even those who have been jostling to get featured on the party ticket, deep down, know how weak their chances are. Now, we’ll clearly see those who were waiting in the wings, without any clear loyalty. However, I am clearly disappointed in the ruling party. Not because they bungled their opportunity, or squandered the goodwill bequeathed them by a bulk of the electorate, but that no clear voice of dissent/reform arose from within the party. Dissent is a great platform for igniting change. Amaechi led the disgruntled governors during PMB and that was the beginning of the end for the last administration. Why was there no disgruntled power class in this administration? Makes me really suspect the kind of compromises the ruling party must have made with her internal blocs, to keep up with the united facade.
The Opposition?
I doubt so. While the leading opposition party would have loved a world where PMB refused to run, they definitely knew it was akin to dreamworld. Unfortunately, they haven’t demonstrated clear opposition or shown alternative thinking. Now that PMB has declared his intent, we hope they can show a bit more thought leadership and a cohesive philosophy around what they are opposing in this current administration. They cannot go the APC mantra of change; it’s been adopted, tested and proven a scam. They cannot also chant transformation, we saw what transformation did to a few pockets, a while ago. They are in the opposition, and therefore have the onus of channelling the collective frustrations of a scorned people, into intelligent action plans. Conversations around our Educational system and the required state of emergency, Health system and why the president had to preside over the nation from overseas, halting the ongoing Brain Drain, true Diversification of the economy and what they think to do differently. These conversations would be in the forms of town halls, open-house debates, op-eds. They have to demonstrate thought-leadership on the critical issues of state.
We are tired of the accusations of looting committed by both of you. We are tired of you using your myopic administrations as benchmarks for our progress as a people, despite the cumulative of your achievements being the equivalent of the 1970 achievements of some serious nations. We are tired of transformation, change or any other mantra currently been incubated in another soon-to-be-rich advertising agency.
Now let this be the true breaking news.
“BREAKING NEWS: Nigerians are tired of both the APC and PDP. Demand for alternatives. God bless Nigeria.
– Damilare Ogunleye.”
