In the words of Edmund Burke, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. It is becoming increasingly clear that if we did not destroy APC, a conglomeration of strange bedfellows, it will destroy us all.
The ever present threat to our democratic journey lies ominously in the vast and inscrutable forces in government, who are persons without a yard of love for their father land, concerned only with the safeguard of their political interest cum ambition, their growing heap of ill-gotten wealth and their primitive pursuit of vanity. Neutral observers of Tinubu’s crude politics of imposition in the last 13 years will agree with this writer that he is the nemesis of Nigeria’s democracy.
To say that Tinubu represents the biggest threat to Nigeria’s democracy today is to be absurdly frank. We make bold to say Tinubu has completely eroded the whole essence of democracy because of his penchant and notoriety for destroying rather than building democratic institutions. Every patriotic and concerned citizens interested in the development and greatness of our beloved country, Nigeria owed it as a point of duty to speak out, especially when institutions of state like election management body (INEC), police, EFCC and other security agencies that are suppose to be fair, neutral and unbiased are being ill-use to achieve self-serving and selfish interest of powerful politicians and the powers that be.
Our worry about what is happening presently in our country is that the first casualties are our institutions. There is no way the ruling party can deploy the power of incumbency against the opposition or even its own members without employing and rubbishing in the process institutions of state which are supposed to be fair, neutral and impartial.
The police and other security agencies, our courts, electoral management bodies, anti-corruption bodies and some other bodies that are supposed to be the pillar of modern society are usually manipulated by the ruling cabal to achieve selfish or self-serving interest. The result is that such manipulation helps to erode the faith or confidence of the citizens in such state organs being ill-use.
Consequently, when citizens lose confidence in the institutions of state, they resort to self-help which may spell for democracy and the country itself.
If democracy is to truly be the government of the people, by the people and for the people, the people must own the process from the beginning to the end. Active involvement in the political process signifies that everyone is a critical stakeholder, having the best interest of the country at heart. As spelt out in the U.N. Charter, the right to vote and to be voted for has been enshrined as a human right. It is a heinous crime when peoples’ votes are not made to count.
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Unfortunately, the foregoing is what Tinubu incahoots with democratic institutions like INEC, police and other security agencies has been doing to Lagos voters in the last 13 years. It is public knowledge that the former APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomole has become a loyal and faithful student of Tinubu’s school of crude politics of imposition.
The foregoing explains the present political tension in Edo state in the build up to the September 19 governorship election coming up in that state. The greatest impetus to the commission of crime is impunity. Lack of sanction of APC members who resorted to violence and political brigandage during Kano, Kogi and Bayelsa
elections has now emboldened members of the party to continue this atrocities in every election and PDP members that are rigged out in the aforementioned states are also spoiling for war in the forthcoming Edo governorship elections, vowing not to leave anything to chances. Legitimization of illegitimate mandates of APC governors in Kano and Kogi states have also worsened matters.
The foregoing explains why many believe Nigerian judiciary has sold its soul to the devil and deservedly, lost the respect of decent citizens of this country. A political party that is built solely on an individual member’s selfish or self-serving interest and is not bound by a common interest in a political ideal that places the interest of the nation above self-interests is one that is built on sand. It is a house of cards.
Tinubu has proved to be a meddlesome interloper whose penchant for unnecessarily interfering with our democratic processes may spell doom for our hard-earned democracy and the future of our country, Nigeria.
This piece is a wake up call to President Buhari to do the needful- that is, call Tinubu, Oshiomole and institutions of state that will conduct the Edo governorship election to order. Tinubu, Oshiomole and thier cohorts’ desperation to win the forthcoming guber election for an unpopular candidate, Nze-Iyuamu has assumed a frightening dimension. APC’s political woes are self-inflicted, and it should blame no one else, but itself.
Breaking of promises, lies, high-handedness and intolerance of dissent are its albatross. We also need to remind the president that what became the waterloo of the first indigenous government is its mishandling of the electoral system and its partisan involvement in the Western Regional crisis.
His silence, which means acquiescence to the daylight electoral robbery that took place in Kano and Kogi states is sending a wrong signal to many Nigerian citizens. The sad reality is that our democracy is heading for the rocks if our institutions of state are allowed to lose their independence and integrity by becoming pawns on the chess board of lascivious and power-hungry politicians. You owed a bounden and patriotic duty to posterity and the people of Edo state to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election in Edo state. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.
Olatundun write from Ikeja, Lagos state
