One of the things that make democracy thick is the centrality of choice. This is a kind of self-checking and regulatory mechanism. It is a stabilizer of the democratic process and procedure.
It is not a nebulous concept at all; the existence of more than one political party gives reality to the concept. It makes possible for the people to have a choice, preference based on factors like beliefs, ideological positioning, religious, social and economically induced preferences.
The existence of more than one political party does not mean opposition as termed in our country. It is as observed earlier the existence of alternatives. That is how it should be understood and when that is the case frictions and the fight-to-finish mentality is done away with.
There are many citizens who don’t know America and Britain have more than the two political parties that have grown into the dominant parties. To the uncritical, by this we mean persons who draw conclusions from the superficial. America for instance has only two political parties, the Republicans and the Democratic Party. Ask them about Britain this set of people would likely return the verdict that only the Labour and Conservative parties exist in that country. Only few know many other fringe parties exist and do contest for votes and power, for instance, Reform Party.
These countries gradually got to a point where two parties became dominant ones. They didn’t get there by legislation. It was by gradual evolution. No manipulation at all. Ideological tendencies just began to take root gradually before it got crystalized to what we see today.
Now our case appears somewhat different beginning from conception to process. We embraced democracy the kind we see the white nations do, copied the items in totality without any consideration
The omission accounts for the reason we have carried on with democracy in a manner that has left those conversant with the system wonder if what we actually do here is democracy or something else. We know it is not democracy but have tried to create the most absurd excuse on the ground that no two democracies are the same.
In holding tight to this crooked line of thought, we fail or deliberately refuse to tell ourselves that though democracy may in actual fact differ slightly in structure and practice there are common denominators to all of them without which what you do can’t be democracy but something else entirely.
The first would be the sovereignty. It must begin and rest totally on the people. This is not what we do in our case. Yes, citizens may be asked to join political parties but in practice the process is such that they barely have a say in what happens and in the outcomes of very critical decisions.
Oligarchs fight and take over control of the party executive. The skewed system makes tin-gods out of any opinion to offer and would never talk about states the party would “capture” in the next election. He is limited to his impartial, behind the scenes role and placing.
The Nigerian variant of party chairman is an emperor, appearing more power than the president of the country. The president is certain he must do all manner of dirty jobs to ensure the party remains under control of the hegemony. The party determines who has access to become the candidate. In the absence of a provision for independent candidacy, the rope is made tighter and the emperors gain more latitude to perpetuate the subversion of what should ordinarily have been great processes. No need wasting much needed space to talk about the general elections we stage.
Given our crude political culture and especially what the powerful do with election outcomes, a discerning person can accurately predict the shape of politics to come and outcomes of polls two years ahead of actual organization of the polls.
The country is already into one party state. It is just that those who plotted it chose to escape criticisms and backlash by veiling the development. As it is today only the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is THE PARTY, the rest are mere gathering of men, women and few young ones, groping around looking if opportunity would drop from just anywhere.
The truth is those shouting they are PDP members either are complicit with the efforts to keep the party down and out or they are ignorant of the forces at play against them. Some of us know far more than we are willing to divulge.
Those said to be leading have their loyalties elsewhere. They are enemies within making huge gains out of their “endeavours”. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory’s game plan is a master skrode. It will keep PDP down and out.
The states under the control of the G5 Governors are mere shadows of the PDP. In essence they are the work tools of the President. Add to this the fact the APC has won in recent elections, then it will be obvious to whoever cares to do critical analysis that President Bola Tinubu’s reelection is only a matter of time, no longer of conjecture. Except something dramatic happens, it is a done deal.
Labour Party is in the pocket too. Peter Obi and his band of travelers would leave and may try to join others to form a new party but a new party coming about two years to a general may not be able to uproot the foundation already laid by APC. This is the Plain Truth.