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Sometimes, we draw comparisons that fit our peculiar circumstances and the behaviour of our politicians. It’s not clear who said this, that [in politics], ‘there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests’. Even though some say it’s a slightly reworded version of erstwhile British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston’s quote from a Speech in the House of Commons on March 1, 1848, it has become a notorious quote in the world of politics. Any keen observer of Nigerian politics will agree that our politics and politicians have become some kind of fun to follow. While our politics sometimes heaves with hysteria, the politicians never leave any moment passed without their followers wondering why they are knocking over themselves.
To put things in proper context, some years ago, Matthew T. Page, a non-residential scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Education, a former U.S. Department’s top expert on Nigeria, and co-author of “Nigeria: Where Everyone Needs to Know”, made a profound observation that in “Nigerian politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies”. He argued that in Nigeria, shifting alliances might indicate the construction of strong opposition coalition, but the very changing political field may present challenges of building good governance. Funnily enough, he likened Nigerian political parties, and indeed, the politicians, to the Lagos yellow danfo minibuses swerving erratically, bulging as too many passengers squeeze themselves inside, the drivers clinging viselike to both steering wheels and wads of naira notes. Such comparison is not for nothing. It asks the following questions: Is there really morality in Nigerian politics? How low and erratic can politicians go sometimes? Why must permanent interests be the driving force almost always? It really stinks. Last week, Matthew Kukah, the erudite Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese broached this issue . He cautioned loyalists of politicians not to kill themselves in supporting their candidates. Kukah was responding to the exchange of pleasantries of the Presidential candidates of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, at the Private Wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
For Kukah, that’s a lesson to learn for the party faithful of the candidates. “These politicians”, Kukah said, “have lived their lives struggling for the national cake which they will distribute among themselves. It is, therefore, in the interest of ordinary Nigerians to know that they have to vote to stay alive”… Scores of parties’ supporters have been killed as a result of clashes in different parts of the country ahead of the 2023 general elections. That has not stopped the politicians from remaining friends, despite the horrible things they have said against one another.
Indeed, the literature of our politics is replete with many uncomplimentary things some politicians have, only to double down later. For instance, let’s take Governor Wike of Rivers state what he said about Mr Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra state, and the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Watching Wike in an excitable embrace with Peter Obi last week during the latter’s visit to the state to commission one of the projects executed by the former tells the story that, if bad behaviour is a disqualifying offence, none of our politicians will be fit for public office. Recall that Wike had described Obi with the most superlative, fitting and dignified language, and promised to provide him (Obi) with “logistics support” for whenever he visits Rivers state for campaign. These are some of his tributes for Obi. “You worked very well in Anambra state. Where you come from, bad belle, envy…even me here, people are fighting me, bad belle, envy. Because of the level you are now, they are envying you in your state…, But don’t worry, that’s how it’s”. Perhaps this was a veiled dig at Gov. Chukwuma Soludo over his recent diatribe to Obi, Wike empathized with Obi, saying, “it’s your own person that will kill you first. So, don’t bother”. Contrast this with the disgusting comments Wike made against Obi on September 29, 2022, on ‘Politics Today’, a programme of Channels Television. That was sequel to Obi’s resignation from the PDP. Wike’s words: “Peter Obi leaving PDP does not surprise me because he knows there is no way he would have won in the presidential primary. I went to Anambra and told them(the delegates), don’t waste your votes on him. Since he (Obi) left APGA as governor, he has never won an election in Anambra state. Check it. The issue is that, at that level, there must be integrity, there must be character”.
He also criticised Obi over speculation few months ago that he(Obi) was considering offers from the New Nigeria People’s Party(NNPP) to be fielded as Vice Presidential candidate of the party. Recall that Obi flatly denied that. But that did not prevent Wike from attacking him. He said, “So, when we talk about character and integrity, it’s an issue. You can claim to be the best but if you don’t have character, there is no integrity. As PDP vice presidential candidate in 2019, what did Obi see differently in NNPP that he didn’t see for many years now, just 72 hours to the PDP presidential primary”. Was Wike saying then that Obi lacked integrity and character? Now, that he has doubled down, shouldn’t it be appropriate for him to offer a public apology to the Labour Party Presidential candidate as he did to former Edo Governorship, Adams Oshiomhole? Who says our politics is not interestingly and a big fun to follow. Undoubtedly, Wike has been a revelation in this political dispensation. He is both a talker and a tackler. He embodies the attributes of “no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests”. He craves the centre stage. We have seen a lot of that since he lost out to Atiku in the presidential primary of his party, six months ago. He remains badass, grabbing every public attention, every passing day. If the past few months are a guide, keeping the focus on Wike may offer the simplest path to the notorious quote of ‘no permanent enemies… but only permanent interests’. Truth is, Wike is not alone in this ‘friends today, enemies tomorrow’ syndrome. For good measure, it has become the occupational disease of our politics and politicians. And that is not healthy for democracy. It speaks volumes about conviction politics. You may ask, what does that mean? Conviction politics “is the practice of campaigning based on a politician’s own fundamental values or ideas rather than attempting to represent an existing consensus or simply take positions that are popular in polls”. Late British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher had this to say in 1979 a few months before her election as Prime Minister. “I am not a consensus politician. I am a conviction politician”. She was talking about her core values – things she strongly believed in – and would not be swayed by any doctrine or fancy. How many of our politicians can stand firm in his convictions about politics, knowing that politics is a essentially a human enterprise, and so, must not be driven by personal, selfish interests?
There are, indeed, a number of arguments for conviction politics. One of it is for politicians to be honest, not to be defining truth downwards to suit personal agenda. In practical terms, that means that politicians should strive to say what they believe rather than shading their opinions to please the audience. We have seen enough of personal aggrandisement from many of the presidential candidates ahead of next year’s election. Also, the Wike-led G5 and their choristers, are polluting the political waters, based on selfish interests and not the advancement of the collective good of the people they claim to be fighting for.
In fact, why conviction politics is important, especially at this time, is that it will help our politics and politicians to realise that they will be held responsible for their actions and inactions in office if they win elections. Our politics is the way it is today, polluted by men lacking in strong convictions because they believe they are accountable to no one. That’s why the APC deceived Nigerians in 2015 by telling barefaced lies to hoodwink the electorate, promising to deliver the moon, but ended up delivering the cheese without minding the excruciating pains, the extreme poverty, unemployment and unprecedented insecurities it has inflicted on the people and still asking for the people’s mandate to remain in power next year. That fallacy by President Muhammadu Buhari of having met the yearnings of Nigerians must stop. For that’s not how to govern a country.
