That time when politicians who only tick tinderboxes parade themselves before Nigerians, peddling frivolous credentials and no few forged certificates has come again and having gone through five general elections since 1999, discerning Nigerians now know how to spot a lie when they see one.
A cast of questionable characters
For the ruling All Progressives Congress, after seven years during which those elected on its platform have by their ineptitude betrayed the party as utterly empty, Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as its presidential candidate after some comical intrigues that would have drawn laughter from an ailing nation were its situation not so bad.
To run with him is Kashim Shettima, and he has shown no remorse for picking a Muslim running mate even as Nigeria is at its most divided point ever. The All Progressives Congress in going for Tinubu should have left bad enough alone.
For the PDP, each time it stands before Nigerians, it must no doubt be with some shame, that is if the party has any left. It had sixteen years during which it could have swept away an odious military legacy and set Nigeria on the path to prosperity but it largely did nothing only to fittingly lose in 2015.
Today, it feels that its flag stand the best chance in the hands of two-time former vice president Atiku Abubakar. But as in previous years, it appears the party has nothing to offer.
A country and its undertakers
During public appearances, many of Nigerias undertakers fix their funereal faces and finetune their flowery verbiage while doing their best to wail themselves hoarse as if they too are heartbroken by Nigerias many problems, many of which they have a hand in. But that is where it stops.
Between the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, as opposition politics have shrunk in recent years, sycophantic synergy has taken its place, as seen in the movement of politicians who continue to flock between the two parties, taking their poison with them. With this poison now seeping into the editorial boards of some national newspapers, the menace is real indeed.
If many of those who are responsible for Nigerias many problems have now stuffed themselves into the ranks of Nigerias major political parties from where they are calling the shots, what hope is there then for Nigeria?
Between a rock and a hard ground
For those Nigerians who are reluctant to try new things, the choice next year will be between the PDP which held the reins of power from 1999 until 2015, doing very little to set the country on the path to prosperity in that time, and the All Progressives Congress which has since sought to outdo its predecessor in ineptitude.
Those who think Nigerians naïve have deliberately and increasingly grown louder with the argument that the political party does not matter but the candidate. It is a clever argument but one which ultimately turns out empty especially when examined in the light of the fact that the apple does not fall far from the tree.
For so long, Nigeria has had the misfortune of being governed by those for whom politics is about patronage and partisanship. People like these have contributed in no small measure to complicating Nigeria`s strained relationship with its diversity.
Nigerians have to commit to charting a new course come 2023.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
