By Donu Kogbara
I HAVE always said that the only real difference between the PDP and other political parties is that the PDP happens to be more successful than its rivals.

This view has been endorsed by some ACN members who recently contacted me to accuse their leaders of imposing election candidates on the rank and file.

I frequently hear similar complaints from disgruntled PDP members (state and federal legislators who lost out in the primaries are particularly embittered).

And when I asked a friend who is a CPC member whether Buhari relates to his acolytes in an  egalitarian manner, my friend tactfully changed the subject.

Well-informed observers of the Nigerian political scene know that true democracy has not yet taken root in this country…and that all of the main parties are ruled by guys whose instincts are tyrannical…and that every party has its fair share of dubious members…and that the parties that are currently out in the cold contain several individuals who would behave appallingly if they were given a chance to run public institutions and control economic resources.

In other words, even though the ACN, CPC, etc, claim to have reformist agendas and are always bellyaching about the PDP, they are far from perfect themselves. As far as I’m concerned, the main problem that most critics of the PDP have is the fact that it is others and not they who have access to the juicy goodies in the corridors of power; and these hypocrites should remember the saying that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones!

Before I’m accused of being a PDP apologist, let me assure you that I am not holding brief for the PDP or insinuating that there are no sincere people in other parties. I am simply sceptical about the conduct and motives of the average PDP detractor. I am simply tired of listening to pots calling the kettle black. I am simply wishing that we had more credible opposition party.

Admirable  objectivity

I HAVE  a Fulani friend who is quiet, calm, erudite and essentially apolitical. He doesn’t have strong pro- or anti- feelings towards President Jonathan, his opponents or any other office-holder, office-seeker or well-known personality.

He isn’t happy when politicians misbehave, but he doesn’t generally comment on their misbehaviour. His main interests in life are to get on with his job as an architect, look after his family and read books about world history for pleasure.

I was therefore very surprised when this friend came to visit me, a few days after the PDP convention, in an uncharacteristically opinionated frame of mind.

He said that though he wasn’t sure Jonathan was ideal leadership material, he felt that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar deserved to lose to Jonathan.

When I asked him why he was so anti-Atiku, he said that he had heard, while he was visiting Kano a couple of days before the convention, some “disgracefully divisive” radio adverts that had been sponsored by Atiku’s campaign organisation and aired by a Northern radio station.

He said that the adverts were full of bigoted religious and ethnic sentiments…and that they depicted Jonathan as an outsider of sorts whose ambitions should be vigorously fought by all Northerners.

My friend said that many of the Northerners he knew were extremely embarrassed by the adverts and shared his view that Jonathan is a fellow Nigerian, not an alien…and that Atiku, being a national figure rather than local champion, should have outgrown such nakedly tribalistic tactics.

I totally agree and thank him for being so admirably objective. It is very easy to automatically side with anyone who comes from your part of the country and  Nigerians who reject the temptation to wallow in sectionalism deserve applause.

Lousy legislators

WHILE many legislators are licking their wounds and bemoaning the fact that they will not return to state houses of assembly or the National Assembly after the election, many of their constituents are celebrating their political demises because they have not earned the affection and respect of their constituents.

Most of them were bad representatives who never did their jobs properly and have not positively impacted on the lives of those they were supposed to serve. Most of them have sat on their high horses like lords of the manor for four or more years, ‘chopping’ various benefits and not giving a damn about anyone else.

The thing that annoys me most is that they are being thrown out for the wrong reasons. They should have been unceremoniously ejected because they performed woefully. But they are being thrown out purely because they weren’t their Governors’ favourites. And it’s not as if their Governors preferred other candidates because they felt that other candidates would perform better. The Governors are easing them out only because they aren’t special cronies.

And since Governors’ special cronies are rarely the most principled or most talented or most caring people in any given state, I am willing to bet that those who replace these departing legislators will, on the whole, be just as selfish and ineffective as their predecessors. What did we do to deserve this status quo?

God help Nigeria!