By Adisa Adeleye

It can be safely assumed that democracy returned to Nigeria after the death of that military dictator, General Sanni Abacha.  The return of democracy started in 1999 after the often forgotten character named General Abdusallam Abubakar terminated the 16 army rule that featured General Buhari, General Babangida and General Abacha.  Thus, the Nigerian democratic experiment started in 1999 under the 1999 Constitution (as now amended).

In the Nigerian political history, political parties have appeared in various guises, and have also disappeared under different guises.  The famous names were the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP of Herbert Macaulay) which dominated Lagos politics in the 1920s and 1930s, but later dissolved into the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) of 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, before the civil war (1967-1970).

The dominant parties after the Nigerian Independence in 1960 were the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the NCNC led by Dr Azikiwe, and the Action Group (AG) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.  All these parties derived their political strength from their regional bases of the Northern, Eastern, and Western Regions of the country.   The polarization of politics in those days has remained a constant.

However, credit must be given to the military president, General Babangida for a subtle attempt to introduce political process in a strictly military environment.   By a fiat, two political parties were created – Nigerian Republican Congress (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), one to the Right and the other to the Left.  In fairness, the attempt was working until the annullement of the presidential election presumed to have been won by the SDP candidate, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.  That single act by a military dictator made nonsense the idea that Nigerian people could elect their Leader.

Map of Nigeria

The political drama of the 1990s ended with the dissolution of the two political parties of the Babangida era by another brutal military dictator, Sanni Abacha.  He allowed the replacement of the two-party structure with a multi-party system of five political parties, registered and funded by the Federal Military Government.

Those political parties, described by late Bola Ige as the five fingers of a leprous hand could not hide their true identity as each continued to nominate General Abacha as its sole candidate to contest as President of the country.  It was the death of the grand-master that put an end to the inglorious political experiment.

In the 1999 elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the presidential election against the combined opposition of the other strong parties, Alliance for Democracy (AD), and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).  A former Army General and Head of State Chief Olusegun Obasanjo won comfortably against Chief Olu Falae.

Though many Nigerians doubted the result but the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the PDP candidate.  Since 1999, the PDP has been controlling the governments of the federation and the majority of the states, leaving the opposition mainly of ACN, ANPP, CPC, APGA, and LP with the control of a few states.

Thus, the present political scenario is characterized by a single big and powerful party, and other divided and weak small parties.  The stronger party exercises almost absolute control on the political life and the resources of the country.  Its constant exercise of mediocrity is left unchallenged except through critical comments by some patriotic Nigerians. As at present, inefficiency in governance is no longer a consuming electoral debate because of a weak divided opposition.

Even, the present attempt by the opposition parties to merge and form a single but virile body is treated with levity by members of the ruling party and majority of ordinary Nigerians who seem to have lost confidence in political party structure.

In the present analysis, political parties have been treated as groups of people who form associations to take part in the art of governance and are so recognized and registered by the electoral agencies to take part in all elections.  So far, the discussions have been on the attitude of political parties and the welfare of the Nigerian people, irrespective of the party in power.  What is true of PDP is also true of the other parties in the states in which they come from.  As the PDP is a ruling power in the centre, so it is also an opposition party in the Lagos State or Yobe State.

What is observed as the PDP attitude of not allowing opposition to grow is also true of the other ruling parties of not allowing PDP to expand in their respective states.  Thus, the practice of democracy, which is the government of the people by the people and for the people, as represented in Nigeria by the political party system, has failed woefully because Nigerian people are not yet fully involved.

Unhappily, the Nigerians of today will not see themselves as Nigerians who are prepared to effect changes through collective actions.  Rather, they see themselves, or perceived by others as Hausa/Fulani; Yoruba; Ibo and of recent, Ijaw whose loyalty is to the leader and his ruling party.  Unfortunately, the ruling parties see themselves as local champions of their predominant tribes and not the parties for all.

This makes it very difficult to punish inefficiency and bad governance because of the principle of we must support our “son” under any circumstance.  So, political analysts who are dreaming of the defeat of the existing ruling parties should not forget the salient factors of tribal and religious sentiments and their obvious electoral advantages.

Although to many, the former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (not a true democrat), once noted that the essential ingredient of democracy is the freedom and the provision of choices for the people.  He noted that “crucial for me is that a democratic setting must involve a choice on personalities and a choice of programmes; fundamental human rights and obligations as well as freedom of expression.  The Greeks that bestowed democracy on the world did practice it without political parties”.  It then follows that to Chief Obasanjo and the present leadership of the PDP, “multi-party bickering is definitely a luxury we cannot afford”, even if it is recognized as one of the tenets of genuine democracy.

On the past and current criticisms of President Jonathan on governance, the relevant advice is that he should ponder on the words of the Proverbs (15:31-32) that, “If you listen to constructive criticisms, you will be at home among the wise, if you reject criticisms, you only harm yourself”