HUNGER can do things to an individual. He could get angry, go for anything to quash the hunger, without minding the conditions, or hold on to his convictions, no matter what. Many of our politicians are hungry for power, just like ordinary Nigerians need food, water, health services, jobs.

Nothing would have been wrong if the hunger for power has some space to address the problems that generality of Nigerians face. Politicians want power for themselves, their immediate families. For them, being in office is the opportunity to oppress others. Power is so important to politicians that they are willing to compromise to get power.

FILE PHOTO:Former Governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi and his wife sharing cooked jollof rice to elderly people in the state before the election.

Once they smelt the juicy trappings of appointments, the possibilities of access to national coffers under the guise of serving the people, politicians are ready to jump ship, denounce everything they once claimed to be, if such change of position will get them into office. Their campaigns on the evils of other parties are basic efforts at creating relevance for themselves in their desperate search for political positions.

In real terms, the differences among the parties are facades meant to maintain the options available to politicians if they fail at the polls. The politicians’ mentality is more about their own welfare (democracy of the stomach, as the late Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe called it) than any improvement in the condition of Nigerians.

More recently, “stomach infrastructure” has been used to describe the aspiration of Nigerians for basics, especially food, which wily politicians exploit in canvassing for votes. While it may seem that ordinary Nigerians are the only ones for “stomach infrastructure”, the frequent flip of politicians from one party to the other, is a higher version of the search for basic needs. The hunger for political office overshadows minimal standards of rule of law in elections. Politicians would do anything to be in office.

Beyond the jostling for office, the political parties should be clearer on their positions on salient issues like the economy, security, and job creation. None of them has informed positions on these issues. Their campaign promises are not discussing how they would mobilise resources to run the country in the midst of collapsed oil prices. How would they re-direct the country from the near total dependence on oil? What is their magic wand for rapid improvements in electricity supply?

Democracy of the stomach is crucial to the survival of democracy. Without addressing the basic needs of the people, particularly excruciating poverty, that limits the capacities of people to appreciate issues, politicians are creating crisis that can drown democracy. People are hungry; people are angry.

Nigerians, in their, anger should consider future hunger in casting their votes.