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Can We
Trust The MDD?
By
Reuben Abati
culled from GUARDIAN, November
20, 2005
The Movement for The Defence of
Democracy (MDD) was launched last week in Lagos as a pressure group to
rescue Nigerian democracy, provide an alternative to the current
asphyxiation of the political space by a behemoth called the Peoples
Democratic Party, and prevent the drift towards an anarchic one-party state.
The group is made up of aggrieved, disgruntled members of the PDP, those who
feel that the PDP has been hijacked by power mongers and particularly
President Olusegun Obasanjo whose word has since become law within the party
and the country, PDP stalwarts who were wrong-footed in the recent PDP zonal
congresses, plus a few members of a faction of the Alliance for Democracy
who seem to be playing smart politics by fishing in the troubled waters of
the PDP and helping to play the role of undertakers.
The full membership list of
the MDD is not yet known as there are others in the background:
Governors, legislators in every Senatorial district, big party men, and
foot-soldiers who are determined to divide the PDP down the middle, and
who may possibly show up at the follow up meetings of the group
scheduled for December 7 and 12. It is particularly ironic that the city
of Lagos was chosen as the venue for the announcement of the birth of
the MDD. A few months ago in this same city, PDP leaders held a rally
where they promised to ensure a "Tsunami" in the politics of Lagos and
sweep Bola Tinubu and his men out of power forever. But now, with the
emergence of the MDD, and the implosion within this self-styled "biggest
political party in Africa", what is happening to the PDP, is poetic
justice: self-inflicted and inevitable.
We do not need any
soothsayer to confirm that this is in part, a by-product of the
clash between the President and Vice President Atiku Abubakar, whose
supporters across the country suddenly became targets of a great
witch-hunt by the former's agents. Although a court of law had
ordered the PDP to follow due process in its zonal congresses and
allow free competition, lists of state executives were faxed to
various PDP branches from Abuja and anyone who at any time sounded
as if he was critical of the President, was shut out of the party.
Old members who started the party even before President Obasanjo
joined politics were denied registration cards; the entire exercise
became a form of sorcery, such that in virtually every state, the
PDP abandoned democracy, opted for tyranny and discouraged free
speech. The underlying agenda was: "stop Atiku by all means. Reduce
his influence within the party. Make it impossible for him to
succeed Baba on the platform of the PDP. And if there is any other
person who may prove to be a potential trouble maker, get rid of
him, embarrass him or her." Although Vice President Atiku has not
identified publicly with the pressure group called the MDD, it is
obvious that the group is a coalition of anti-Obasanjo forces; they
are driven by anger if not disgust, frustration if not despair.
Senator Mohammed
Ohaire (PDP, Kogi Central) summed up the grievances of the group
as follows: "There are signs that things are not really going on
well with the PDP, especially when a notable personality like
myself can be denied registration in my constituency. And all
those people that we have struggled (to get into)... positions
at ward and local government and state levels can be removed
without any cognizance of the efforts that we have put to build
up this party, I think something is wrong." He added: "if you
own a house, a house that is jointly owned and a mad man comes
in and removes all your property and other stakeholders are
staying there watching the mad man doing it, what do you expect
will happen?" Ohaire is complaining about mad men in the PDP;
another PDP stalwart Bamanga Tukur had before him complained
about "armed robbers" taking over the party.
The situation in
the party has thus degenerated so badly that party members
no longer trust each other, they trade abuses; personal
differences have become the main preoccupation of a party
that is supposed to defend the interests of the people. What
does the PDP stand for? When this same party came to power
in 1999 and again won majority seats in 2003, its members
were so triumphant they behaved like a happy family; they
dominated the space like conquerors, and boasted about the
future. Other political parties: the AD, ANPP and the odd 27
others were sidelined, or sucked into a grand conspiracy
against the people.
Politics in
Nigeria is about what anyone can get, it is about
allocation and the sharing of resources; for an average
politician, in the face of allocation and sharing, party
affiliations are unimportant, expediency is all that
matters. And so at all levels, members of the AD, ANPP
and the other political parties who were supposed to
provide an alternative to the PDP simply joined the PDP
train. Their big men accepted contracts and political
appointments from the ruling party either for themselves
or their children. Lawmakers from opposing parties
collected money and other forms of inducement from the
ruling party.
What has
then been demonstrated is the underdeveloped nature
of Nigerian politics and the failure of the
country's political party system. Politics in
Nigeria is about the self not the common good;
political parties do not promote ideas or programmes;
they are vehicles for self-promotion and enrichment.
The party that holds majority power can distribute
patronage and compromise the entire political party
system. The PDP in six years has been the champion
of this vision-less, direction-less politics. It is
invariably a kind of politics that focuses on
personalities rather than ideas; territorial control
rather than the people. And so, it was inevitable
that the PDP soon found itself in self-fulfilling
turf wars. In every state, this turf war has taken
democracy out of the governance process, it presents
the PDP as a party of power mongers without
principles.
Femi
Okurounmu writing in the Tribune (November 16)
has said that the break-away faction of the PDP
that has now formed the MDD is a renegade
faction that is opposed to the reform or
"internal cleansing" or "purification" (!) that
President Obasanjo is carrying out in the PDP.
Okurounmu's pro-Obasanjo, anti-Atiku, anti-Tinubu
analysis plays politics with the subject,
definitely the recent PDP congresses do not
point to any reform or revolution. He writes:
"The recent ward, local government and state
congresses of the party indicate clearly that
the president wants to sanitize it, give it
focus, instill discipline and use it to move the
nation in a reformist direction. It will be no
exaggeration to call the current happenings in
the party a revolution. It is however a
revolution that is welcome to those who have
always argued that a political party must have
clearly defined goals that bind its members,
that its members must be subject to party
discipline and that money should not be the
dominant factor that provides access to
leadership positions but rather the commitment
and loyalty of individuals to the overall goals
of the party. The recent congresses of the PDP
are clearly suggestive of reforms along these
lines." But oh no, Okurounmu is wrong!
In an editorial, the Vanguard newspaper
(November 17) says the MDD is a welcome
development, because an alternative voice in
Nigerian politics is urgently required. The
New Age in its November 17 editorial opinion
says the emergence of the MDD is "perhaps
the most significant political development
since the return to democracy in 1999" But
can we trust the MDD? It is true that
alternative voices are urgently needed at
the moment in Nigerian politics. The
political space has been taken over by only
one theme: 2007 and the politics of
succession, extension and exclusion. There
is also great anxiety about the future.
There can be no doubt about this: we
need alternative voices that can remind
the politicians in the PDP and elsewhere
that the future of this country is
greater than the dreams of
self-appointed messiahs. We need voices
that can articulate the basic priorities
that we need to address as a nation. Our
institutions have failed. INEC is a
political party of sorts. The main
political parties do not respect court
rulings... We need to reinvent the
political party system, and draw up a
transparent electoral framework.
Political parties are supposed to be
mirrors and expressions of the people's
choices and aspirations. They seek power
to promote a vision of society and
translate same into programmes for the
benefit of the people. Alas, our
political parties are special purpose
vehicles for getting into public office;
the process of social and political
advancement is truncated; the PDP in
particular has been handed over to one
man.
The euphoria over the emergence of
the MDD may have arisen over the
comfort that is derived from the
fact that nemesis has at last caught
up with the PDP. But the MDD can
only become an alternative if it is
driven by high ideals. The group is
populated by the same old brigade,
by the same men and women who are
part of the Nigerian problem. To
provide an alternative or quality
opposition, anger or disgust is not
enough. A new movement that is built
on hate or disaffection is not what
we seek in the long run. The MDD
should not be driven simplistically
by a revolt against Obasanjo or a
desperate search for power and
relevance.
It can only become an
alternative if it is driven by
clearly enunciated policies and
programmes, and if its men and
women inspire confidence. The
danger is that some of the
spokespersons for the MDD sound
as if the group is a blackmail
construct: that is, if some of
the aggrieved members are
appeased and re-integrated into
the PDP mainstream, they would
most likely stay inside the PDP.
No great movement can be built
on such an opportunistic
foundation. Nigerians do not
want another party like the PDP
which is organised strictly for
the purpose of gaining power,
for witch-hunt and thievery.
All things considered,
Nigerian politicians,
whatever may be their
affiliation, have failed
Nigerians. Great nations are
built by political and
pressure groups, by men and
women who subordinate their
private urges to the needs
of the people. In Nigeria,
there is too much hypocrisy.
Every man who goes into
politics wants to ride a
bullet proof car, keep money
in foreign bank accounts,
build houses in every state
capital and own an oil block
through which he can collect
rent from the Nigerian
state. Every big man wants
to use his position to steal
opportunities for his own
sons and daughters, for his
wives and concubines, and
for the many sycophants that
surround him. It doesn't
matter if the people have no
food to eat, no schools in
which their children can be
taught and prepared for the
future, no hospitals where
access to quality healthcare
can be guaranteed, no roads
on which they can
travel...This is the legacy
of the past six years.
Sadly, there is no
single person in
Nigerian politics today
who commands a large
national following and
who can serve as the
symbol for national
progress. Obasanjo could
have risen to that
status but he has
allowed himself to
return to the original
level of a village royal
chief, and if he further
allows himself to be
tempted by the thieves
who are campaigning that
he should remain in
power beyond 2007, he
would have destroyed
whatever is left of his
hard-earned place in the
public arena. When he
eventually leaves
office, he would be no
better than the prisoner
of Minna!
It is unfortunate
that as the
politicians jostle
for power and the
legislators watch
the pendulum of
political influence,
the machinery of
governance is
gradually grinding
to a halt. Mark my
words, by January
2006, no real
governance would
take place again in
Nigeria; it is the
game of political
survival that would
dominate public
discourse fully and
unfortunately.
Already, every
politician is
looking for where to
pitch tent: with
Obasanjo or Atiku,
with the democrats
or the dictators,
with the
constitutionalists
or the buccaneers,
the federalists or
the power mongers?
The greatest
disservice that
the PDP has done
to Nigerians is
to reduce
Nigeria's Fourth
Republic to a
choice between
two political
camps and
personalities.
Truly, there is
need to defend
the people's
democracy, but
even more
importantly,
there is need to
save Nigeria. It
is not the
professional
politicians that
would do it, it
is only the
people who can
save the country
and its future.
Arise o
Compatriots!
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