The local government elections have come and gone, and it seems to be more of the same. PDP short of declaring hundred percent win only allowed opposition victory in one or two wards! The children of Iwu have outdone him and Nigeria has a special gift in criminals and rogues now presiding over the local government structure. “Opposition” response has been scattered and uncoordinated as usual, and it does appear that they are drowning in the morose of their own strategy. The opposition movement in Nigeria does appear confounded by the power and enormity of the task and it appears Nigerians have lost faith in their democracy. But no democracy can thrive in the absence of an effective opposition, and we should all be concerned by the absence of one.

The democracy many laid their life down for, is today on life support thanks to the win by all means philosophy of the ruling party and the death of the opposition movement. In his grave, MKO Abiola and his wife Kudirat, martyrs of the Nigerian democratic struggle must be in great discomfort. The democratic nation they fought for and died fighting for, have accepted its fake kind- tyranny in disguise as the norm. No one, not even the clergy men or the civil society seem to be bothered by this last round of waste of public funds! Why do we need to organize elections if the results seem to have been determined? How can you have an election in the absence of opposition parties?

I have no doubt that as a country we can ill afford to continue in our mediocre ways. Something must give some day, but for that day to come a catalyst must be present. The most effective catalyst for change is a pragmatic, sane and common sense opposition strategy that is all including of good men and women of conscience and patriotism. The current political class is so deeply corrupt it is incapable of reforming itself. Hence change must come from the outside, not the inside. In this direction, it is not enough for those of us who see the urgent need  for change to write and preach, rather a sure but certain practical grassroots organization for change is all the more important.

Opposition parties built along the lines of resistance movements like the ANC in South Africa and Hamas in Palestine is long overdue in Nigeria. The current political class in Nigeria is in a stampede to strip the nation of her resources, and anything short of revolution will amount to naught. No nation gets its freedom on a platter of gold. It takes good men of conscience to stick their feet in the soil, stake the grounds and determine to free their women, children and means of livelihood from the ongoing shenanigans that see a nation so blessed with petrol dollars, yet so poor to the bone it cannot afford to fix major roads that sustain its economy or provide constant electricity to its citizens. 

The new opposition movement of Nigeria should look to South Africa, Palestine, Lebanon- countries with long history of resistance against established power base for inspiration. Registration of candidates, organizing on grassroots level and rallying is only one-third of the three legs that turn great resistance movements into veritable force for change and goodwill. In fact, that is just the political dimension to the solution! The all but important charitable and security aspect of an effective resistance movement is yet to be explored in Nigeria in confronting PDP and its apes like Ibori, Atiku, Obasanjo, Odili and Igbinnedion.

To be effective, the new opposition movement in Nigeria must not only be inclusive but must also be populist in mantra and actions. In this direction, a charitable arm dispensing social services using membership dues and fees to members of the public will be most effective. When the opposition movement start filling in for the ineffective governance of the party in power, people at the local level will start turning against the monster that we have at the center. Hamas did it in Palestine, and against al odds threw the ruling Fatah movement out of power in 2005. The new opposition movement must pull resources together to build hospitals, fix roads, provide water and medicine, and even run schools for the benefit of the poorest of the poor. The change will come slowly, but the effect and response at the grassroots level is predictable.

Instead of gunning for high office, Pat Utomi and others (including Professor Wole Soyinka) should devote themselves to building these kinds of organization to offer a clear alternative to a government earning oil billions yet cannot fix Ore-Benin road in five years. An opposition party that have established credentials in providing water, healthcare, road, food and even micro-credit for the poorest in our rural and urban areas will earn the trust and support of the masses. I refuse to believe Nigerians are blind or unintelligent to see the mass looting and stealing the current and past PDP led governments have been perpetrating. Trust me, the billions those governors (Ibori, Odili and Igbinnedion) stole is only a tip of the iceberg compared to what was ongoing at the federal level, yet the election results seem to say otherwise.

However, in the evil tormented world of Nigerian politics good organizing and great charity will not inoculate any well meaning politician from assassinations and death squads. You just need to look at how Bola Ige, Funsho Williams and Dr. Dayo Daramola were slaughtered. In the world where the livelihood of the evil depends on annihilating the good, you enter the fray at your own risk if your purpose is to do well by your electoral mandate. Hence, it is necessary that any effective opposition arm must maintain a force for intelligence and defense like the ANC and Hamas. This force must not only be able to provide protection to key members of the opposition must also provide intelligence on the “who is who” on the hit list of the evil men that preside at our nation capitals. If need be, such force must also be capable of striking first. In the fight between evil and good, the annihilation of evil is a just response and offense is the best defense.

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle8648=encodeURIComponent(Before the ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 17.12.2007 12:14

mvp  JJC

# 2 Thank you for this useful piece. Tell the Gani's, the Utomi's et al, all the good guys to stop contesting for the post of the president and join existing parties as a way of getting into the National assembly which provides the platform for political experience and the hopes of eventual overthrow of these saboteurs we have as politicians. I don't see anything wrong with them going for the senate for instance. It makes no sense contesting for the post of the president when you are never going to win in view of prevailing conditions in Nigeria. The Falana's, Elumelu's, duke's of Tinapa etc should join the frame, get into the N/A, rally other well meaning Nigerians and form a progressive party which the youths will identify with and embrace as real thing for Nigeria. Until this is done, i doubt if Nigeria will ever have a credible opposition to the ruling PARTY( owan be/ wine & dine) people. Posted by mvp| 17.12.2007 19:33