I recall reading a Nigerian newspaper report sometime this year about the appointment of Prince Vincent Ogbu-lafor as the new National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The report quoted him as saying he would be 101% loyal to the president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. This African “Prince” was taking over from Dr. Ahmadu Ali, who presumably was 101% loyal to the party.

I was confused by his inconsistency when during the handover ceremony the new Chairman was quoted as saying that: “The incoming national executive committee has been very carefully selected to serve this party and to make sure the principle of democracy is sustained.” He was also quoted as saying that the new PDP national executive committee was carefully selected to save the party and democracy in Nigeria.

What a task for men and women not renowned for their character, I wondered. In a corruption ridden country like Nigeria, how do you achieve the objective of being 101% loyal to the president and at the same time insure that the tenets of democracy are sustained. Here lies the irony. How you can be 101% loyal to a president who has a questionable integrity in the fight against corruption and who in his election had apparently disregarded the democratic process.

When you are faced with a question like “are you loyal to the political party or the president”, it presupposes that those are the only choice you have. National interest and personal interest are the other choices that some people tend to take for granted. The common presumption is that political party loyalty equates to serving the national interest while personal interest tends to be better served when you are loyal to the president. I do not share the view that party loyalty equates to serving the national interest.

Theoretically, truly dedicated and principled politicians are loyal to their party because the party stands for those values and beliefs that they hold dear. While this may hold true in many cases, there are quite a few exceptions. I do not believe there’s any one political party today whose values and beliefs as agreed to be implemented meet the aspiration needs of all its members. You tend to see a range of opinion on how to achieve the various issues that the party stands for.

I do not see politics as anything other than a game involving conflicts and conflict management. How well you play the game determines your ability to rise in status and accumulate wealth. Politics today in the modern world is not just about dedicating your life to serving your people but as a career and a business.

In order to succeed in any career and business you need to have certain qualities. These include integrity, charisma, tact, listening skills, change management and negotiating skills, knowing when to compromise and ability to appropriately choose your moments. The ability to compromise and choose your moments require a higher level of interpersonal and negotiating skills.

Getting on well with people and being in the right company are essential requirements for business success and career progression. Unfortunately getting on with people means you will have to dine with, and be seen in the company of people of questionable character. If you can’t do that you can’t play politics.

The above raises another familiar question. Which is, how could anyone who is principled be involved in politics? It is tempting to say true politicians aren’t principled. But I beg to disagree. If you agree that politics is about conflict resolution, then you will agree that you cannot resolve a conflict without being seen amongst the parties to the conflict. If you play your card right your own character and personality will shine through to the electorate and party members.

The silliest thing to do is to upset the gatekeeper who has the key to grant you access to the premises that you want to enter. The easiest way to jeopardise your political career and your ability to progress up the party ladder is to continually go against the party line or antagonise the political leadership. It is the desire to rise to prominence within the political structure that makes some people lose their ability to take independent decisions.

Loyalty to the party leadership is essential. The question therefore isn’t whether you should be loyal to the president or the political party; it is more about being loyal to yourself and the course you have chosen to pursue. If you are a principled person, you would have been very careful in choosing the political party you want to associate with. A political party may claim to uphold similar values and beliefs that you hold but that is nothing if the leadership does not believe in its manifesto.

The paragraph above leaves us with another difficult puzzle. How do you challenge the political leadership to toe the party line without losing favour? If politics is a career and a business, preserving self-interest is the fundamental consideration of all the ambitious players. In Nigeria, the unfortunate thing is that the ordinary party member believes that the president is anointed by God, so they believe he possesses extraordinary perceptual abilities and has a divine wisdom. So the president is beyond criticism by party members, at least while in office.

The best approach to challenging the leadership of a political party is to apply your change management skill, tact and negotiating skills. You have to test the water by sampling the views of other leading party members, particularly the less ambitious ones. It is the less ambitious group of party members that I classify as the king makers. They are the ones that sit back and watch things unfold. Politics isn’t a career or a business for them and they are therefore able to call the party leader’s bluff.

Generally, a political party will survive the president and many presidents will come and go. So the party should always come first. Loyalty to the president should only be to the extent that the president tows the party line and implements the party manifesto.

Nosa Olotu, UK

(nosa@olotu.org)

Robot  Villager

# 1 The silliest thing to do is to upset the gatekeeper who has the key to grant you access to the premises that you want to enter. The easiest way to jeopardise your political career and your ability ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 29.09.2008 07:47

.bebi  Villager

# 2 Was it Zebrudaya that gave this thread its title? Posted by .bebi| 29.09.2008 15:18

Dewdrops  Villager

# 3 =Robot;274876>The silliest thing to do is to upset the gatekeeper who has the key to grant you access to the premises that you want to enter. The easiest way to jeopardise your political career and your ability ...Read the full article. Loyalty to the party leadership is essential. The question therefore isn’t whether you should be loyalty to the president or the political party; it is more about being loyal to yourself and the course you have chosen to pursue. If you are a principled person, you would have been very careful in choosing the political party you want to associate with. A political party may claim to uphold similar values and beliefs that you hold but that is nothing if the leadership does not believe in its manifesto..................................... Neither............the reason I do not believe in exercizing any meaningless voting rights in Nigeria. I have never voted and will never vote since my vote never counts. ..........................And what is the basis of such a concept as "loyalty"? In places like Nigeria, these questions are irrelevant, since the only known sets of principles that exist are those of duplicity, corruption, falsehood, selfishness, lack of consideration and wickedness to mention just a few. So every man for himself, every woman for herself, every child for himself or herself and every goat for itself! Yes, loyalty to a party is essential, but not in Nigeria where you have a dictatorship masquerading under the guise of "political parties". How can you be loyal to such? With a gun to your head? The people do not have elective powers so why should they be loyal to their hostage takers? When the people of Nigeria have "elective" powers in a truly democratic environment, then we can discuss loyalties. All we can do right now is cry as Nigeria marks (not celebrate) it's 48th year of existence in shame. All bets are off, so please let us stop deceiving ourselves. You have so-called leaders that are not accountable to anyone but their Ghana Must Go Bags and we are here discussing loyalties? Is loyalty meant to be for sale like 'the conscience' of man is for sale in places like Nigeria? Do you think everyone has gone mad and taken leave of his or her senses, thereby losing the simple ability to think? My loyalty is not for sale honey! Political career based on "thuggery" indeed! Nice try buddy, better luck next time. Next topic please! Posted by Dewdrops| 30.09.2008 01:57

DanielBAfilaka  Villager

# 4 Very sorry to bust your bubble my good sir but the above written article is applicable only to the Labour or conservative parties in the UK!! Lovely article but written for a different audience!! In Nigeria's developing democracy Party and Political power is one and the same thing!! The party members are just there to milk their cow the President!! In your comparative analysis which is what your article really is you should answer the question that how much of Tony Blairs or Browns personal fortune did they spend on getting elected?? Probably nought so YOU CAN NOT JUDGE NIGERIA with the same yardstick!! Different terrain, different mentality, different ideologies hence different political motivations!! :biggrin::biggrin: Cheers DBA- NYL President Nigerian Youth League Motto: Dialogue, Power & Progress www.nigerianyouthleague.org Posted by DanielBAfilaka| 30.09.2008 03:34

Enforcer  Villager

# 5 =DanielBAfilaka;275155>Very sorry to bust your bubble my good sir but the above written article is applicable only to the Labour or conservative parties in the UK!! Lovely article but written for a different audience!! In Nigeria's developing democracy Party and Political power is one and the same thing!! The party members are just there to milk their cow the President!! In your comparative analysis which is what your article really is you should answer the question that how much of Tony Blairs or Browns personal fortune did they spend on getting elected?? Probably nought so YOU CAN NOT JUDGE NIGERIA with the same yardstick!! Different terrain, different mentality, different ideologies hence different political motivations!! :biggrin::biggrin: Cheers DBA- NYL President Nigerian Youth League Motto: Dialogue, Power & Progress www.nigerianyouthleague.org DanielBAfilaka I think the article addressed sufficiently the main message in your post. Would you mind reading the article again, please? I have read the artilce over and over. I couldn't see it as a comparative analysis of politics in the UK and Nigeria. Do you think there is something I am missing? Posted by Enforcer| 30.09.2008 15:44