It may just be a bubble. A phantasm. An ignis
fatuus. A castle on quicksand. It may not take long before the house caves in.
The Labour Party electoral rendition is a thrilling experiment of what could
be. Of political possibilities. Of change. But it appears the party is doomed
to collapse under the weight of its own afflictions and internal
contradictions.
The Labour Party has won 40
National Assembly seats so far — according to records by INEC. Peter Obi,
presidential candidate of the party, put up a notable performance in the
presidential election, though there are disputes over votes from the states he
won as there are allegations that they were ballooned in his favour.
But are these sputters of fortune
enough to keep the party afloat? I think not. The party is becoming vigorously
ethnicised, rigid, and anti-intellectual. I believe the party may end up like
APGA – a failed experiment and poor attempt at building a people’s forum.
There is no guarantee that those
who were swept into parliament on the wave of juvenile anger will remain in the
party afterwards. And even if some of them do, there is no certainty that the
same wind will blow again in subsequent elections.
At parliament, the beneficiaries
of the ‘’Obi phenomenon’’ will fight for survival, opportunities, and trade
interests. There is the likelihood that some of them will cross into other
parties for whatever interest they hold.
So, that the Labour Party has 40
seats in parliament today is not a guarantee of political sustenance or
survival in the long run. It is not a guarantee of anything. The party remains
a rustled-up vehicle without organic and deep roots. It lacks intellectual
bearings, and its supporters are vacuous, angry, and menacing. It is only held
together, at the moment, by youthful anger, but what happens when the rage
tapers off?
The much-vaunted Obi phenomenon
will fizzle out as soon as the elections are done, and the youth have other
worthy distractions. I do not see Peter Obi sustaining the momentum long after
the elections. He may retreat to his business and wait for another
happenstance. It is the reason I said it would be historic if Obi extends a
hand of fellowship to the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, rather
than chasing apparitions and chest-thumping while at it.
APGA used to be that party. The
third leg. It held some promise. The party came on stream as democracy returned
to Nigeria in 1999. It won some elections. But over time, the party became
rigidly regional. It became defiant to political evolution. While the ACN,
which was founded much later in the 2000s, was able to build from its base to
the centre by attuning itself to the times and evolving accordingly, APGA was closed
and straitjacketed.
APGA lost its oomph and quickly
took on the brand of a sectional party. The dream of the revered Igbo leader,
Odumegwu Ojukwu, was for the party to become a national brolly – a stamping
ground for all Nigerians. To build from the base and levitate to the centre.
But the party failed to realise this dream. It was racked by internecine
squabbles, greed, lack of foresight by subsequent managers, insularity, and
sabotage.
The Labour Party appears
uninoculated against the APGA contagion. The party is becoming rigidly
ethnicised. Ethnic irredentists have seized the party, branding it after
themselves – recreating it in their own image. Some of these irredentists who
take up residence on social media are quick to establish they ‘’own’’ the
Labour Party, shutting out divergent interrogations.
Even Aisha Yesufu, a prominent
voice of the Obi campaign, was not spared of the noxious epithet by these
sudden appropriators of the Labour Party. She was reminded, ‘’you are not one
of us’’ – despite her immense support for their candidate.
These appropriators of the Labour
Party should take the pain to study the ethos of their party. It is
conventionally a workers’ party. But I guess anger and bigotry drive
anti-intellectualism. There is no place for bigotry in an intellectually
fecundated mind.
I am of the view that this
new-fangled mob is a latent threat to our democracy. Our conversations on
politics have never been this contaminated. In reality, this problem stretches
beyond the Labour Party mob. But I would advise those who care to listen to
desist from spreading poison and freely trading bigotry.
There is no trophy but damnation
for being a loud-mouthed bigot.
Fredrick Nwabufo, Nwabufo a.k.a Mr OneNigeria, is a writer
and journalist
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Very brilliant write up. I like your effective choice of words. Unfortunately, that angry mob won't listen to any of these. They are already on an irreversible high gear down the abyss. Don't let them drag you with them.
ReplyDeletePlease, your oraltary eloqency sounds as personal intention to LP as a party,
ReplyDeleteYou forget to say that the north always find it very difficult to accept any party originating from that east.The playing of sectional partisan in Nigeria is a case study,
To an extent APC is yet to get a soft landing even after 8 years of being at the centre.
So project for LP to be a successful party
It's funny you'll say the north finds it difficult to accept any party originating from the east, when the east themselves don't even know what they want. They've bluntly refused to see the light, even when people like soludo tell them the truth, he is regarded as an enemy
DeleteWhat is the light? Please explain
DeleteGo and read Soludo's piece, this time slowly. I believe this news blog published it, look for it and if you're still blind to it, may you recover someday or not, it doesn't really matter
DeleteIt is ideotic to say such trash. A stolen mandate must be restored to the owner. Rubbish
ReplyDeleteSo the 3rd position will carry first, lol
Delete