THE DANGEROUS SILENCE OF THE OPPRESSED
From 1999 when the fourth Republic took off, opposition politics only became heated with the consolidation of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the South West, not because the party was different in character from opposition
platforms like the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), but due to its coordinated and sustained attacks on the policies of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level.
The ACN in its deployment of media messages in opposing the policy direction of the Jonathan
government created a charged political atmosphere likened to a sea wave. This was seen in the intensity of the debates that created Occupy Nigeria protest in 2012. Though not the kind of opposition to serve the common good, yet it laid bare the failure of leadership.
This was a time the National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Lai Mohammed, now Nigeria’s Minister of Information, assumed a maverick status in the manner he took on the PDP government, shooting at the right spots as the government gasp for breath.
Some say he spoke for the the people. Some say it was a disguise that went too far, as their tenure since 2015 has gone on to emphasize the crisis of the Nigerian state. The crisis is about the accident of leadership, failure of policy & the weakness of institutions of the state.
This is compounded by social instability resulting from the conflicts of ethnicity, emboldened by rigid structural divides.
On becoming All Progressives Congress (APC) in a grand alliance, Lai Mohammed’s party used popular activism to upstage Jonathan.
No wonder the party won the 2015 election with its message of change. This kind of opposition politics has since dissolved into despair for the common man as rhetoric has failed to put food on the table.
Can PDP be convincing to the extent of holding a better promise than APC?
APC like PDP has shown that those who trust in leadership for comfort and development should learn to leak their wounds in agony.
The concern is that both parties suffer the consequences of betrayer of trust. However, the structure of the state and the character of her politics
shortchange the people in the absence of viable alternatives.
By and large, the people find themselves between the devil and the deep blue sea. This does not mean the people cannot find a way out.
The long silence by those who feel the pinch of bad governance - the oppressed, should not be misconstrued for docility. It is more than that.
It is a dangerous sign.
#StateAffairs
#NationBuilding
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