There are some 40 to 50 'third force' parties in Nigeria. Choose one, vote wisely. But don't expect any to affect the election of those who have been in control of the political economy since 1960s.
Fixing Nigeria is not by elections, but by mass agitations for systemic reform.
If elections were won by good sense in Nigeria, Gani Fawehinmi would have been president and Obasanjo in jail.
A third force cannot progress when the road has not been constructed for it. We need to create an enabling political environment first before urging people to contest.
Mandela could never have won an election in an apartheid system. South Africans first had to dismantle the toxic political system, then setup a new Constitution.
They didn't say: 'If you dislike apartheid, then go and contest and change it from inside.'
Think, Nigerians.
We tell our young people to go and contest against our elitist political class. Years later when they are swallowed by the political system and become 'one of them', we then express disappointment.
Isn't it clear by now that there's no individual winning against the system?
The closest I ever came to working with a govt, I realised that what they wanted was an errand boy, not a contributor. I pulled back quickly.
Our current political system is an apprenticeship. You rise only if you demonstrate loyalty to the status quo. There is no other way.
You will not get to Aso Rock as an 'outsider' third force. There is no such road to Aso Rock. We haven't constructed that road yet.
The only road to Aso Rock now is by patronage from the grassroots to the political elite. You bow your way across the ladder. Ask Buhari.
And if you think Aso Rock is too far, try your local politics. It is even worse there because that is the base on which the superstructures of the political elite rests. This is where violence happens.
Go read Achebe's 'A Man of the People' to understand this grassroots control.
(Footnote on South Africa: They actually had black people who contested under the apartheid system and won elections. Despised till today because bad soil cannot produce good fruit. Read up on the Bantustans)
@Moodyaga1 Pardon me for posting old conversations, but as you can imagine it is exhausting to have the same conversations again and again with every new person to my TL.
We Yoruba people are now basically led by smugglers, drug lords, low-level politicians, and patronage entertainers.
Gone are the intellectual and industrial giants, the scientific innovators, and the ideological politicians who crafted critical essays to articulate their vision.
Our best are gone elsewhere, leading innovation abroad. Our worst are here winning elections with the support of our people just because they are Yoruba - people who, back in the day, would have been chased away with stones as thieves and brigands.
If we are not careful, this is going to be our defining identity for years to come. The reputation Yorubas had for decades as being the most educated etc was not just because we sent kids to schools but because our leadership reflected this.
Reminder that the the antidote to a civilian dictatorship/weak democracy is not a military coup.
The antidote is civil society pushing for strong institutions through critical opinion, protests, litigation, and electing candidates who are anti-elite interests.
Never soldiers.
When the military runs the govt, every soldier - from the private to the General - becomes an extension of government. The entire military becomes a political institution. While the Generals are fighting the West, the soldiers on the streets are dealing with everyday citizens.
The military owes no one accountability. It is accountable only to itself - not to the courts, not to the legislature, and not to the people.
The individual soldiers are accountable only to their superiors, who are in turn accountable only to their superiors. Power is top-down.
What @cchukudebelu said about politicians repeating the mistakes of the 1st and 2nd Republics is critical.
History is replaying not just at home but all around. Coups are on the rise again and are being welcomed by the masses. This is very alarming and our leaders are to blame.
When military interventions started deposing democracies of the 1960s, nobody was surprised except the politicians.
They were still jostling for appointments and sharing contracts while everyday people were fuming.
When the house came down, they did not see it coming.
And yet the signs of trouble were everywhere: growing agitations over social issues: declining confidence in the legitimacy of elections; the increasing use of the military to suppress civilian protests; and increasing wealth gap between the political elite and everyday people.
I had come to Abuja to facilitate a human rights meeting with several NGOs and my accommodation was also booked at the hotel where the meeting would be taking place. 🧵
Soon as I landed, I sent messages to my friends in Abuja confirming that I was around.
As always, whenever I am in Nigeria, my friends would come welcome me at my accommodation, share a drink or two and generally gist. This time was no different.
For now.
One of them promised to stop by on her way home from work, also in the area.
Of the people I texted, she was the first to get to my place. I had checked into the hotel around 6.20pm and she got there around 6.40pm. Barely 15 minutes later, three police officers came to my door.
This piece of history is often overlooked: Abeokuta had a separate treaty with Britain in 1893 and was not under the Southern protectorate but existed as a sovereign kingdom. In 1914, Lugard broke the treaty, sent troops into Abeokuta and forcibly annexed the kingdom to Nigeria.
The colonisation and amalgamation of Nigeria is often told as a linear narrative where the main actor is the British. But the different societies had their own stories of resistance and surrender. Some very compelling. Nigerian school curricula should focus more on these.
The battle for Lagos is one of those stories that should be common knowledge. In November 1851, there was fighting for three days between the Eko Kingdom and the British navy. The British shelled the city until they eventually surrendered.