2015 is around the corner and the news is always replete with party – defections, infections, reflections, perceptions, deceptions, relations, intentions and any other ‘tion’ you can think of.
It’s time for our ears to be filled with rhetoric about how this party is better than that party and which party is the best to join. There have been recent assertions that Nigeria has technically become a two party state; PDP and APC. I agree, Nigeria is a two party state. To ensure proper political participation, I believe it is imperative we understand such things as this as well as the general political climate. So from my own point of view, Nigeria is a two party state; Elite (Upper-class) and Masses (Hoi Polloi). I guess I got you there, right?
You were waiting for me to reiterate PDP and APC. Seriously, those two are more like elitist interest groups than political parties as far as I’m concerned and they are just the same, it’s like in chess; the Rook is also the Castle, so whichever name you choose to identify it with does not change its functions or abilities in the game. Political parties are rooted in ideologies and policy strategy, ask APC or PDP folks their economic, foreign or any other policy strategy. I honestly don’t think either APC or PDP has any of those things, hence the seamless defections and porting back and forth. Like I said, there are two parties, the Elite and the Masses.
The Elite (Upper-class), be they political elite, economic elite or both combined, are the folks in the high places, folks who get appointed to the various high-powered committees, folks who occupy the big positions in government or call the shots in big business, folks who get to represent us at summits like the just concluded Davos economic forum, they are the few that make the binding decisions. Metaphorically, I’ll liken them to dinosaurs; gargantuan towering behemoths whose monopoly of power has put them at the top of the food chain. From a religious angle they are the group whose prayer point is ‘It must be permanent’.
On the other hand, the Masses (Hoi Polloi) are the regular folks, the majority who are bound by the decisions of the few. These are the folks who’s sweat keeps the treadmill of society spinning. Metaphorically, I would say they are cats. However I posit there are two kinds in this group; the powerful big cats (middle-class) that are a huge ferocious mass of claws and teeth. This group tends to grab the lion share of what the dinosaurs are willing to spare. Then there are the domestic kitty cats (the rest of us), small but with the same feline agility necessary for survival though lacking in the intimidating stature of the big cats. From a religious angle this is the group whose prayer point is ‘Power must change hands’.
I am sure that deep down everyone knows which party they belong to. Should any person walk up to you and start talking all that party stuff while mentioning APC, PDP, LP and other labels, just look at the person and ask the corrective question, Elite or Masses/Upper-class or Hoi Polloi/Dinosaur or Cat? Remember there are just two real parties in our political terrain, so be wise not to fall for all that party crap when you want exercise your power by casting your vote. Focus on the right person instead and be sure to vote for that right person.
And oh, should you want to sell your vote, please put a hefty price tag on it; say like ten million Naira. If someone approaches you to engage in any form of political thuggery, charge like two million per hour and if ballot box hijacking is involved, charge a special rate. You are wondering what this crazy dude is on about right?
Well, I figure, if we can’t discourage political malpractices by mere talk and sensitization, why not classify such services as ostentatious, exotic or whatever and then slap exorbitant price tags on them. We all know money answereth all things so maybe the excessive charges could force our politicians to shun the malpractices or make them do the dirty work themselves and with their families. However, should they afford to pay, then whoever’s service is retained or vote is bought could at least afford to port from being part of the regular ‘treadmill spinning’ masses to a multimillionaire after election season. But seriously, shine your eye!
Chukwudi Madu is a Contributing Editor at The Trent; a writer focused on creative writing, copywriting and technical writing. He is a proud alumnus of the prestigious Government College Umuahia (following in the steps of great Umuahians like Chinua Achebe, Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, Elechi Amadi, I. N. C. Aniebo, Ken Saro-Wiwa and Christopher Okigbo) and an alumnus of the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He tweets @maduchuddi. His Facebook page is HERE. You can buy his books HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
