This ugly trend of opposition political parties being attacked during visits to some states must worry any true democrat irrespective of political affiliation or persuasion. This cannot be the democracy that we all yearned and wished for during military dictatorship.
Sadly, this worrisome development which should ignite outrage with anyone who still recalls what our experiences were prior to 1999, hardly attracts condemnation especially from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). They find it more convenient playing Pontius Pilate.
It appears convenient for the ruling APC to dismiss this shameful development with the wave of the hand as the consequence of internal wrangling within opposition parties, but this as-long-as-it-does-not-affect-
First, it started by denying opposition a level playing ground as well as opportunities to use facilities in the states or holding meetings, to warning them not to come near these states, to denying them opportunities to display their billboards or posters, then to physically attacking them and damaging their vehicles. All these are happening while the state governors and police continue to feign ignorance.
This is a call to caution and not by any means partisanship. If this democracy is truncated, we’ll all return to ground zero. It will be delusional to think this can’t happen.
The ruling APC is in all but four states across the country, but it appears to have declared a war against all opposition parties. When a state governor warns opposition candidates not to come to their states, and a group of so-called political thugs physically attack these politicians, can the ruling party really deny complicity?
It’s becoming a regular occurrence so much so that about two weeks ago, a group of political thugs attacked the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. Is this still a case of being afraid of the opposition or just being intolerant or both?
Sowore was attacked inside a restaurant.
This same ugly trend happened in Edo and Lagos to African Democratic Congress (ADC) as well as the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Benue and Delta states.
As though these are not enough trouble to bother us about our descent to anarchy and lawlessness, last week, the convoy of NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was attacked in Calabar, Cross River State, with vehicles in the convoy smashed.
Again, last Saturday, this time in Asaba, Delta State, one person was reportedly killed and several injured as armed attackers smashed NDC campaign vehicles during a million man march in Asaba.
If presidential candidates and prominent citizens can be treated this way, one shudders to imagine what will be the fate of ordinary Nigerians as we approach the 2027 elections.
And so if Mr. Obi tells you he fears for his life, will you still dismiss him as crying wolf?
Sadly, the APC prides themselves as Progressives and it pretends not to realise that these barbarian conducts should not be associated with civility, modernism; they are alien to democracy.
The loquacious party spokespersons of APC are usually quick to dismiss these as internal party conflicts within the concerned parties, but they fail to realise that it falls within the responsibility of the ruling party to ensure the safety of lives and property of the citizens including opposition party members. Whichever way one chooses to look at it, it’s a failure on the part of government not to provide security to Nigerians.
The usual worn-out excuse of not being aware is nonsensical because like in the case of Benue, the police admitted being informed of the intended visit by Mr. Obi, yet they could not provide security.
Constricting the democratic space remains a threat that will ultimately asphyxiate democracy itself and the consequences will not spare anyone.
APC pretends not to know anything about what has brought Labour Party to its knees; they feign ignorance of the battle of survival of the ADC. The APC is also swearing not to know anything about how the PDP, through our courts, has been exterminated and its carcass handed over to a sympathetic undertaker who speaks from both sides of the mouth, in a laughable and strange rainbow coalition with one colour.
While the rest of the world are cheering excitedly with the show of democracy on display in Brazil, Israel and the US, we are portraying ourselves as being incapable of driving simple processes.
We are happy a Black woman and a Black man have been elected governors for the first time in the US midterm elections. We are also excited that a Muslim is a senator for the first time. We have also seen democracy in action with the cutting to size of Donald Trump and his over-exaggerated sense of self-worth.
What then have we to offer to the world in return? What will we be showcasing to the rest of world come January 2027? Will the world be watching the maiming, killing and attacks on people with different political affiliation and those of different ethnicity and religion? Will our professors and INEC officials begin to struggle with otherwise simple numeracy in the name of reading out election results?
This is not the democracy we envisaged prior to 1999. It has never been. It has remained a disappointment and failure since 1999 and what we see today is also nothing to write home about either.
The way things are going now, it’s a no brainer to say we have gone through this route before and we know what awaits us at the end of the tunnel.
All the ruling APC is doing now is what we call in local lingo, wuruwuru, to the answer (or a predetermined outcome).
If you expect anything different from what we are used to in 2027, the joke is on you.
If this democracy is truncated today, the ordinary Nigerian who is daily falling into the brackets of the multidimensionally poor and suffering the excruciating pangs of hunger and misery have nothing to lose.
My two cents.
