Are there many informed Africans, seriously, that do not know there are no ideological parties but a bunch of leaders and their forty thieves wailing for Treasury: Open Sesame! All you need is Any Party In Power for the forty thieves to follow. The leaders contesting or appointed to Presidency can form any party to wrestle Power or better still, jump from one party to another until he finds a suitable landing to avoid Primary into Power.
President Tinubu in Nigeria became Governor after displacing the presumptive choice of AD, Funso Williams, by claiming he was not a member of NADECO struggle. When he became comfortable, he rejected the Party elders: Pa Dawudo. Pa Dawodu regretted replacing Funsho Williams for Tinubu to his grave. Tinubu formed his own party AC, then ANC before he formed an alliance with Buhari in another new Party: APC.
Atiku was a member of PDP. When he realized he could not wield control of PDP because of their prominent members. He formed his own Party ADC and invited others to join him. Since they tried to wrestle and displace him from his Party, as the Presidential candidate; Atiku reminded them of his reason and ambition to become President. ADC is not up for grabs by anyone competing with him.
Peter Obi became Governor of Anambra under the platform of APGA. He joined PDP to become the running mate of Atiku. After they lost the Election, Obi decided to run for the President himself under the existing Labor Party. When he lost under the Labor Party, he tried Atiku ADC, hoping Atiku would retire from contesting for President. Be sure of what you wish for before crossing from one party to another.
Since Atiku let everyone know that he did not take the trouble to form a brand new party for others to run as President, Obi decided to join NDC. What is common to all the three Presidential candidates is their focus on the single goal of the Presidency at any cost under any party. It is the only way they can grab full access to the Treasury like the late Military Strongman, General Sunni Abacha.
Many of the politicians use a couple or few letters designating democracy or liberal ideas to cover up their ulterior motives. The plain language to these parties is what Fela Anikulapo Kuti described as the You Chop I Chop Party. Actually, many of us lost count of the number of members crossing parties. Trying to figure out the first party Tinubu, Atiku and Obi started from and their last party is brain storming. Ai taya, no be small o!
Indeed, some scholars opined that African politics should be based on traditions like the Oyo Empire that created the first Cabinet System. The great Empires of Songhai, Mali and Ghana functioned efficiently until the outsiders looking for Slave, Gold and Ivory Coast destroyed them. Africa lost its traditional Check and Balance governmental system. It has never recovered since the Muslim and Christian explorers came.
There used to be the old African Activists stating clearly that they want the freedom to rule themselves as liberal, conservatives or as socialists in order to get their land and resources back. Some African countries also model themselves along the lines of their colonialists as liberal and conservative ideologies. A few decided to become socialists in resentment to liberal and conservative ideologies that kept them in bondage.
It is hard to pin down African politicians to one party except when they come up boldly that they are representing their ethnic group. Even when regulations discourage it by specifying multi-ethnic representation in order to qualify for registration. The ethnocentric leaders still get to recruit some sympathizers from other ethnic groups in return for lofty appointments to beat the regulations.
While it is true that there are conservatives, liberals and socialist in other countries; these foreign countries base their parties on Judeo-Christian and Socialist philosophies shaping the goal of profits. The middlemen are an essential part of the capitalist country to provide goods and services, instead of the government. Whoever forms government: conservatives largely pursue Defense contracts while liberal provide social services.
Most conservatives believe the world should revert to the days that preceded the Labor Union, when human labor was only at the discretion or disposal of landowners, taken from the masses. So they create Defense contractors from their ranks and cronies whose role is to divert commonwealth taxes collected into their pockets. Some part of the profit made is used as campaign contribution to elect candidates business cronies.
Excessive profits by inflating contracts is the prerogative of the privileged in the political system, no matter what. African politicians have learned and used that system of excessive profit to enrich themselves and the parties they set up to convince voters to elect them into Power.
What we are witnessing in the political circles in Africa is the playbook of how politicians divert government funds away from the masses in the Western countries as tax cuts and projects that only benefit the rich and upper class. While they may hide corruption as legitimate business, we have seen unrestrained looting of government funds with impunity in both African and Western countries!
What Africans used to refer to as civilized climes has recently been bursted by the new reappearance of greed since the day of Ivan Boesky: Greed Is Good. They believe there is no excessive profit as long as it is declared as a business transaction. African countries do the same operation with impunity. Nigeria still gets away with paying politicians the highest remuneration in the world. They get away with it because the masses let them.
Farouk Martins Aresa @oomoaresa1
