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Political Party And Democracy Consolidation In Nigeria By Nwafor-Orizu Onwa
The global acceptance of ‘ liberal democracy’ as a major vehicle in attaining peaceful co-existence in a multi-faceted society, promotion of economic development, individual liberty, human right restoration, rule of law and freedom of healthy competition in global socio-political activities, necessitated the quest for democracy consolidation especially in society like ours that have experienced dictatorship over the years.
Unarguably, political party is a fundamental political institution in the actualization of democratic regime and as such our concern is the determination of the extent to which political parties in Nigeria contribute in the consolidation of our nascent democracy. However, the role of political parties in the emergent political experiments in the country has raised more questions than answers. One can easily pose the questions, does political party in Nigeria of any relevance in the preservation of democratic norms and principles necessary for its consolidation? Does the structure and formation of political parties in Nigeria effective enough to bring about stable democracy? Does Nigerian political parties institutionalized? These and more related questions agitate my mind as to the future of our new found democracy without effective and responsive political parties.
Sometimes, the issue of ‘democracy consolidation’ sounds ambiguous and its meaning and understanding becomes far fetched in the interpretations of political events in the country. Contextually therefore, the simple case of conducting an election in to various public offices under different political umbrella, does not alone reflect democracy in action. The long time of military dictatorship in Nigeria and the inherent suffering and brutality blind folded our reasoning in accepting any half baked democracy of only conducting fraud marred elections. To a common Nigerian, ‘half bread is better than none’. For how long then will Nigerians feed on half bread? And what happens to the whole bread? Democracy consolidation transcends the parochial understanding that since there is state house of assemblies, national assembly and probably the judiciary, that democracy has been consolidated. It is when the principle of separation of powers among the arms of government is fully respected, total obedience to the constitution and respect of the rule of law achieved - that one can think of democracy consolidation. How then can political parties contribute to this end?
The role of political parties in democracies are always trivialized – simply charged with fielding candidates for elective positions, campaigning for these candidates, canvassing for votes from the masses and getting their candidates elected to form governments. This simple understanding of the role of political parties in the cause of democracy consolidation is insufficient in the true conception of its relevance in any democratic setup. Going by the general conviction that political party objectives are all about acquisition of power through electoral process, promulgation of interest of a group and control of government, must be applicable in well structured society with established political culture. We must look beyond this in discussing what political party is all about in Nigeria.
Fundamentally, political parties are primarily faced with the responsibility of creating competitive ideologies based on the yearnings of the people in general. These ideologies must be embedded in the socio-economic realities of the people that will motivate their support as electorates. In any democracy the people stands as the most important factor in the determination of who governs them not who knows the presidency or INEC boss. Arguing from this point of view, it is obvious that most political parties in Nigeria lack this fundamental responsibility, none of the parties have the mechanism and structure to reorient the masses on a broad based ideological political culture. None either, even the ruling party has commanded the genuine respect and support of the majority of common Nigerians. They consist of public office hunters and selfish contractors whose goals are personal enrichment. For this very reason, the polity lack responsible and effective opposition party. Most critiques of the ruling party are those that feel out of favour in equation of sharing in the national loot. They themselves have no clear cut ideological stand point.
Most African countries and Nigeria in particular lack the political Will and good governance to achieve a sustainable democracy in a world of liberal economic development – coupled with the contradictions that are evident in liberal democracy – as Nigerians are victims. Rupter (1995, 662) captured this essence thus “… as it declares universal rights and liberties and the equality of all human beings, liberalism presupposes and naturalizes a civil society of individuals – the very social structure which makes possible private property in the means of production … in these ways, then liberalism may secure the privileged position and social powers of the dominant class, in spite of its universalistic emancipatory claims”. It is obvious therefore, that the seed of political party organization in Nigeria and its shallow ideology based on individualism, lack of institutionalization of party system, no political culture, parochial ethnic cleavages and corruption was sworn from the inception of political party formation in the country. This negates the underlying principle and relevance of political party in a democracy and as a consequence, the political climate in the country is beclouded with uncertainties and volatility.
Nigeria needs to undergo internal social revolution to embed an ideology within the ethnic and class formations of the society in order to restore the people’s confidence in the polity. This will go a long way in proving Przeworski’s argument that “the autocratic character of such ‘Washington-style’ reforms helps to undermine representative institutions, personalize politics … even when neo-liberal reforms make economic sense, they weaken representative institutions”. The trend in the Nigerian political party system is not only shallow but is prone to destruction. Our political leaders should move swiftly and institutionalize a political culture devoid of ethnicity, class and individualism in order to enjoy the beauty of democracy.
Abuja |