Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Nigeria: a one-party democracy?

Thanks to Kevin James at Albany (California) High School for finding this article from last August which offers a perceptive analysis of Nigerian politics. It was written by Chika Otuchikere and comes from Leadership in Abuja. Since it was written in August, it doesn't take into account the divisive politics within the PDP.

Nigerian Opposition Parties Going Extinct

With the whirlwind of the 2011 general elections blowing in a frenzy and fast turning into a hurricane, with all the political actors scheming and jostling for relevance, political watchers across the country have raised an alarm over what they call a 'charade' of an electoral system devoid of a truly viable opposition. Among most of these critical analysts, the recent defection of former military head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari from the All Nigeria People Party, erstwhile most formidable opposition in the country, sounded the death knell for the virtual extinction of the country's opposition political parties.

The once vibrant opposition political parties which used to be the hallmark of the country's democratic experience even up to the tail end of the Fourth Republic, have practically ceased to exist; fizzling out leaving in their wake carcasses of political parties with members whose souls are yearning for the ruling party. The parties now merely pretend to be opposition parties when it is convenient. The fear in most political circles is that the country may be nose-diving into a one party state, for all the politicians care…

A peek into the country's political history would reveal an ill equipped and ill organised political class and system always anchored on parochial and primordial sentiments. In terms of ideological lining, both the ruling party and its opposition parties have never shown any difference from each other. In the assessment of most political watchers the ruling party and the opposition parties are described as a gathering of strange bed fellows with no ideological position...

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Labels: Nigeria, parties, politics