The demonisation of political opposition
IN a previous article in this newspaper, on Monday, March 25, 2024, I talked about the supreme value of a healthy political opposition. The summary thereof is that politics is a social, intellectual, moral and spiritual duty and responsibility of every adult person in every organised and governed human collection of persons as any such polity - family, kindred, neighbourhood, village, town, faith community, work place, local, regional, national and international government areas and organisations.
That duty is the more so, the more educated that adult person is. Real politics concerns the pursuit of the common good of everybody, evenly, in any given body of organised persons ( that is, the polity).
For real politics to be so, it has to be nonpartisan, so that everybody is reached and served, evenly. Whenever politics becomes partisan, the common good becomes undermined by selfish personal or powerful partisan party members. However, in practice also, non- partisan politics is only possible in small communities and polities, like the family, clan, village, town and up to the local government level.
This is because people who have what it takes to work for the common good, as such politicians should be, would naturally have been doing so; and the people in such a constituency would know those very well already. They do not need any political party to campaign for them if there would be any election in the place for such an organised governance.
However, ordinarily speaking, non- partisan politics at all the levels is not possible for anybody who was not trained from childhood for it and joins it as the local government level from the earliest adulthood and working their way up by good governance at the lower levels all along.
So, for most people who join politics for the first time at the regional and national levels, there would have not been these working up the ladder from the earliest times. Such person would need to join partisan ( political party brand) politics when they first join it. So, in order to remain as apartisan as possible, they will need to be what is described as bi- or multi- partisan thereof. The meaning of this is that they speak out for the most common- good- serving alternatives presented for decisionmaking, whether it comes from their party or otherwise.
In a place like Nigeria, where partisan politics is about group selfishness and corruption galore, and election a matter of selection and “working it out till declared elected” whatever it takes, such people once manifested in this most proper multi- partisan way in a Nigerian party, will never be selected again by their members. So indeed, the saying that good politicians will not survive in Nigerian politics is largely true. That then is the bane of our politics and of our systemic and systematic corruption.
The only way out of that quagmire ( not only in Nigeria but in all of the other African countries especially) therefore, will be by a revolution of the people to hold these politicians to do the proper thing or to howsoever deal with them, individually or corporately.
The other way around would be for strong personalities to join politics by whatever level and time systems of doing so and for this right reason, to resolve to stay in it/ them at all costs, and eventually to get to the top, in spite of the rottenness in the system. We are beginning to see evidences of this latter in Africa and in Nigeria already. These dedicated people may then begin to change the rottenness that has been there all the while.
However, the problem that remains for these people will be two: These arch partisan politicians will keep doing their best to expand the elements of those partisanship and corruption - tribalism, religious fanaticism, god- fatherism and other hegemonies and briberies; or of threats or actual “elimination” of those supposed opponents as they perceive them to be; or they will start all types of character assassinations, hate speeches or frank demonisation of these supposed political enemies. The purpose of all such demonisation of such goodness is always the same, to neuter it and to pursue a one- party polity; the seat of all that is evil in politics!
As explained in the article of March 25, the supreme value of a healthy partisan political opposition is that it is the only way to checkmate any ruling partisan political party from pursuing and achieving their invariable attempts to achieve a one- party state by all their usual systems of bribery, corruption and intimidation as the only way to continue to maximise their corruption.
A healthy political opposition is also the only way to keep the common good agenda in sight as the only reason for any governance. A healthy partisan political opposition is also one of the finest ways to breed the best brands of patriots in a country. Some of these alternative opinion persons may in fact not be interested in participatory or partisan politics in itself.
Nigeria has had quite a handfull of those in the past and the present, the past including Lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and Doctor Beko Ransom- Kuti. However, these partisan politicians see all these people as their opposition for merely continuing to point out the common good of the polity that is being undermined or even frankly abused by these partisan politicians.
Unfortunately, the term “opposition party” for anybody who keeps pointing out the common good that is being undermined by ruling partisan politicians was apparently coined by them from the very start. However, the appropriate and more accurate name for this activity will be “alternative opinion party”, or parties; for these need not be only one.
The third value of these alternative opinion ( or “opposition”) parties is really to provide superior opinions on the better ways to do anything for the utmost common good of the polity. If the ruling partisan political party people are truly intelligent and actually interested in the common good as due, they will in deed find a great value in these parties or persons by looking out for these superior opinions, learning of them as such, using them to internally reexamine their own original plans and adopt those for their utmost performance in the long run.
Unfortunately, because those in these socalled ruling parties, in Africa especially, would rather not do this but continue in their wrong doing and expend all sorts of resources and the severally very easy- tohire propaganda persons to buy over, blackmail, demonize or howsoever to compromise these good governance crusaders.
These errors have been the bane of partisan politics globally, even if it had been the worst in Africa. But it is by no means limited here. Even a mere cursory look around the world will show everyone that this is in deed the case in the many so- called democracies, as compared with the autocracies - see the present USA, Canada, India, France, etc.
However, it is in Africa that the worst cases of these will be found! However, the trends are changing, even with the military coups. These later military coups are no longer for mere political power by these military jingoists as Nigeria has had a whole lot of; even as of the latest military coups in Niger, in Burkina Faso, etc.
Even in the civilian arena, we are beginning to see that these grassroots clearheaded civil politicians for the common good are beginning to rise to be seen - in Senegal and in Abia State that had been with the very worst governors that were ever produced in the South- East since this third era of civilian politics in Nigeria in 1999.
So, let us pray that Nigerians will begin to understand these ways of evil- minded partisan politics and to deal with them in very decisive ways, as due; as well as to work for the perfection of healthy partisan political opposition in Nigeria for the proper pursuit of the common good, that is the real politics! Amen.
Asuzu is a retired professor of Disciplinary Public Health and Community Medicine of the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan; but currently serving in the same capacities at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.
A healthy political opposition is also the only way to keep the common good agenda in sight as the only reason for any governance. A healthy partisan political opposition is also one of the finest ways to breed the best brands of patriots in a country. Some of these alternative opinion persons may in fact not be interested in participatory or partisan politics in itself.