The ongoing high-level political defections in the country, suggesting an imminent drift to a One-Party hegemony, are evidence that Nigeria has become a huge joke in the eyes of the international community and is fast transforming into an insane society.
This is the submission of a notable elder statesman and former Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Philippines and the Kingdom of Cambodia, Dr Yemi Farounbi.
Dr Farounbi spoke while featuring as Guest Speaker on the popular monthly interview discourse, Boiling Point Arena, hosted by a media professional and public relations strategist, Dr Ayo Arowojolu.
The current affairs programme was transmitted via Zoom and broadcast live on six radio stations across Lagos, Ogun and Delta States – WASH FM, Sweet FM, Roots FM, Eri-Nbe FM, Women Radio FM and Kruzz FM.
The topic of discourse was: “Nigeria’s Democracy Under Strain: Party Defections, One-Party Dominance, Prostrate Opposition and the Future of Governance”.
The event was chaired by a frontline traditional ruler, Olówu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Prof Saka Matemilola.
Dr Farounbi, a media icon, further warned of the likely dangers ahead, saying Nigerians have become captives in the hands of political leaders who are hellbent on “haemorrhaging” the economy and amassing wealth to themselves without having any real commitment to the populace.
Hear Dr Farounbi: “The madness now going on in Nigeria will never happen in a sane society. We are already in an insane society. Top political leaders are trooping in droves to cross the party line into the All Progressive Congress(APC) all because the one at the head of government is using state instruments like Police, EFCC and ICPC to hound them.
“There are great dangers ahead for the nation because the defections are not the product of any ideological difference between all the political parties, unlike the way it was during the first and second Republics when the respective political parties focused on ideology and could be differentiated by specific focus on policies unique to them.
“How can a whole structure of a party, as it happened in Delta State, from Governor to Councillors, move from PDP into APC without a dissenting voice, all because they are afraid of what they have done and the forces haunting them?
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“Another reason for mass defections is that these politicians know that the President is going to soon nominate an INEC Chairman, and they all know the kind of elections we have that do not validate the wishes of the people. So they want to have their own second term. They think that the best thing is to dance to the tune of the President, so that if they get his endorsement in return for votes, then they’ll be able to get their second term.
“Nigerian political parties all look alike, but parties should have commonalities of ideas, which some people call ideology. There should be a definite vision and a defined path they are committed to.”
As a way out, Dr Farounbi suggested that the National Assembly should urgently work towards ammendments of the Nigerian Constitution which should curtail what he called “madness of defection”, canvassing that the moment any Governor or legislator defects to another party, he or she must quit office and go back to the electorates for fresh election.
The media icon also called for a restructuring and reinventing of the EFCC and ICPC to combat the pervasive corruption plaguing the country and making her a huge joke among the comity of nations.
“We all know the EFCC and ICPC have lost it. They have descended to ground zero. It is ridiculous that while politicians and other public office holders are walking away with humongous amounts in several billion naira loot, our crime agencies are busy chasing those spraying Naira”, he noted.
Dr Farounbi also advocated for the possibility of allowing independent candidates to protect the values of democracy, even though he quipped, “those in the National Assembly will never allow it except if they are ready to commit class suicide”.