Issues in political campaigns

By SOLOMON IMOHIOSEN
Posted: Friday, March 11, 2011

Since the presidential campaigns by the various political parties kicked off last month, political watchers and national commentators including classroom analysts have put all the parties on the front burner as a major focus of study on how elections are won and lost. This is the 12th year in our democratic experiment as a nation and, as such, we can no longer stress the aphorism that "our democracy is still nascent."
In our 50 years as a nation, the last 12 years have been very eventful, full of hope and confidence that the Nigerian people would be able to aggregate the gains of democracy and further the frontiers of politics and power which have swept the landscape in terms of interests and allocation of resources.
These are critical areas of concern that agitate the minds of the politically conscious Nigerians and perhaps those who may have been showing some indifference to matters of national well being, albeit, this is what politics is all about, because we must all make collective decisions in matters that concern our welfare.
Therefore, for some Nigerians, they are not preoccupied with matters of ideology but on how well, issues that affect them, are addressed from the standpoint of party manifestoes and transformed into real and practical agents of change and developments. A critical look into Nigeria's past history will no doubt provide a better perspective and insight.
Against this background, we therefore ask the question, who are the real agents of change and development? They abound in all frontiers and at all levels of society, against the incontrovertible self evident truth that humans or homo sapiens are the first agents of change and development, in combination with other myriads of forces both natural and scientific.
At the level of nation-building, our history records that Nigeria was bedeviled with leadership crises, a ruling class that lost bearing and direction and their primary motive was to personally enrich themselves. They therefore engaged in the looting of the national treasury. The jostle for power by the political parties in the current dispensation has provided an opportunity for Nigerians to hope and expect real transformation of the Nigerian state.
President Goodluck Jonathan is a rare breed among the lot; he is not from the old era of those who wrecked the economy and sent Nigerians to unprecedented level of poverty, amidst abundant natural resources that have the huge potentialities to improve our Gross Domestic Product(GDP) and to improve our reckoning and status among the comity of nations.
He has only been in power for about nine months, continuing the Yar'Adua-Jonathan ticket. Fundamentally, he is a positive change agent of transformation and has repeatedly called for issues-based campaigns that stress development challenges that stare Nigerians in the face and which past governments have failed to address.
Interestingly, the media have been awash with some level of sentiments about how campaigns are being carried on by political parties and all that talk about political ideology and basic concerns of the people which are brought forward as issues. Really, they are matters of infrastructure and projects execution, with the emphasis, being on how sincere the parties are in their promises to translate words into practical gains for the people.
The assertion would, however, not be right to state that the campaign by the PDP is not based on issues and ideas as a writer suggested in his analysis. It is axiomatic that parties carry along with them issues as part of their campaign strategy to woo voters and to get their support. What then are the issues? These are the party programmes or better put party manifesto which is unveiled as a road map to chart a development course if the party gets elected. Sometimes, issues are also grey areas that cause misunderstanding and misrepresentation and would therefore need new interpretation or a redefinition.
Jonathan has embarked on his campaigns across the country based on the issues of development and transformation as a positive change agent who is not from the old order and has the capacity including the mental intellect and energy to proffer a new direction for the economy. Ipso facto, the kernel of Jonathan's campaign is built around such areas as economy, electricity, security, health, education, War against Corruption, youth empowerment, and science and technology, among others.
For instance, when he visited the North Central, he promised to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Complex which is a programme classified under science and technology. Besides, other parties have similar programmes which they are selling to the rest of Nigerians. In terms of reliability, trust and delivery, the PDP has the wherewithal to bring this about, because for the first time in our polity, freshness and light have enveloped the polity with a man who has a genuine sense of purpose and mission to transform Nigeria.
Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) is a chip of the old block whose sense of purpose is borne out of obstinacy and self fulfillment to rule Nigeria rather the genuine love to offer service. Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, is a rabble rouser who knows next to nothing about governance and instead, is basking in the shadows of his last assignment as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In reality, therefore, who the cap fits is Jonathan who has been prepared from the outset to transform Nigeria and take it to a new level. His ascendancy to power has been in stages of a celestial perfection, not by sheer chance or coincidence or luck as is now generally acclaimed. It has been by fate in the order of arrangement by God who confounds man by His manner of choices, because His wisdom is unsearchable.
Consider David. He was the least in his father's house in terms of age. His job was to tend the sheep and when Prophet Samuel went to the house of Jesse to anoint a new king as instructed by God, he was not among the children of Jesse that were brought forward for selection. However, Prophet Samuel sent for him and anointed him.
Jonathan is from a small village in Bayelsa, called Otuoke, and like David, he was unknown. His ascendancy to power first as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State was a turning point in the unraveling historical journey to destiny, a presidential destiny that needs human validation and this is what Nigerians will do on April 9 when they will go to the polls to cast their votes in millions for Jonathan to elect him as their President.

Imohiosen journalist and lawyer, contributed this piece from Abuja