It is time for us to have a more honest conversation about Nigeria.
It is not APC or PDP that ruined Nigeria. It is Nigerians. Political parties are merely platforms. The people who occupy political offices, make decisions, influence institutions, collect/mismanage public resources, enforce or ignore laws, and participate in the political process are Nigerians.
We sometimes make the mistake of believing that changing the name or logo of a political party automatically changes the character or competence of the people within it. It doesn’t.
Take Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State as an example. He came to power under the PDP, and his administration has received positive assessments from many Osun residents and observers in various areas. Now that he has returned under another political platform, would we suddenly conclude that he can no longer perform simply because his party has changed?
The same principle applies to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who has governed through the PDP and won two consecutive terms. He has his candidates under the APM party, including the presidency, would his previous record suddenly become irrelevant because he changed parties?
Of course not.
A person’s political party should not be the only measure of his or her capacity, character, competence or performance.
If a politician performs well, let us acknowledge it regardless of the party platform. If a politician fails, let us hold that person accountable regardless of the party they belong to.
APC has produced good people. APC has produced poor performers. PDP has produced good people. PDP has produced poor performers. The same can be said of virtually every political platform that has gone through different offices.
The bigger problem is that we have allowed party loyalty to become stronger than our loyalty to Nigeria. We defend politicians simply because they belong to “our party” and condemn others simply because they belong to “their party.” In doing so, we sometimes lose the ability to think critically and objectively.
We should be wiser than some of the comments we make these days.
Nigeria does not need citizens who blindly defend politicians. Nigeria needs citizens who ask questions, demand accountability, celebrate good governance and reject poor leadership; regardless of political affiliation.
Political parties are platforms.
People are the leaders.
And ultimately, those people come from us.
The real change Nigeria needs will not begin with APC, PDP, Labour Party, Accord or any other political platform.
It begins with you and me.
It begins with the choices we make, the leaders we support, the standards we demand, the corruption we refuse to tolerate, the truth we are willing to speak, and our willingness to put Nigeria above party loyalty.
Nigeria will not change merely because we change political parties. Nigeria will change when Nigerians change the way we think, participate and hold our ourselves and leaders accountable.
The question should no longer be “Which party are you supporting?”
The more important question is:
“What has this person done, what can this person do, and will this person serve Nigeria well?”
Let us judge leaders by character, competence, capacity, performance and accountability; not merely by the colour of their political jersey.
The real change begins with you and I.
May Nigeria Succeed.
Ayo Fatokun writes.
