Campaigns: Parties Not Doing Enough To Stop Inciting Comments, Violence – Political Scientists
BY GEORGE OKOJIE, Lagos; ABDULLAHI OLESIN, Ilorin; NNAMDI MBAWIKE, Enugu; AZA MSUE and NONYE EKWENUGO, Kaduna; and ACHOR ABIMAJE, Jos
As campaigns for elective offices get under way, professors of politics have expressed concern over the failure of political parties to rein in their candidates and loyalists ahead of the general election.
They also lamented the inability of parties to have coordinated and uniform campaign messaging at the state level, as was the case in Nigeria’s Second Republic.
LEADERSHIP Friday spoke exclusively with the immediate past president of the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), Prof. Hassan Saliu; political economist, Prof. Anthony Kila; professor of Political Science, Felix Asogwa; professor of Political Science, Ezekiel Major Adeyi and Mass Communication lecturer, Ibrahim Salisu Gimba.
While campaigns for the presidential election began some weeks ago, campaigns for governorship candidates started on September 9, with the candidates unveiling policy agendas centred on security, agriculture, education, healthcare, workers’ welfare and economic development.
In his comment, Kila, said, “The political parties are not doing enough to contain inflammatory rhetoric and electoral violence. Clearly they are not doing enough because, really, it is not in their interest to do enough. We have developed a system that encourages this bad behaviour.
‘’They have not sanctioned bad behaviour, so if somebody stands up and makes threats or makes an undemocratic statement, nothing happens to them.
‘’Where there is no consequence, evil triumphs, because the reason why this persists is their consent. That is an internal thing, because they are billed to pay a price. That is why crime does not pay in some parts of the world, but we have created a system where it is good to be bad because the bad benefit from it. They have turned it into the norm.”
On the possibility of having a uniform manifesto for political parties, the professor of Strategy and Development said, “When we think of having a uniform manifesto like the one we had in the Second Republic, it makes one nostalgic.
out of their own free will, to do good things. In reality we have to force them to do good. We have to shame the bad ones. We have to tell them and insist: tell me how you plan to reduce unemployment. It is an elite problem, starting from you.”
Also, Prof. Hassan Saliu, said the political parties seem not to be ready for campaigns.
He stated this during an interview with LEADERSHIP Friday in Ilorin.
Saliu said, “For now, there is nothing really on the ground to suggest that the parties are gearing up for campaigns. Despite the mounting inflictions of our own brand of politics, what parties are doing, in my view, is resource mobilisation and what they call ‘door-to-door campaigns’ — which is a disguise for money distribution.
“On the issue of violence, I pray we do not experience it, even though the signs are there due to the almost equal strength of the parties involved. The stakes are high in the gubernatorial contest in Kwara State.
“However, I expect the parties to talk directly to the issues of poverty, the widening gap between the government and citizens, a fairer regime for the distribution of projects, youth empowerment, and other issues bothering the people. One only hopes they do when the campaigns start. Are we going to see any change? I pray we do.”
He added, “I doubt if there will be a unified manifesto for the parties in the coalition. Instead, we may have to see an alliance in campaigns that will put the ruling party in the state on the spot.”
