The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has suggested an overhaul of the country’s political system, saying the desperation of politicians to win the 2023 election is taking a dangerous dimension.
In a statement, yesterday, by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the group lamented how politicians operate outside safe and tolerable boundaries.
It warned that the nation would pay dearly for the desperation and limitations of those who ought to show leadership and responsibility among the political class.
“Northern Elders Forum is deeply concerned over developments in many aspects of our politics as they relate to preparations for the 2023 elections and beyond.
“These developments threaten our already distressed democratic process. Our politics now operates outside safe and tolerable boundaries, and the nation will pay dearly for the desperation and limitations of those who ought to show leadership and responsibility among our politicians.
“It is not responsible to resist the urge to caution politicians only on the ground that many matters that will impact on our lives and the quality of our national existence are purely internal affairs of political parties.
“The search for a running mate for the APC’s presidential candidate with religious faith of two individuals as the sole issue at stake represents a sad reminder that our politicians will not allow our democratic system to grow beyond the narrowest of confinements. Nigerians take their faith seriously, but we are also painfully aware that the faith of our leaders has never been a factor in the manner we are governed.
“The political manoeuvres in the APC now divert attention from serious issues around the quality of governance, and point to the danger that we are a multi religious country whose citizens will pay dearly if one politician is not a Christian or Muslim. Politicians are desperately shepherding Nigerians into two irreconcilable religious divides, all in a bid to garner undeserved advantages at the expense of religious tolerance and co-existence.
“The melodrama around selection of the PDP’s presidential candidate’s running mate, and the role of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike will remain constant reminders that power and wealth, irrespective of how they are acquired, have made our political process its hostage. The ransom that will be paid to free our democratic process may be such that the nation cannot afford.
“Our nation is being carved into strongholds controlled by powerful individual politicians who must be placated at all cost, and we will pay a huge price if these politicians succeed in stamping their personalities into the democratic process.
“Among a handful of other parties with the potential to make a difference, ethnicity and greed are threatening to frustrate the emergence of a nation with the capacity to turn around its fortunes in 2023.”
NEF said instead of exploring options and opportunities that would improve their chances of giving Nigerians real and credible, the country has witnessed frightening levels of hostility and ethnic chauvinism, as evidenced in recent exchanges between Labour Party and NNPP leaders.
“Ethnic identity in particular looks capable of being elevated to a point where it alone can cripple a successful transition to 2023 and beyond. Our politics has become an additional burden on the Nigerian citizen, even dwarfing spreading insecurity, poverty and cynicism over the prospects of our survival as one one nation. If the way our politicians are seeking for power is any indicator for the quality of leadership they will provide, then the nation has a very genuine reason to worry over its future.”
