USA Africa Dialogue Series - Epimenides' Paradox and the Politics of Opposition in Nigeria

Before now, the name of Salihu Lukman would ring no bell in my mind. Until I began reading his write ups on Nigerian politics and especially how the PDP can be unseated in the upcoming 2015 elections by the combination of the ACN and the CPC sans their major gladiators-Asiwaju Tinubu and Buhari.
Salihu LUkman's articles are a delight to reaad for their historical reflection and incisive depth. One could almost feel the energy of conviction flowing from these articles. He writes like someone who really believes in what he is saying.
However, on reading his latest post on the manifesto of the opposition, I couldn't but recall the liar's paradox generated by Epimenides, the 6th century Cretan philosopher. In criticising his countrymen's view about Zeus, Epimenides asserts that all Cretans are liars. The paradox is that he was also a cretan, and so is caught in the self-referential dynamics of that statement "all Cretans are liars. If his statement is true, then it is false; and if it is false, then it is true!
One may have the sneaky feeling that the liar's paradox has a touch of the ad hominen; yet this feeling is wrong. The paradox only points at a very fundamental issue in self-reflexivity. Salihu Lukman is a politician who is intellectually sound enough to point out the dysfunctions of party politics in which he is a prime player! I argue that he underestimate the basic objective and resilience of party politics of which he shows such brilliant understanding.
A party, any party for that matter, exists basically with the fundamental objective of winning power or retaining it-sometimes at all cost (and sometimes based on the sometimes illusory understanding of having the secret governance blueprint to transform the polity). Within the African context, this objective has been sharpened to a zero-sum level that essentially disconnect the attainment of power from the aspirations of the people. Take this as one of the legacies of colonialism in Africa, the monistic power dynamics that leads the leadership more to the national question than the social.
This fixation on power for the sake of power and, of course, greed is aggravated by the fact of the circulation of the same set of veteran politicians adept at ru(i)ning the Nigerian state. Salihu Lukman operates within this context of elite recirculation. And it is within the same context, in the absence of a revolution that would break the greed/corruption cycle, that he canvasses a politics of opposition. I am a political sceptic, and so my question is this: what happens if the PDP is unseated? How would the "opposition" fare in power? These questions have the force of experience behind them. Minus Fashola, has any ACN governor perform outstandingly yet? I suspect the answer already. The Nigerian people have been reduced so much beyond the poverty level that we are grateful for mere palliatives from government. When we manage to have electricity for five hours, that becomes heavenly! Workers only manage their lives based on loans and salary arears owed them by government. So, what would the opposition do given the presence of the veterans? Salihu Lukman himself hinted at the dynamics of persona politics around powerful figures like Tinubu and Buhari. This in itself constitutes a veritable hindrance to the opposition framework he is calling for. Secondly, such a proposed coalition only reinforces the dynamics of party politics: let's just unseat the PDP. What happens after that? I am bold to assert that there is no Nigerian party-at least the major gladiators-with a sensible manifesto that speaks to the needs of Nigerians and the imperative of nation biulding. Calling for oppositional politics, and the union of ACN and CPC only acknowledges the lack of ideological firmness in these parties. I wonder under what condition the Republican party will unite with the Democrats, well...except to reinforce the supremacy of America. Even at this, the reinforcement is defined by the ideological mould of each party.
I should have thought that Salihu Lukman's intellectual depth of party dynamics in Nigeria would be channeled towards the outline of a politics of ideas and vision around which, say, the ACN can reorganise itself in the eventuality of unseating the PDP. I prayed fervently before the last election that the ACN would triumph in the South-west. And the basis of my prayer is that these ACN governors will replicate Fashola's commitment and make the South-west a case study in how-to-govern-well. Well, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, and Edo states are under the ACN. But I can't say that my prayer has been answered! Well, 'roads' are being tarred in Oyo state, but my expectations are jarred by the wiggly nature of these roads.
I suspect that Nigerians can't really trust any party. Unseating the PDP is simply a red herring. What Nigerians need goes beyond opposition politics. We need a party coalition, if we must do that, that can give us a vision of what we can be and the political will to carry the vision through. Let the ACN transform-really transform the South-west in terms of grassroot, visible indicators we can see rather than mere microeconomic figure crunching-and I will believe in parties. And support Salihu Lukman for president!


Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

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