"Given the deep current of political disaffection I detected in Nigeria, I had expected to see new, outside-the-box thinking about the way forward. Instead, I was confronted with a paralyzing sense of helplessness. I found that Nigerians, including those one expected to know better, were trapped in a conceptual political mindset in which only two parties—and, by extension, two paths to the future—exist in the Nigerian universe. Those two parties—and paths—are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In conversation after frustrating conversation, one had a hard time nudging Nigerians to release themselves from their binary entrapment in order to see a third way. And yet, to hear them speak was to realize that there was no doubt in their minds that the two parties whose fortunes and prospects alone excite them represent dead-ends. As I argued last week, the PDP and APC are kindred spirits, two parties beset by ideological aridity, and most of their most prominent figures fueled by the same contemptible idea that politics is, above all, a means for accumulating riches. Why else do they hire thugs, kill or maim their opponents, betray all lofty principles, submit themselves to the most diabolical rites? It is certainly not to serve Nigerians.
If the two parties jostling to define Nigeria's future are essentially ideologically similar and deeply pathological—and I insist they are—then why don't we unshackle ourselves from their stultifying reins? That was the question and challenge I put to many a friend or fan I met last week in Nigeria."
Brilliant analysis, lame option. *shrugs* We are stuck. Democracy is not an option but I don't really know what to do or say about the Nigerian situation anymore. As folks keep reminding me, I no longer live there. I leave the ilo for those who own the problem, those "on the ground." I hereby still my voice box. No more talk about Nigeria, biko. Abeg I will have nothing to do with Nigerian politics any more. I am done with all that, such a time waster.
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
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