By femi aborisade
aborisadefemi@gmail.com
Introduction
I thank the organizers of the monthly political education for their consistency in organizing regular political education programme and for inviting me to participate.
I apologise for not being physically present. This is principally because the notice was too short for me. Before the invitation for this programme came, I was already committed to some other programmes. I usually want to keep commitments or promises as bonds binding on me as keeping or not keeping promises is a reflection of an individual's integrity. I have decided to send this short presentation because of the importance I attach to this month's public lecture at the backdrop of the pact entered into by the National Chairman of the NCP, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, with the PDP-nurtured Coalition of the United Political Parties (CUPP), purportedly on behalf of the NCP.
Let me state categorically that this presentation is not as exhaustive as I would have loved it to be. I did not have enough time to put my thoughts down; what is here presented is merely an outline of the fundamental issues to be considered in forming or joining political alliances.
I also apologise for any errors in construction, typographical, grammatical or otherwise. I did not have enough time to proof read and considering that English language is not our mother tongue, Im usually very conscious of reviewing, again and again, any paper I write before publishing. But I did not have an opportunity for such an exercise in this instance.
AN EXAMINATION OF KEY CONCEPTS IN THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION
In order to locate my viewpoints properly within the concerns captured in the topic, I consider it appropriate to be guided by the key concepts combined to construct the focus of this gathering.
Nigeria in crisis
The first concept we should be concerned with is 'crisis' , 'Nigeria in crisis'. Although I do not have the luxury of time to dwell on the elements constituting the multiple crises that have engulfed Nigeria, we need to bear in mind that any political alliance should have well known goals targeted at resolving societal crises or problems in order to take society forward.
Without tying us down to the statistics for lack of time, the crises of Nigeria today consist in unprecedented and widespread poverty, which we may term economic exclusion, unprecedented levels of insecurity, unprecedented division along ethnic and religious lines, political exclusion, increasing dictatorial, totalitarian, despotic and tyrannical tendencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria as reflected in disobedience of court orders as far as human rights issues are concerned, among several other indices.
THE PROGRAMME TO SAVE THE MASSES
The programme to save the masses can be conceptualised into two broad categories: economic and Political.
ECONOMIC PROGRAMME
The economic programme to save the masses has been documented and captured in the NCP 10-care programme, which I believe every NCPer knows too well. This programme is based on the perspective that the socioeconomic rights contained in Chapter II of Nigeria's extant Constitution are basic rights.
Here, let us list the 10-care programme whilst we all chorus: 'fundamental right' as each is pronounced:
To us in the NCP and to all NCPers, our FUNDAMENTALIST position is that:
Education - a right!
Housing - a right!
Food - a right!
Health care - a right!
Water - a right!
Employment - a right!
Electricity - a right!
Transportation - a right!
Telecommunication - a right!
Security - a right!
From the FUNDAMENTALIST NCPer standpoint therefore, the NCP and NCPers are fundamentally different from all the ruling political parties because when and if we aspire to public office, we do so, not to advance individual selfish interests but to advance public interest; not to enrich individuals at the expense of the public, but to facilitate socio-economic development of society, with a view to benefitting all, regardless of ethnic, geographic, religious or other primordial differences.
However, in order for society to generate adequate resources to actualize the above listed basic socioeconomic or fundamental rights, the NCP also advocates the following two broad economic-related programmes:
Reversal of all past privatizations.
Reduction in income inequality in order to achieve income redistribution in favour of the masses. Within this programme, we are committed to probing all past and current public officers and retrieving all looted wealth to be paid into a Trust Fund established by law for purposes of establishing public enterprises to employ the army of the unemployed.
Abolition of contractocracy. This means abolition of the system of government by award of contracts to the private sector. Public projects are to be executed by public institutions, Ministries and Departments through direct labour, not through awards of contracts to the private sector but through collaboration between public institutions, Federal, state and local governments, Ministries and departments, nationally and internationally.
Children of all public officers to be educated only in public institutions in Nigeria.
Abolition of medical tourism.
Abolition of security votes.
No public officer, including President and Governors, shall earn beyond the salary framework applicable to the public sector and in any case, not more than ten times the National Minimum wage so that only those who actually want to serve the masses would be attracted to contesting public offices.
POLITICAL PROGRAMME TO SAVE THE MASSES
I conceptualise the political programme to save the masses of Nigeria into two broad categories, as follows:
Winning political power predicated upon the goal of implementing the above listed 10-care socioeconomic programmes. This may be achieved either on the platform of the NCP solely where and if the NCP is strong enough at any level, local government, state or at the national level, or through collaboration or electoral alliances with other political parties.
Social movement politics anchored on the need to build broad based resistance to creeping tyranny and totalitarianism of the Federal Government.
The NCP should be actively involved in building resistance from below to safeguard attacks on fundamental rights and failure of government to safeguard life as a sacred property of every person. The NCP should also be actively involved in the struggles of other oppressed strata such as ununionised and unionized workers, pensioners, student struggles against commercialization of education, traders, farmers, artisans, local community associations, etc in their day-to-day challenges against governmental excesses and/or neglect. Being involved in social movement activities may not yield immediate political gains but such endeavours establish unbreakable links for future political mutual advantages in the interest of the masses. The goal is to win over the braod masses on general issues of justice, defence of fundamantal rights, regardless of who the victim is and regardless of the class (working class or bourgeois) the victim of attacks on rights may belong.
SAVING THE MASSES AND CHOICE OF ALLIES
It is absolutely clear that in the task of saving the masses, the NCP alone lacks the numerical strength and organizational structure or political influence. It is therefore inevitable to form or join political alliances. However, in forming or joining political alliances, certain criteria need to be satisfied. The central criterion that must be satisfied is shared values or shared programmes.
The critical question that arises then is; does the PDP (as well as its co-travelers in the CUPP) share anything in common with the NCP?
The PDP was in power at the centre for about 16 years (1999-2015). It implemented neo-liberal programmes which are antithetical to the programme of the NCP. The APC, without doubt, has continued the implementation of the same neo-liberal programme in the tradition of the PDP. Therefore, clearly, no alliance can be formed with the PDP or the APC. These two major parties are the enemies of the Nigerian masses. Any alliance with either the PDP or the APC is a betrayal of the masses.
Again, is it justifiable for the NCP to be part of the CUPP?
Whether or not NCP should be part of the CUPP should not be answered sentimentally but analytically. The question therefore is: what is the key goal of the CUPP?
The core goal of the CUPP is seizure of power from the APC without any commitment to the welfare of the masses. Article 18, of the said MoU prescribes that:
"... the parties shall work together to ensure the emergence of a JOINT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE".
If and when the joint Presidential candidate wins the Presidential election, nothing is said about the programme to be implemented. I am convinced that if the NCP 10-care programme and the elements of income redistribution stated above were presented to the PDP crowd in the CUPP, they would have all instantly protested the presence of the NCP in their midst. It would be too clear to them that NCP stands uncompromisingly against the interests represented by the PDP.
Therefore, an alliance with the PDP or the APC is an alliance that buries the ideals and decades of sacrifices of life threatening experiences of numerous arrests and detentions that members and leaders of the NCP had endured that gave the NCP its reputation and integrity in the Nigerian society today.
I have no doubt in my mind that any member or officer of the NCP who enters into an alliance with either the APC or the PDP has automatically renounced his or her membership of the NCP. As far as the NCP ideals are concerned, such a person is practically dead, even though alive. Such a person has turned himself or herself as a mole (secret agent, infiltrator or spy) of the ruling class in the NCP. Such a person has proclaimed himself or herself as a political enemy of the NCP and the enemy of the Nigerian masses. Such a person should take the honourable path of resigning immediately or be removed instantly by following the democratic procedure set out in the Constitution of the NCP. This principle should apply equally to any member or officer of the NCP who is found to be a Pro-PMB/APC campaigner. As we have analytically concluded, there is no fundamental difference between the PDP and the APC.
The NCP should initiate and build on efforts to form alliances with organizations (and individuals) that are pro-masses in progragramme and/or track record of commitment to political and economic freedoms of the masses.
I thank you all for your attention.
Femi Aborisade
28th July 2018
5am.
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