This is because the military regime which was hitherto the
government in the power saw massive arrests of journalists and shutdown of
media houses; massive arrest, detention without trial and sometimes prosecution
of activists, labour leaders; and many Nigerians who openly criticized the then
military government were tagged dissidents and seriously haunted.
Perhaps, 29th May, 1999 will forever remain green to many
Nigerians especially those who have been detained or tortured by one military
government or another for publicly expressing their concerns over issues they
feel strongly about.
Despite inroads Nigeria has made on democracy, many
Nigerians still believe a lot still needs to be done. This is because many
observers have found it rather difficult to differentiate between the military
junta rule and civilian administration because of the issues to be discussed later
in this article.
Do you wish to know why Nigerian politics seems to be a
dirty game?
Why Nigerian politics is a dirty game
Now let us review why many people consider Nigerian politics
a dirty game.
Point 1: High-profile
political assassinations
For many Nigerians, names like Harry Marshal, Chuba
Okadigbo, Funsho Williams, Bola Ige, and many other victims of political
killings will forever remain in their memory.
These men were gruesomely murdered in cold blood because “powers that be” considered them a major
political threat, hence, the need to eliminate them before.
So, for many
Nigerians who really know the precious value of human life, they believe that
political ambitions that never last forever are not worth destroying the life
of a fellow man.
Therefore, based on these politically motivated killings, Nigerian
politics is been considered a dirty game.
Point 2: Fetish
Practices
It is rather worrisome that Nigerian politicians who are
devout Muslims and Christians could go to deities to swear as a proof of
unwavering loyalty to a benefactor or as a tool to eliminate his/her perceived
enemies.
Yes, it is not enough to talk about these things as secrets
as we have seen them play out right in public glare in the past. Christian
politicians in the quest to acquire political positions or win elections go
before a deity to swear and meet native doctors to prepare one charms.
Many Nigerians therefore consider Nigerian politics a dirty
game because of these fetish practices inherent in the game.
More so, many incidents have gone unnoticed. Some
politicians secretly make human sacrifices as instructed by native doctors
because they want to win an election. This is outrageous and alarming! For
these ungodly acts, many Nigerians think Nigerian politics is a dirty game.
Point 3: Lies and
deceits
In Nigerian politics, it is often seen where many political
leaders tell unbelievable lies to win people’s votes. Many pundits will not
blame politicians anyway because, for them, that is the best way to win people’s
confidence and votes. And for many realistic experts, such promises that are
not feasible should not be used to deceive the people just to win their votes.
So different strokes for different folks.
For example, we have seen a situation where a Nigerian
politician promises to make one Naira equal to one Dollar in the wake of
dwindling crude oil prices (which is the main stay of Nigeria’s economy).
One cannot help but ponder why someone would make such
promises. So, politicians tell lies and come up with gimmicks to fool voters,
get their mandate and when that is done, they will show their true colors.
This explains why over the years, Nigerian politicians are
often considered most pathological liars ever known in human history. Some
politicians often turn around to deny their campaign promises claiming they
were either quoted out of context or misrepresented.
Regrettably, politicians are seen playing politics with
projects and policies that people really care about. These lies and deceits
explain why many Nigerians think Nigerian politics is a dirty game.
Point 4: Character
Assassination
Nigerian politicians employ all possible evil means to win
elections including destroying the good reputations of their opponents and
plotting evil intrigues against him or her.
In the quest to win, they use unprintable words against
their opponents especially when it is perceived that the opponent is a major
threat. And in the long run when the electorates discover that such stories are
lies, they will no longer trust the liar.
Surprisingly though, these Nigerian politicians have little
or no regards for their reputation. This is one of the reasons why many
Nigerians say Nigerian politics is a dirty game.
Point 5: Ballot box
snatching and thuggery
It has become normal in many parts of Nigeria for ballot
boxes to be snatched by rented thugs, taken to unknown locations and stuffed
with fake ballot papers in favour of a particular candidate.
Before the introduction of card readers in the elections and
outright cancellation of polling units (PUs) with any violence, this was the
order of the day. Politicians were paying huge amount of money to thugs to
snatch these boxes and stuff them at a secret location in their favour.
At some other locations, they send thugs to disrupt
elections in their opponent’s strongholds so as to compel INEC (the umpire) to
cancel election results from such polling centres, units and/or local
government.
So, for many Nigerians who believe in fairness and allowing
the wishes of the people to prevail, they consider such acts condemnable, hence
this is why many Nigerians believe Nigerian politics is a dirty game.
Point 6: Corruption
The insatiable nature of man has led him to ruining people’s
trust and confidence it took him years to build. Nigerians hardly associate
politicians with good qualities.
For example, it is often seen for a humble man to vie for an
elective position, and when he wins, he becomes powerful. He will start
breaking traffic rules, misappropriating public funds (meant for the betterment
of the people), becomes inaccessible by cutting off all links to the
electorates, lose touch with reality, start enacting anti-people policies, etc.
Corruption is the bane of Nigeria development. This is
because billions of dollars budgeted for projects which will better the lives
of ordinary Nigerians are siphoned into private pockets and nobody asks
questions. And sadly, some of the politicians cannot be indicted and prosecuted
by anti-grant agencies because they are covered by immunity clause.
The Clause allows them to do whatever they like with public
funds and go unpunished. This is one of the greatest problems facing Nigerian
politics.
So, corruption is the major reason why many Nigerians think
politics is a dirty game.
In conclusion, all these issues discussed above explain why
Nigerian politics is a dirty game. A lot of negative words are used to describe
Nigeria politicians. They are often considered to be greedy, liars, deceivers,
backstabbers, corrupt, insensitive, bossy, chatterbox, touts, and many others.
Motivational
