Politics can be said to be as old as man, with some school of thought dating its beginning as far back as 600BC in Ancient Rome and Greece where scholars began to think of ways of having a more organized society, a society where people can decide who leads them following certain ethics and other consideration on how life should be lived.
One will be seen as fair to say that from that time till date, political activities has been part of our day to day living as a people both at the local (family, clan, community), National( states and federal constituencies) and even international (regional and or sub regional blocks) levels. Political gatherings now a norm with electioneering processes allowed to take place most times under the supervision of a delegated authority such as the INEC in the case of Nigeria.
Over the years, people have stood out for various political positions with some winning and other loosing giving clear imprint about the peoples decisions. However this does not come without its challenges as our courts have been ever busy handling dimensions of political related cases ranging from disenfranchisement on the part of the voters to even more serious cases of rigging leading to deaths of both voters and election officials. One can say that politics is never a BED OF ROSES, neither is it a game for the faint hearted, no wonder some refer to it as a dirty game.
But how dirty is this game that ought to be a process of choosing a leader? Or should i say dirty because we have left the real “ETHICS” as defined by the founders of politics in the beginning ?
Politicking was meant to be done by lobbying and manifesto presentation, sharing ones mind with his people and the ideas that are to be put forward for an even development.
The above seem not to be obtainable in some climes, the infusion of oppression through the use of militia and in some cases state actors, diabolism and outright show of physical force made for the term “POLITICS IS A DIRTY GAME”.
This mentality needs to stop, and it can begin with these generation. We need to thinker on ways to change the narrative that political offices can only be won by violence, thereby creating enemies within a group of brothers in communities, at states and national fronts.
Anè Igala my home town, A place I grew up is not left out of the illustration given above. One can trace our political history to the old benue state but for the purpose of this article, I will love to narrow it down to when the state was created on 27th of august 1991 by the then military administration lead by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babagida.
We Began by having His excellency Prince Abubakar Audu (of blessed memory) as the first executive governor of the state who had the support of all. His second coming was phenomenal because of the large acceptability he had even amongst those of the opposition party with one of the major contender Dr Steven Achema of blessed memory putting his support behind his kinsman as against his party, a gesture that is mostly lacking today in the political space.
The spirit of brotherhood has since died with that man doing the last bid. Events after his death in subsequent political activities saw betrayals, conspiracies and lost of lives in many of our localities, towns and cities. Unsettled grievances calling for party decamping coming from electoral misdeeds.
For over two decades we have grown more in division than a United force which in-turn has affected our voices at both local and national level, a house divided against itself can never stand. Thus, there is a need to change this narrative.
The 2023 ambition should be one that focuses more on inward cleansing, beginning with forgiveness and letting go of the past. If we as a people must move forward, we need to talk about our failures and the things that held us back. Forgive one another and aim for a price as a United body.
The Era of raising walls against one another needs to end. Yes it is ok to desire a political position and yes it is ok to contest. But in the advent of losing, it will be seen as patriotic and brotherly if defeated parties rally around the winner, sharing from the ideas in mind for even development. It will also be loving to see winning parties opening up their arms to brothers across boards welcoming their imputes because the fight is not for self glory but for the advancement of Anè Igala.
Backbiting, hatred and the creation of unhealthy competition should be a thing of the past. We need to come together in-respective of our status and class, using our human and material resources to move our people forward.
We all come from a humble background, from communities that have lived in peace with each other for many generations, let us return Anè Igala to its glorious days when Sunday’s where like Christmas and Friday’s often saw the return of our people back home for the weekends in-respective of the distant city they live in. Let us do this as one, and together we can achieve more.
Mubarak Abuche Musa.
We move on Gods speed….
