No
political grouping in the country, including the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), can be regarded as progressive
entities. The country currently lacks progressive political individuals and
groupings.
.
The concept of progressivism is totally lacking against the
backdrop of the current happenings in the country’s political landscape. It
must be pointed out that a progressive politician or political party is one
that pursues the collective interest and welfare of the society against self or
group interest.
Presently, such was lacking in the polity at the moment. My
definition of a progressive is somebody who places the welfare of the ordinary
person, in this instance, the ordinary Nigerian above his personal, tribal,
ethnic, group or sectional interest. That is why you cannot see any initiative
that conforms to the ideals of progressivism that we know in Nigeria.
A progressive is someone who plays the kind of politics that
advances the welfare of the greatest number of people in a society; and it
shows by his deeds and examples. His actions must show that he is truly
committed to public good and that he is not in politics to protect his self-interests.
So, a progressive politician is one who seeks for the overall good of the
society, who works for the good of others instead of working for
him/herself. He pursues the welfare and well-being of the entire
citizenry instead of pursuing his own good to the detriment of others.
We have individuals who falsely lay claim to progressivism but
there is no political grouping with a progressive ideology in the country for
now. Even the APC that claims to be a progressive party is not one. How are
they? Many of them use public offices to enrich themselves. It is only a
rhetoric and propaganda that many of them use to shortchange Nigerians.
We are yet to have leaders who are progressives, because we have
now tried virtually almost everybody and we see them in their true colours, when
they get public positions. Once they get into
public positions, they will start
looking for their wives, brothers and sisters and put them in positions that they do not merit.
A progressive is somebody who undertakes social, economic, and in
some cases, political reforms that will alter the status quo in favour of the
downtrodden and move the society forward. In the case of a political party,
therefore, a party is not progressive by the name it attaches to itself, it
only becomes a progressive party by its actions. Therefore, if a party claims
to be progressive, then there must be definite reforms that will not remind the
people of where they are coming from. So, if a progressive party promises a
change, it must be a change for the better with progressive ideas. But if that
change is only limited to rhetoric, but not something that can be felt, seen or
even touched, it doesn’t make the person or party pronouncing it a progressive.
We have a Nigerian definition of progressivism. From the First
Republic to date, a progressive in Nigeria is defined as any politician who
comes from the South-west with a background in the Action Group (AG) or its
successor organisations. This is a claim because there is nothing to
differentiate an AG man from an NPC, NCNC, NEPU or APC man. Each time political
associations change in Nigeria, the successor of the AG be it UPN, AD, ACN or
APC, they all call themselves progressives. But there is nothing
differentiating a member of the APC from a member of the PDP.
Their relationship with the means of production is the same. They
are all capitalists; they are all landlords; they are all owners of the latest
property or industry. So, to be honest, of all the groups that we have in
Nigeria today, nobody can call him/herself a progressive in the real sense of
it because they are the same thing.
Therefore, there is no progressive political party in the country today. None of the present political parties is fighting for a different system of government other than a capitalist system. We don’t have a socialist party of Nigeria not to talk of a communist party of Nigeria. There is nothing differentiating say Bola Tinubu from Atiku Abubakar and Andy Ubah.
They are the same thing. Anybody who is a member of APC, PDP, SDP
and all the registered political parties in the country that call himself a
progressive is only trying to fool the masses. It is pure opportunism meant to
win the support of the masses who are suffering, and who believe that those who
call themselves progressives will solve their problems.
The political parties we have are just vehicles through which
politicians win elections. And if you see the way people defect from one party
to the other in this country, you will just know that there is no ideology
behind the formation of political parties nor in participation in politics in
this country. It is just about seeking power and resources; no more no less.
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