ON UDUAGHAN’S DEFECT FROM APC TO PDP – TYPICAL OF NIGERIAN POLITICIANS WHO OUGHT TO HAVE LEFT PUBLIC SPACE
September 29, 2020 | News
With regards to the recent report that the immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has formally defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with his teaming supporters,
ON UDUAGHAN’S DEFECT FROM APC TO PDP – TYPICAL OF NIGERIAN POLITICIANS WHO OUGHT TO HAVE LEFT PUBLIC SPACE
With regards to the recent report that the immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has formally defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with his teaming supporters, and cannot help but describe this as another shameless attitude of some Nigerian politicians who have made politics their life time career.
Truth be told, a man like Uduaghan, who was governor of Delta on the PDP platform for eight years (2007-2015), and was also a Commissioner for Health and later Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG) under the administration of his cousin and ex-convict, former Governor James Ibori; what more is he looking for in the political space? At that level of being in Government, what does Uduaghan need more in his life? Must he be like every typical Nigerian politician, most of whom have developed gray hairs while within the Government space? How will the younger crop of politicians be given a chance when these political leaders that have been in Government for more than two decades, have refused to leave the public space? Rather, they keep jumping from one political party to the other in search of greener opportunities to return in Government.
This practice of moving from one party to another, especially by former State Governors, is just their way of trying to get to The Senate, which has become a ‘retirement career house’ for these Nigerian politicians. This is exactly what Uduaghan is gaming for, after he might have struck a deal with James manager, who has taken The Nigerian Senate as his permanent home. Uduaghan, as a former governor, left the PDP in 2018 for the APC, where he contested the Delta South Senatorial election but lost to incumbent Senator James Manager. Having been a former Governor, an SSG and former Commissioner, is it compulsory for Uduaghan to occupy that seat at the Senate, before he decides to leave the political stage for the younger generation? Why can't he stay away from politics, retire and enjoy his alleged ill-gotten wealth made from public office? Also shame on our Nigerian politicians and elites who run after them for bread and butter. They are all ‘waka Waka politicians.’
We can imagine that, after he re-registered to become member of the PDP at his unit in Ward 6, Abigborodo, Warri North Court Area of the State, Uduaghan was quoted to have said, “It feels like I never left” (referring to PDP). That is because there is practically no difference between the PDP and the APC as the two major political parties in the country. This is what we get when political parties are without well-defined and practiced ideologies and values that should hold their beliefs and stands, which should be strictly based on a life of Service to the people.
Uduaghan, like most typical Nigerian politicians, has proven himself to be just a political-opportunist whose pedigree, is the do-or-die-kind-of-politicking that is evident in the country’s political landscape. To say the least, Uduaghan, has become more like an ‘abiku’ that has been coming and going with the political seasons of Nigeria. Do they know any shame at all? Must they be in Government, or see Government as a private investment of some sort? Yesterday Uduaghan was in PDP, today he is in APC, and tomorrow he is back in PDP. One begins to wonder what prompted him to join the APC in the first instance because according to him, it is like he never defected from PDP at all. Does this call for any sort of jubilation? As we see demonstrated by some party supporters. Are these people not jubilating in complete ignorance?
The issue of decamping, cross-carpeting from one political party to another, has been a typical practice of most Nigerian politicians. And the reason for this, is not far-fetched. When we consider the ‘do-or-die’ kind of politicking that is evident in Nigeria, be it (long) before, during and after general elections, we would then realize that the ‘motives’ of most Nigerian politicians who have made politics their career; is never about ‘service’, neither is it about bringing any ground vision of rapid development of one’s community and country to square up with its counterpart anywhere in the world. If it were; and if the ‘motives’ were right, Nigeria would have undergone tremendous transformation in over 20 years of democracy.
The truth is that, “party defections”, which has practically made us a laughing stock as a nation in the eyes of the international community, has become the order of the day. The level and manner in which this development is presently happening in Nigeria, is a clear indication of the sort of political parties and crop of politicians we have been breeding as a nation. No wonder we are where we are today; a nation plundered and almost helpless. Where the smallest index of development is often on the negative (usually to satisfy some ‘selfish’ interests in high places), even after decades of unprecedented wealth from crude oil, natural gas and condensate sales, which exclude that, unaccounted for in the past 60 years of oil and gas exploration and production.
Political party defectors are usually regarded as “political prostitutes” without political principle, morality, conscience and lacking in political ideology to champion the cause of leadership for the well-being of the society and political development of the country. That a man defects from the PDP and teams up with the APC or vice-versa, does not make him a saint overnight. In fact, if people find it easy to cross carpet from one political party to another in our political system, it only means there are no clear-cut and defined ideologies and this makes them all the same.
In Nigeria, if a politician does not get what he/she wants in terms of grabbing a political portfolio, he/she defects to a more popular party where he/she perceives the chances of winning an election is more. We saw this with Atiku Abubakar, Dino Melaye, just to mention a few. Although, we still have some small number of Nigerian politicians who stay stuck to their party irrespective of what is going on in the polity. The described trend in Nigeria’s political landscape shows the despicable “chameleon character of Nigeria politicians” and their struggle for political relevance without any conscience and political ideologies as a driving force, while they are in politics. We are sometimes forced to ask, what is the reason for the problem bedeviling Nigeria political parties? The reasons are greed, ego, power grab and above all, lack of internal democracy. These are grave issues the Nigerian APC and PDP have to contend with and address, if they dream to attain half the relevance, other political parties like the Republicans and Democrats of the US, have attained in their countries.
Some of Uduaghan critics says he decamped to APC as a political orphan and his impact was not felt even though he contested. While some say he was on a mission to create confusion in APC. A man of Uduaghan, with his defection from one party to another is a sign that he is not thoughtful and reasonable but only wants to grab political power. No reasonable political party should accommodate Uduaghan because he is just greedy for power. What is he going to do in the senate?
Zik Gbemre.
September 29, 2020.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With regards to the recent report that the immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has formally defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with his teaming supporters, and cannot help but describe this as another shameless attitude of some Nigerian politicians who have made politics their life time career.
Truth be told, a man like Uduaghan, who was governor of Delta on the PDP platform for eight years (2007-2015), and was also a Commissioner for Health and later Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG) under the administration of his cousin and ex-convict, former Governor James Ibori; what more is he looking for in the political space? At that level of being in Government, what does Uduaghan need more in his life? Must he be like every typical Nigerian politician, most of whom have developed gray hairs while within the Government space? How will the younger crop of politicians be given a chance when these political leaders that have been in Government for more than two decades, have refused to leave the public space? Rather, they keep jumping from one political party to the other in search of greener opportunities to return in Government.
This practice of moving from one party to another, especially by former State Governors, is just their way of trying to get to The Senate, which has become a ‘retirement career house’ for these Nigerian politicians. This is exactly what Uduaghan is gaming for, after he might have struck a deal with James manager, who has taken The Nigerian Senate as his permanent home. Uduaghan, as a former governor, left the PDP in 2018 for the APC, where he contested the Delta South Senatorial election but lost to incumbent Senator James Manager. Having been a former Governor, an SSG and former Commissioner, is it compulsory for Uduaghan to occupy that seat at the Senate, before he decides to leave the political stage for the younger generation? Why can't he stay away from politics, retire and enjoy his alleged ill-gotten wealth made from public office? Also shame on our Nigerian politicians and elites who run after them for bread and butter. They are all ‘waka Waka politicians.’
We can imagine that, after he re-registered to become member of the PDP at his unit in Ward 6, Abigborodo, Warri North Court Area of the State, Uduaghan was quoted to have said, “It feels like I never left” (referring to PDP). That is because there is practically no difference between the PDP and the APC as the two major political parties in the country. This is what we get when political parties are without well-defined and practiced ideologies and values that should hold their beliefs and stands, which should be strictly based on a life of Service to the people.
Uduaghan, like most typical Nigerian politicians, has proven himself to be just a political-opportunist whose pedigree, is the do-or-die-kind-of-politicking that is evident in the country’s political landscape. To say the least, Uduaghan, has become more like an ‘abiku’ that has been coming and going with the political seasons of Nigeria. Do they know any shame at all? Must they be in Government, or see Government as a private investment of some sort? Yesterday Uduaghan was in PDP, today he is in APC, and tomorrow he is back in PDP. One begins to wonder what prompted him to join the APC in the first instance because according to him, it is like he never defected from PDP at all. Does this call for any sort of jubilation? As we see demonstrated by some party supporters. Are these people not jubilating in complete ignorance?
The issue of decamping, cross-carpeting from one political party to another, has been a typical practice of most Nigerian politicians. And the reason for this, is not far-fetched. When we consider the ‘do-or-die’ kind of politicking that is evident in Nigeria, be it (long) before, during and after general elections, we would then realize that the ‘motives’ of most Nigerian politicians who have made politics their career; is never about ‘service’, neither is it about bringing any ground vision of rapid development of one’s community and country to square up with its counterpart anywhere in the world. If it were; and if the ‘motives’ were right, Nigeria would have undergone tremendous transformation in over 20 years of democracy.
The truth is that, “party defections”, which has practically made us a laughing stock as a nation in the eyes of the international community, has become the order of the day. The level and manner in which this development is presently happening in Nigeria, is a clear indication of the sort of political parties and crop of politicians we have been breeding as a nation. No wonder we are where we are today; a nation plundered and almost helpless. Where the smallest index of development is often on the negative (usually to satisfy some ‘selfish’ interests in high places), even after decades of unprecedented wealth from crude oil, natural gas and condensate sales, which exclude that, unaccounted for in the past 60 years of oil and gas exploration and production.
Political party defectors are usually regarded as “political prostitutes” without political principle, morality, conscience and lacking in political ideology to champion the cause of leadership for the well-being of the society and political development of the country. That a man defects from the PDP and teams up with the APC or vice-versa, does not make him a saint overnight. In fact, if people find it easy to cross carpet from one political party to another in our political system, it only means there are no clear-cut and defined ideologies and this makes them all the same.
In Nigeria, if a politician does not get what he/she wants in terms of grabbing a political portfolio, he/she defects to a more popular party where he/she perceives the chances of winning an election is more. We saw this with Atiku Abubakar, Dino Melaye, just to mention a few. Although, we still have some small number of Nigerian politicians who stay stuck to their party irrespective of what is going on in the polity. The described trend in Nigeria’s political landscape shows the despicable “chameleon character of Nigeria politicians” and their struggle for political relevance without any conscience and political ideologies as a driving force, while they are in politics. We are sometimes forced to ask, what is the reason for the problem bedeviling Nigeria political parties? The reasons are greed, ego, power grab and above all, lack of internal democracy. These are grave issues the Nigerian APC and PDP have to contend with and address, if they dream to attain half the relevance, other political parties like the Republicans and Democrats of the US, have attained in their countries.
Some of Uduaghan critics says he decamped to APC as a political orphan and his impact was not felt even though he contested. While some say he was on a mission to create confusion in APC. A man of Uduaghan, with his defection from one party to another is a sign that he is not thoughtful and reasonable but only wants to grab political power. No reasonable political party should accommodate Uduaghan because he is just greedy for power. What is he going to do in the senate?
Zik Gbemre.
September 29, 2020.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes