Date Published: 08/21/09

Re: What manner of opposition
By Frank O. Ijege

The measure of respect I have for Chief Tony Anenih is immeasurable. He is a man whose name has constantly featured in our political scene for more than a decade. He is indeed a politician of no mean repute who has earned a name for himself. But I have cause to disagree with him, based on his views published in the Daily Trust of Wednesday, 20 May, 2009. In that article, Chief Anenih tried to paint the opposition black. In fact, he described them as a group of people who don’t see anything good in this government.

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It was Lord Denning MR who propounded the popular phrase you cannot put something on nothing. Let’s hear him “In law if an act is void, it is a nullity. It is not only bad but incurably bad. For you cannot something on nothing and expect it to stand, definitely it will collapse.” We all know that the election that brought this government to power was incurably rigged. So, how do we expect a government that does not enjoy the good will of the people to embark on policies that will reflect the wishes of the people? I am not unmindful of the fact that Mr. President admitted the flaws of the 2007 election during his inaugural speech. But to think of it, has he done anything to redress this vexed issue?     

The electoral reform is just a decoy to gain acceptance. It is never the intention of this administration to effect genuine electoral reform. The government’s white paper on the Justice Uwais report and the charade in Ekiti State vindicates this position. Chief Anenih took a swipe on the opposition political parties. To think of it, are majority of these parties not an extension of the PDP? Serious minded political parties like the Action Congress have not failed Nigerians. Everybody knows that the PDP is a sinking ship. It therefore needs to be rescued, that’s why its members use all kinds of means ranging from force, blackmail and even threat in order to get members of the opposition into its fold. It is rather unfortunate that will don’t play politics of ideology in this country.

It’s been ten years of civil rule in Nigeria, but Nigerians cannot boast of any positive impact. In fact, their plights increased within the last ten years. If anyone disagrees with this, let him check the rate of poverty and unemployment and compare it with what use to obtain ten years ago. The current administration seems to have maintained the status quo. Because it’s been two years since its inception, still we are yet to have a bearing. Nigerians are tired of listening to blank promises. We need a pragmatic government that will make the people the centre piece of it policies and programmes.

So, I really don’t know how Chief Anenih intends to convince Nigerians that the opposition is misleading them. Instead of ascribing blame and attributing fault, let the Chief and his party (the PDP) admit its failures and device ways on how to improve.

Frank O. Ijege