The Decline of Progressive Politics

The Decline of Progressive Politics
By Sam Onimisi
How time changes. Once upon a time there was a clear demarcation between Progressives and the Conservatives in the practice of politics, but not any more. Today, the divide between the two is too slim to notice unless one uses the microscope, so to say. You probably know the reason or causes of this development, as I also can hazard some guesses, though none of us may be credited with the gift of clairvoyance as we are talking after the fact. Beyond rhetoric, today’s progressive is as bland as the conservative. Even at this, there is no coherence and confidence in his speech any more. The last time they appeared on the podium, they looked as ghostly as ghoul and succeeded only in opening many mouths aghast, which is a pity.
The fact that progressives are now famished is due to no fault of theirs. They are made so by the forces they have used up their energy to fight – the powers that – be. Having been hunted with hunger and shackled by lack of opportunity (or is it lack of acceptance) their number have dwindled to the extent that they can now be counted on the finger tips. In any case, what is progressive politics? The politics of progressives is hinged on social welfare social justice and social integration. It entails freedom for the individual as well as autonomy of the units. It is futuristic in vision, plans and in dreams and worldview – a politics that employs pragmatism to effect needed change, using evolutionary approach as a first choice and at the same time, courageous enough to adopt a revolutionary approach if the need be. In Africa, Chief Obafemi Awolowo of Nigeria, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kwame Nkruma of Ghana, to mention a few are some of the progressive politicians of our time.
Either for lack of depth, or of courage and vision, the generation of progressive politicians of today are engaged only in protest politics. They protest against public policies perceived to be against the long-term interest of the people, but lack the nerve to carry the protest to its logical conclusion by making or forcing government to reverse such policies. Many have become oppositional politicians. Associated with protests and morally persuaded enough not to join the fray, they remain in the opposition for the wrong or the right reasons. You could regard this as a compromised version of progressive politics, since they lack the valve and the wherewithal to transform beyond rhetoric into practical action that benefits anyone.
Exhausted of resources with which to continue to sell their ideas, deprived by the conservative system of winners – take – all, not wanting to die yet nor willing to join them since he cannot beat them, it becomes a matter of time for progressive politicians to adopt a compromise or resign from politics entirely. But like a deadly virus, politics has a way of cleaving to those who have engaged in it for long such that you cannot leave it even when you want. And so, you are inexorably forced to continue to agitate for reforms on empty stomach. That this specie of politicians is still alive is a wonder, their ghostly looks being a memento mori of sorts.
In the first and second Republic politics of Nigeria, many opposition politicians were honored with appointments by their parties in the regions or states where they held sway. This was true of the UPN and the NPP led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe respectively. Today, if you are unfortunate not to win (or deliver your constituency) you are automatically sentenced to death by hunger. Not that you could not fend for yourself if left alone or without politics, but for the fact that your efforts are more often thwarted or subverted by the winners – who are determined to take all from you, or strip you naked for being so unlucky as to loose. Aren’t you amazed that some of these progressives are still alive?
Here then is the birth of political contractors whose stock-in-trade is political jobbery. Men and women who are otherwise respectable but who are forced by the zest for life and survival to engage in middlemen’s trade. Many are into many parties at the same time. All they need do is to belong to one party in the morning and a different one at night. They are forced into political demagoguery by godfathers whose trade mark is monopoly. Gluttons who are recycled so much that they die in office long after they have fixed their own children in public offices as their successors. If you don’t see why progressive politics is in decline in Nigeria, then you may continue to believe the wrong people instead of some godforsaken godfathers. In other climes, godfathers foster younger politicians to take after them, but here it have to be their own offspring.
Who do we blame for this state of affairs? People are swift to answer the question by blaming it on poverty. The next question is: which type of poverty? I will say that it is both poverty of ideas, as well as poverty of material resources. Come to think of it, a man of ideas should have no business with poverty – all things being equal; but because most things are not equal in Nigeria, you are sentenced to long-term imprisonment by poverty. After all, the best of practical ideas needs wings to fly, i.e. money. Without it, you could go on and on with fanciful ideas that will never see the light of day. And all you have to show for your brilliant ideas is an elongated neck and a pitiful look; in addition, those you fought so hard for would turn round to blame you for their own poverty as if you are its accredited distributor.
Meanwhile, the conservative politicians whose ingenuity is greed (with capital G) are so robust they are threatening to burst. If they don’t look so in the body, their bank accounts are bursting at the seems. If the Ayattolah of Amala politics and garrison commander of Ibadan politics were to be alive, his Senator-son would now have been assured of the gubernatorial ticket for next year’s governorship race of Oyo State. How his orphan will run the race without his larger-than-life father is anybody’s guess. His next door neighbor in Kwara State, who probably invented the Amala brand of politics, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki makes no pretension on the success he has made of political monopoly. The Second Republic Senate Leader has successfully built a dynasty which Kwarans may need to do a hard wrestle to dismantle. He and his family has monopolized the Kwara central senatorial seat since 1999 with Senator Gbemisola Saraki, his daughter.
Since 2003, his son and Gbemisola’s brother Dr. Bukola Saraki has been the governor of Kwara State, a known presidential aspirant in the 2011 race. A weird and macabre scenario is currently unfolding in the state. Some apparently demented women are said to have threatened to go nude if Gbemisola is not allowed to take over from her brother in 2011. Since Kwarans are already stripped naked politically after being raped economically, I guess it will not be a rude spectacle if the blokes also joined the planned road show of nudity. I bet that the Chief Priest himself will be highly entertained by the kind gesture of the nudists. In the context of monopoly as enjoyed by the Saraki clan, all talks of progressive politics is not just a day dream but idle chatter. And so, opposition parties and politicians cannot be expected to pull off some hat-trick in the face of the vice-grip on power and coercive agencies of government by one family.
The recycling of ex-presidents and the rigging of elections by parties in government so as to exclude opposition parties does not help to promote progressive politics or multi-party democracy. As a matter of fact, a recent amendment to the constitution which allows elected officials to change from one party to the other during their tenure is bound to make politics not only murkier and dirtier, it threatens to eclipse the remnants of whatever looks or sounds like progressive in political practice. How this will enhance democracy is as nebulous as the nebula.