I have read with considerable interest the columns by both Waziri Adio and Simon Kolawole on a phenomenon called the Third Force, that is, the possibility for another way that could liberate Nigerians from the miseries of now, in disrupting the status quo which is seemingly dominated by two Political Parties, the PDP and APC.
From Nationalist times in colonial Nigeria we had a contestation for the North by NPC of Ahmadu Bello, Aminu Kano’s NEPU and Joseph Tarka’s MBC. These effects of the Buhari legacy call for new reflection on Larry Diamonds thesis in his journey through ethnicity Class and Political Parties in Nigeria. A deadlocked election in which we would have been the thinking candidate offering clear directions would lead to our setting the agenda in the deal making process. Unfortunately, those elections were hopelessly manipulated to produce the Yaradua presidency. President Yaradua was fully aware of that and was pricked, in conscience, to move to reform the process.
The real story to tell here is that suggesting Nigerians will continue to tolerate a political class that unrepentantly uses state capture to suck live out of the Leviathan; to dehumanise the people, misgovern them and steal from the state to a point of public penury with no effort to seek change, beyond reshuffling themselves, is to underestimate the possibilities of the human spirit.
I was myself purged of this underestimating of the will of Nigerians and the construction of reality from stereotypes by an experience from the 2007 campaigns. I was still reeling from the comments of the Emir when we arrived the home of former MD of Afribank and Chairman of the Emirate’s Elders Council, Alhaji Yerima Abdulahi. When I told him what I was still trying to recover from, he said the Emir knew what he was talking about because he had been a Permanent Secretary