Before the meager of smaller political parties to form the APC in Kogi State, I had always known that good governance and infrastructural development thrives on people occupying public office and not the political parties per say.
My personal experiences in public office reveals to me that the level of development attained by any given society is premised on the exposure of the mind of those that are elected or appointed to led. This is to say that the level of education, travel, and other positive human endeavors attained by any individual occupying public office determines and contributes to his to her performance be it president, governor, senator or any other public office holder.
I have discovered that in Nigeria people develop and drive policies and programs while in government and not Political Parties.
A lot of people especially in Kogi state places emphasis on political parties just for the purpose of Name and affiliation rather than credible and capable candidates in the political parties. This is the reason why you see people supporting a public office holder who is not performing but because of the political party he or she belongs. This I have identified as one of the bane of our political development in Kogi state.
The development of Kogi State should not be slayed on the Altar of Party Politics. Recent Political Development has shown that Credible and Capable candidates do not excel in the primaries of the so-called “ First Class Political Parties” in Kogi state. They are either disqualified or are not able to please the all powerful “Delegates” of these First class political parties who demand from them the “ heavens and earth” to clinch the party ticket in the primaries. Many of us focus on the elections proper and ignore the very foundations for good governance which begins from the political Party Primaries.
The essentials of Money in Party Politics cannot be over emphasized but not at the expense of the credibility and capability of an aspiring candidate. Kogi has been a victim of the realities of party politics in Nigeria over the years as it is evidenced in the quality of leadership we have experienced in time past.
A typical example of my submission in this piece can be observed in the Administration of late Prince Abubakar Audu. Almost all, if not all the infrastructure in Kogi state till date were built by the late Prince Abubakar Audu. When you talk of the Kogi State University, The Polytechnic, The Confluence Beach Hotel, the numerous roads constructed within the state etc the first name on your lips is the Name of Prince Abubakar Audu and Not the political Party he belonged which was the ANPP. It is instructive to note that it is the capabilities of the individual that occupies public office that makes the difference and not the political party in which he or she belongs as no one today remembers ANPP as the Political Party of the Late Prince Abubakar even when he was alive and active in the Party.
I have always promulgated a school of thought to everyone who cares to listen which is; When you are hungry what do you look for? Do you look for PDP, APC, LP or any other political party? What you look for is FOOD and in most cases irrespective of who cooks it. You don’t look for the logos of the political parties you belong to on the plate of food before you eat. When you are sick you don’t go the the Political Party Secretariat. You go to the hospital for treatment. When you in the hospital, you don’t ask the doctor if he belongs to the APC, PDP or any other political affiliations before you allow him treat you.
In the same vein, when a country or a state lacks infrastructural development and every other thing associated with good governance let us look for capable and credible candidates at all levels who can salvage the situation irrespective of the political party he or she belongs.
Political parties off course remains the platform for seeking elective offices as enshrined in our constitution. Let us identify candidates with credibility and potentials irrespective of the political parties they belong and elected them to public trust for the good of society. Let us shun the trend of electing only candidates from the “ First Class Political Parties” available today in our Political Space. Let us also very importantly shun the politics of “Money” as even money fails in public office; but ideas, capacity, accountability and credibility do not fail in public office.
May God Guide us all.
– Sanni Idakwo Philips aims to represent the people of Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives come 2019
