MDadmin
Politics has therefore come closer to PR and gimmick; the genuine interests of the people have increasingly eroded, as the neoliberal platform instituted a piratical form of capitalism, which deepens the social divides around the world.
The rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer. This was the background which led to the emergence of the ‘Occupy’ movement around the advanced capitalist world; and it is the source of the collapse in Greece and the humiliation of its people.
The international system built upon the Washington Consensus is not working for the majority of humanity. Unfortunately for us, we are located on the periphery of the imperialist system of the 21st Century. Our ruling elite copy the worst excesses of this system. The political party system is a joke and the PDP in the period since 1999, has become a danger to the consolidation of the democratic process in our country. It is a vehicle of access for power without responsibility; a party of the most vicious segment of the nation’s political elite wedded to the most inordinate use of power.
It was the frightening transformation of the party from the ideals which led to its founding, which led one of its founders to frustratingly, describe it as a basket of scorpions, stinging themselves to death. The disappointment and disgust that accompanied the forced consensus arrangement, as well as the way candidates were corralled into stepping down, show that a lot is wrong with this big-for-nothing political party. But as usual, the losers will get ‘juicy’ appointments; case closed.
On a final note, all politics is local. There is a Kwara twist to the PDP tale. The last PDP convention which brought the Prince Vincent Ogbulafor leadership to power, was done at the height of the James Ibori-Bukola Saraki hegemony in the Yar’Adua presidency. Today, the most powerful Kwaran in the Goodluck Jonathan era, is not a man, but Hajiya Muinat Bola Shagaya.
She is a member of the Dame Patience Jonathan inner circle and an in-law of the new PDP National Chairman, Alhaji BamangaTukur! Within the space of a few years, the Bukola Saraki myth gradually reached its expiry date at the national level as new forces emerged to lay claim to political ascendancy and influence, represented by the unspoken position of Muinat Bola Shagaya.
If we wait long enough, everything changes! Now that President Jonathan has his man in place as party chairman, and another South-South person in Sam Sam Jaja, as his deputy, the coast is clear for the Goodluck Jonathan candidacy in 2015. This was where the ‘consensus’ coronation was leading the PDP and by extension, Nigeria. Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen!
