SAVE NIGERIAN POLITICS

History of politics and elections in Nigeria is replete with cases of diverse factors which hinder good governance and inability of political office holders to deliver dividend of effective leadership to the electorates.

Some of these factors include lack of sound policy formulation and execution, lack of effective competition which reduces the freedom of choice, religion, ethnicity, absence of political ideology, weak and inconsistent parties policy positions among others.

PDP-APCTo address these recurring problems and prepare for successful 2015 general elections, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP and Democratic Governance for Development, DGD set up the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre.

The aim of the Centre is to help develop capacity of political parties in order to improve the quality of political engagement as political parties are crucial for the stability and dynamics of a democratic political system.

To achieve this aim, the centre has conducted workshops for national officers of the 26 registered political parties in the country. The ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the major opposition, All Progressive Congress, APC, have, however, always recorded low turnout in each phase of the workshops.

It was in continuation of this that the director of the DGD, Mr. Daouda Toure paid a courtesy visit on the Director-General of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Prof. Tijani Mohammed-Bande.

The visit coincided with the training workshop for National Youth Leaders of registered political parties in Nigeria, a workshop facilitated by NIPSS supported by the UNDP and Democratic Governance for Development, DGD.

Mr. Toure noted that the minds of politicians and their supporters should be addressed because that is where conflict starts and conditioned so that the culture of peace is enthroned there.

His words, “The UNDP/DGD is in partnership with NIPSS to strengthen the leadership and organizational capacities of political parties as institutional foundation of Nigeria’s democracy and ensure that political parties are policy-oriented, responsive, inclusive and more accountable to their members and the society.

“As Nigeria prepares for the general elections next year, we need a strong Nigeria in Africa, though losers in Africa are not always willing to accept defeat, wait and get ready for the next election but we need a change of attitude.”

He commended the series of training which political parties’ leaders in registered parties are receiving at NIPSS and asked for such to be replicated in other African countries for effective repositioning of political landscape in the continent.

However, the DG of NIPSS, Prof. Muhammed-Bande reiterated that the partnership with the United Nations has been beneficial as they collaborate to strengthen political parties to develop good policies.

He stated, “The task of politics congeal what policies political parties carry out, the Institute in partnership with UNDP/DGD is working to strengthen political parties to develop policies, better organized and understand their roles in governance. We help political parties learn how to develop policies that impact positively on the people.”

Similarly, the Project Director of DGD, Dr. Mourtada Deme said Nigerian politicians had been learning democratic process since 1999 so democracy and governance should not be compressed into a voting act performed every four or five years.

Dr. Deme pointed out that free, fair and meaningful elections are essential but not enough stressing that words like “do or die” should never be expressed regarding the conduct of elections in a nation seeking to strengthen its democracy.

Meanwhile, the Director, Research and Chief Operative Officer of the Centre, Prof. Olu Obafemi decried the near absence of the vulnerable groups like women, youths and the physically challenged in active political activities and called for a change.

Prof. Obafemi also recommended that political parties should “implement measure such as promoting internal democracy, diversifying their sources of funding and encourage participation of vulnerable groups in all aspects of party affairs.”