These are not the best of times for opposition parties in Nigeria. On paper there are scores of them registered with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In reality, only a handful of them exist with realistic chance of success at the polls.
Today, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) controls 28 governorships and seems to be casually targeting the 32 once held by the once-upon-a-time mighty Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Incidentally, this force of nature that at some point boasted it would govern the country for 60 years is now a shell of itself.
Aside battling fragmentation which further enfeebles it in its bid to return to power anytime soon, opposition parties and their most prominent leaders are fighting for scraps looking for what to hurl at the ruling party. Bad news and statistics are good news for them. Unfortunately, they’ve not had much to work with in this area.
After United States President, Donald Trump, labelled Nigeria ‘a disgraced country’, threatening to storm our shores with ‘guns blazing’, there was jubilation in certain quarters. Visions of US marines dropping on the roof at Aso Rock to effect regime change had some people in ecstasy. Alas, it was just a fleeting dream!
What followed was swift engagement with Washington by the government. After the recent fact-finding visit by the American congressional delegation, every dream about bombs dropping from the sky disappeared in the unappealing diplomatic talk.
Even the rash of suspicious mass abductions which looked like a reprise of the final days of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s hapless regime, have petered out as the Nigeria Army fanned out ‘guns-a-blazing’ across the land.
It’s Christmas time and the trademark fuel queues are nowhere to be found. Food prices are crashing. The president just decisively dealt with necessary personnel changes that were potentially distracting for his government, and raw material for a thousand opposition press releases. Tinubu looks increasingly presidential, his would-be usurpers increasingly frustrated with feeding on scraps.
Read more on Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics
