If Nigerian politicians can keep a peace accord, there would have been a wind of change in the air by now. As we march towards the re-scheduled elections, new alliances would continually have been formed within the Nigerian political space. Old enemies will have become new friends. But alas this is Nigeria where political campaigns are still taken as veritable platforms for mudslinging and the unabashed hurtling of insults by petulant adults who adorn the pretentious garb of “mature statesmen!” Charles Kupchan wrote in his book, “How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace” right before America first invaded Iraq in 2003. A lot has happened since that time. Barack Obama’s campaign slogan was that he was willing to extend a hand and engage with US adversaries and lead America to enter into a new era of engagement with just about any nation, including countries which America considered arch “enemies” like North Korea based on mutual interest and respect.
The same scenario can be likened to what is happening in Nigeria today after the signing of the Abuja Peace Accord by leaders of all political parties. In the recent past, our politicians constituted themselves into hard-shelled blocs of “enemies” simply because they were separated by party line, but with the peace accord one would have expected them to accede to speak with restraint and avoid the temptation to stoke the embers of violence with inflammatory and unsubstantiated accusations. If this were the case, it will have been a good thing for the electorate to finally see a new posture of tolerance and issue-based campaign but instead we are still being assaulted by the Ayo Fayose and Femi Fani-Kayode kind of attack-dog campaign strategy which is flagrant for its irresponsibility, banal because it plays to base sentiments and ingenious for cobbling a mish-mash of absolute nonsense.
Even student unionism, which is known for its youthful brash language, is beginning to pale in the face of the distasteful tone of many politicians who are campaigning for office. Millions of patriotic Nigerians are tired of the barrage of insults flying all over the place in the guise of political campaigns and we collectively pray that these elections will soon be over, so that we can have the serenity to go back to teaching our children anew that campaigns are neither akin to wrestling or boxing bouts. Campaigns are and should fundamentally be; “a contest of ideas for the public good!” It is in tandem with the dictates of the Abuja Peace Pact to stay the course of issues and keep the mood, tone and tenor of campaign language decent, constructive and non-inflammatory that it has become necessary to make a cursory analysis of a few recurring statements made by APGA governorship candidate, Labaran Maku, which bother on the hurtling of unsubstantiated and provocative accusations against the person and credibility of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State.
All the accusations against Governor Al-Makura by Maku are plain braggadocio and not grounded in substance and can easily be refuted with available facts. I refrain to play to the gallery and say they are flagrant, baseless or a figment of Maku’s imagination or use any other unsavoury word, because Governor Al-Makura insists that the language of political campaign must be couched in decency and superior argument rather than emotional outburst or unnecessary insult. On assuming the position of Chief Press Secretary and spokesman Governor Al-Makura, he cautioned against the use of aggressive or insulting tone against anyone who insults him. He had said: “In actual fact, it is God who gives power to whomever he desires, so insulting an opponent does not earn you more votes because when ordinary people go to the polls, they seek to elect leaders who are better and more responsible than the ones they had in the past or those who are currently in the saddle!”
When Labaran Maku joined the fray to contest for nomination as a gubernatorial candidate under the banner of the PDP, his campaign slogan was: “Peace and Progress!” And true to this mantra, he vaunted how he had come from Abuja to bring peace to Nasarawa State. However, it is a fact that a peacemaker weighs his utterances. A peacemaker does not splatter mud on the incumbent so as to score political points, nor does he attack with the kind of vitriolic gusto and acidic vehemence that closes the door to any form of reconciliation. A peacemaker provides alternative solutions, points the direction to peace and shows how he is best suited to navigate the process of peace-building.
Although everywhere in the world it is complex and multifaceted for political adversaries to engage with each-other and transform enmity into amity, President Obama and Professor Kupchan both believe that diplomatic engagement with rivals is critical to rapprochement and can be realized to restore societal peace and moral leadership. It is this same set of values that evinces the thinking of Waziri Ibrahim, (Leader of GNPP in 1983) who is known as the apostle of “Politics without bitterness!” in Nigeria. It involves a great degree of principle to refrain from the Doyin Okupe/Fani Kayode attack dog strategy. It takes character to avoid flippant talk that can divide people, smear character or subtly plant the seeds of violence.
Yes indeed, Governor Al-Makura recently presided over the distribution of relief materials and return of displaced people back to their homes who have for long been scattered across the length and breadth of the state. Today it is estimated that more than 60,000 people previously displaced are now resettling through the efforts of Governor Al-Makura, but the root cause of how the state came to be burdened with such a huge number of displaced persons is historic, economic and political. Before Al-Makura became governor there were a plethora of communal crises which led to the displacement of people among the various local governments in the state.
If you equate the spate of displaced persons to a tree which has branches and leaves; then the stem or the trunk of this tree which is clearly visible to the people in Nasarawa, a tragic number of families squatting with relatives and in Ta’al model schools converted into make-shift camps. The branches of displacement are legion and they intertwine like those of any tree, confusing onlookers and leaving authorities bewildered.
That is why when a person like Maku who has served as Coordinating Minister for Defence simplifies the issue of resettlement of displaced persons, his comment becomes worrisome. The truth is while government can use its agencies to enforce order and repress violence; it cannot heal broken hearts and rebuild mutual trust. Governor Al-Makura plunged into the quagmire of dealing with displaced persons from his first month in office in May 2011 and has since continued to cultivate measures that will create a conducive environment for harmonious co-existence of the people of Nasarawa State and even those who spill over from Benue State.
All these efforts of Governor Al-Makura can be likened to social innovation and the improvement of social capital. He common good for the entire community.
Finally it will do well for Maku to remember that sometime back, following the Boko Haram insurgency in the country, a Warri-based group known as Egbesu Mightier Fraternity ordered all Muslim communities in Niger Delta to leave within seven days. This was quite toxic. Let each campaign train weigh its utterances with respect and decorum and proffer valid solutions instead of making provocative statements which are not backed by statistical evidence and research.
Again let it be stated for the records, we welcome constructive criticism.
LAMAI is a Chief Press Secretary to Governor Al-Makura.
