Consensus

Youth:

 

The quality or state of being young, youthfulness, juvenility

 

Elder:

 

Person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility.

 

Convention:

 

A formal meeting of members, representatives or delegates, as of a political party, fraternal society, profession or industry.

 

Consensus:

 

Agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole. The feeling of most people.

 

The above definitions refer. Much hullabaloo has been made of the PDP convention that took place last week and I have been reading with much interest all the conflicting views that have been aired by various groups in their interpretation of what they perceive the convention to be. I think it is important for the PDP to take note of the way Nigerians feel about what is happening; some people feel that it is an “arrangee”!!! by a few leaders in the party which begs the question of what a consensus means.

 

In talking about democracy in Nigeria, are we trying too hard to pursue a system that is not in its strict sense suited to this country. When I talk about consensus, the question I am asking is as Nigerians, as Africans in Africa; in traditional Nigerian society where we have an Oba, Emir, Obi and we put upon that council of elders the responsibility of making the correct decisions for the benefit of the group. I wonder whether it is not alien of us to feel that our politicians quite rightly, would interpret a consensus as being the agreement of the “house of lords,” the executive, the cabal, whatever we would care to call them and thereby impose their own views on the rest of party, for what they perceive to be for the benefit of the party. I dare say that it is only if the suggestions made, the positions arrived at, are not viewed as beneficial to the whole that we could really feel aggrieved. There are many facets in arriving at this conclusion and if any of them smells, then there is potentially a crack in that philosophy.

 

One thing is to be said in their defence, there was no violence, there was debate, there was pomp and ceremony. The convention was carried out in a peaceful manner and I wonder if there was not what we would call a consensus at the PDP convention. I know that the general view is for us to be negative about what happened because of what we were expecting but I begin to ponder and I begin to think, are we trying so hard to be what we are not; are we lying to ourselves? Is this not the way that our culture dictates that we do things?

 

However it is not all praise and kudos. I find it very difficult to accept the fact that these elders who have this very serious position of responsibility in the party would appoint a sixty year old (ye pa!) as the leader of the “youth.” In the PDP are we trying to say that there isn’t a 20 to 40 year old (and it is questionable whether a 40 yr old is a youth) who could represent the youth of that party? Are we stuck in a time of elders refusing to let go of power come what may and will not allow the young ones to take over from them so that there is a future for this country; when will the elders empower the youth? If they will not allow the youth of the party interact with them at executive level, then how do we inject new blood into the system and secure the future of this country. When did they (the Babas) start their own political careers?

 

I do not want to condemn what happened at the PDP convention in its entirety, I nevertheless have a problem with that fact that these elders, who the rest of the party have chosen, have abused in my view their position. The party is described as the largest in Africa and there has been boasting that they will be in power for ever. Is this how they intend to do it? What has been displayed is that they have no intention of handing over the batten and you cannot win a relay race by yourself. Is this the convention within their own party? Na wah o! The players here are their own people! Obama and Biden in the US are not the Democratic Party. They are members of the party and in getting a consensus, we should not lose track of the bigger picture, which is democracy, service to the people for the people by the people. The executive of the PDP will do well to remember that they are only executives by virtue of the fact that there is a PDP. They should not take “out the people” of the people’s Democratic Party.

 

This brings us back to the meaning of the word consensus, the spirit of the word; I believe I would be fair in quoting Wendy Kaminer here who stated that “Among political women ..... there is a clear consensus about the problems women candidates have traditionally faced.” At the PDP convention, the issue of the 35% affirmative action inclusion, and participation of women in government appointments and elections was put to the back burner.  The men did not allow the women, even for the position of women leader to contest for this position freely and fairly.  Women were not even allowed to lead the delegation for the aspirants.  Instead the delegation was led by men! Is this honourable? Is it democratic? And to crown it all there was only one female appointment.

 

The ruling party should understand that a lot of Nigerians view the conduct of the convention as undemocratic. They have laid down guidelines in their constitution for the necessity of elections. The way and manner that those are carried out is quintessential in all delegates feeling that they have been given the opportunity to have a fair crack and are truly part of the party and can attain any heights in the party. The fact that there may be a consensus candidate should not negate them the opportunity of standing for a position, being seen and being heard.

 

What we could describe as a youth in Nigeria, is someone between the ages of 18 and 35.  The retirement age in Nigeria is 60yrs or after you have been in the service for35yrs, by which time we feel that you are a bit washed out and need to retire to something less taxing. We all know that life is not easy for the black man, so making it to sixty is already a celebration of life.  Can Alhaji Garba Chiza be described as a youth? (Alhaji, please tweet me and let me have your views!!!)  It is all relative. As some people say, you are only as old as you feel and I suppose that when you put him side by side with the Tafidan Adamawa Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, who is almost 80, then he really is in the true sense a youth! The party chairman can be his parent and you know that in the eyes of our parents, we are always children, no matter how old we are!

 

Our democracy is but 13 years old so there is still a lot to learn and a long way to go .The plus side is that we are able to sit down and dialogue about this. That is a wonderful gift. We cannot however be stuck in the era of the “Consensus Candidate” where a small group behind closed doors can decide what is best for us without listening and hearing the cries and groans of the people. We need to be on the fast lane to maturity and to get rid of all the barriers that keep us from attaining premiership status in our democracy. What our leaders need to understand is that justice not only needs to be done but must also be seen to have been done.