10 things Nigerians should know about how Politicians play politics

– Politicians always make promises they will never fulfil

– Electorates are often led to the garden path

– Democracy will not really give the citizens all what they want

Politicians are the best at telling cock and bull stories; ditto Nigerian politicians. When it is election period, they come out with all sorts of manifestos and promise heaven and earth to the electorates, if voted into office. This tradition of unending pledges is one of the several gimmicks used in the game of politics.

1. Subterfuge

This is the intrigue used by politicians to win during elections. The smartest politician who has vast knowledge of this aspect of politics carries the day. Anyone who wants to go into politics and does not learn about the subterfuge of politicking, could be sent to oblivion and may never realise his political ambition.

2. Unending drama

Unending drama here means politicians bring up different situations that make the citizens shy away from questioning them about providing good governance. Either the governing party or oppositions, they are all proficient in the drama episode.

READ ALSO: Agriculture is my number one priority – Buhari

Since the inception of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration on Friday, May 29, 2015, some of the dramas that have been played to Nigerians include: Dasukigate, Ekitigate, CCT trial, Saraki and Ekweremadu involvement in forgery of Senate Standing rules, Buhari-Fayose brouhaha, the recent Dogara budget padding, among others. The list is endless.

During the tenure of former president Goodluck Jonathan, the need for the introduction of a N5,000 note, a single-six-year term for the president, Jonathan vs Amaechi, were part of the unending drama then.

3. Mudslinging

This particular aspect is used frequently. Anyone following the countdown to November 2015 US presidential election between Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton and Repbulican Donald Trump, especially on CNN would have been overfed with abuses between both camps.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Coming down to Nigeria as well, it is not a new thing to see a PDP member abuse the APC, but within a short time, he leaves the PDP and start singing in a different tune in his new found party. This will never end in politics.

4. Backstabbing

This is common within and outside political parties. It is rife during electioneering campaigns. It is a bit similar to subterfuge, however it involves more of the use of the media and spin-doctors. A person close to the politician in question could be used for this.

5. Unalloyed loyalty

When the immediate former governor of Lagos state and current minister of power, works and housing Babatunde Raji Fashola was asked by the Senators during his ministerial screening last year about loyalty, all he said was that it was better the loyalty of a politician was not tested.

READ ALSO: PDP ready to capture Imo, Nigeria – Party chairman

Fashola was absolutely right. This is because no politician will rise through the rank and file of politics to the top without a test of his total loyalty by the powers-that-be in his party.

 6. Decamping and cross-carpeting

This particular scenario is not common in politics in the advanced countries of the world. However, this is not so with Nigerian politics. A typical example of a political sojourner a one-time vice president of the country in the person of Atiku Abubakar.

The ex-vice president started with the PDP on the return of democracy in 1999. He decamped to the All Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate and contested in the 2007 presidential, where he had a woeful performance.

Atiku returned to PDP before joining forces with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to form the current ruling APC.

There are numerous Nigerian politicians who fall under this. Some political observers call such politicians by the name ‘political prostitutes.’

7. Chaos and court cases

Hardly any election year will come that numerous court cases will not arise. The Abia state governorship episode generated so much reactions, whereby two governors were said to be in charge of the Southeast state.

Tribunal rulings, High Courts, Courts of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court are all dragged into the chaos caused by politicians.

8. Deceit

Politicians love deceiving the voters. It is part of the ways they renege on their campaign promises. They hoodwink the populace into believing them whole-kindheartedly, in what they know they will never do.

9. Lies

When will politicians stop telling lies? Only they themselves will answer that. According to some people who were close to the late stronghold of Ibadan politics Lamidi Adebibu, Adebibu was reported to have asked the former governor of Oyo state Rashidi Ladoja, if the latter was good at telling lies durinf his lifetime.

There is hardly any politician who does not tell lies.

10. Godfatherism

One of the people Goodluck Jonathan said he was grateful to was Chief Olusegun Obasanjo regarding his becoming the nation’s president during his tenure. Obasanjo was the one who played the all the behind the scene game to selecting GEJ first as a vice presidential candidate, before destiny threw the former Bayelsa governor into becoming the number one citizen of Nigeria for almost six years.

The post 10 things Nigerians should know about how Politicians play politics appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read Naij.com 24/7.