Ibrahim
Badamosi Babangida (IBB) must be full of envy as he watches
Vladimir Putin become president of Russia again. In 2008, the latter relinquished
his presidency to protégé, Dmitry Medvedev, because in Russia a president
cannot stay in office for three consecutive terms. But unlike IBB, who
power eludes since 'stepping aside' from Nigeria's number one seat on that
fateful day 26 August 1993, Putin, has gone on to serve as Prime Minister of
his country (2008 - 2012) and he's now set to occupy The Kremlin a third non-consecutive time.
However,
if you've been following Russia's political scene for the past decade, you will
know Putin's latest presidential mandate comes with some level of scepticism
from his people. Also, most western leaders frown at oligarchy reign, seeing
him metaphorically as a villain from the fictional British spy movie 'James Bond 007'. But, with the new 6-year presidential
term in Russia, leaders from the west will have to put their hate aside and
find a way to work with Putin for the next 12 years; assuming he gets
re-elected in 2018.
Now, as
much as you may be tempted to think Russia is in Africa, may I remind you it's
a leading country on the European continent. But undoubtedly, operations of its
major political party, United Russia Party (URP) bears a resemblance to South
Africa's ruling party, African National Congress (ANC) and Nigeria's ruling
party, People's Democratic Party (PDP), who also propose a single term of
7-years presidency in Nigeria, which is a subject of ongoing debate at the
National Assembly.
Similar
to the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, Vladimir Putin shunned
presidential debates in run-up to the 2012 Russian elections. And just like
him, he won the general elections in Russia.
Again
similar to Nigeria, is the reaction of opposition parties in Russia. Quick to
denounce election results as illegitimate and heading straight to the court to
contest it. This despite knowing they didn't get as much votes as the winning
candidate. Which in this case ensured approximately 91,000 web-cameras was
fixed across all polling stations in the country, streaming Russia's elections
in real-time to the world over the Internet.
Not only
do international observers acknowledge Putin's victory through pursed lips,
they call it a "catch-22".
‘No real alternative to Putin' says Alexander
Rahr (German Council on Foreign Relations). A statement also being echoed
for South-Africa's upcoming 2014 Presidential elections, where political
analysts say ANC cannot be unseated by dissatisfaction of South-Africans alone;
alternative candidate from an opposition Party has to be exceptional.
This is
what strikes me when drawing comparison between Russia, South-Africa and
Nigeria's 'political scenes'. A seeming distrust for the ruling party, yet,
each time elections are called, voters restore power to the party in huge
numbers ahead of opposition parties at the polls. While the reason for
restoring incumbents in Russia and South-Africa may not be far-fetched – being that
they’ve helped place their respective countries amongst emerging economies of
the world – BRICS. The
reason Nigerians restore ruling party, PDP, isn't so clear. Albeit
delivering on reforms in the banking and telecommunications industry, they seem
to be fumbling in other areas, especially electricity, roads and
security - three aspects the people believe if improved will have direct
impact on their lives: aiding their productivity and transportation,
securing their life and property.
But like
Russia and South-Africa, will it be a case of ‘no contest’ when PDP roll out
their war-chest for Nigeria's 2015 Presidential elections? Interestingly,
the party says it will rule Nigeria for 60 years, 16 is already in the bag and
opposition parties appear hapless to stand in way of remaining 44 years of
this prophecy.
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