April 11, 2002
A barrage of public criticisms defeated the opprobrious attempt by elements of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) including the President to foist on the country a fraudulent and anti-democratic electoral law. That law would, among its anti-democratic intentions, have in effect prevented the formation of new political parties.
I hope it can now be assumed that new political parties will be permitted and that they will in fact be formed to contest the 2003 elections. Indeed, if Nigerian political history is any guide, I expect that political schemers are already active, rushing from city to city and hopping from one meeting to another. It is perhaps the fear of new political parties and/or alliances that prompted the disgraceful pronouncements reminiscent of Abacha politics by some politicians who were herded to visit President Obasanjo at his Ota residence recently.
It appears, unfortunately, that the mentality of many of the old political actors has not improved a bit. Perhaps the formation of new parties and/or alliances will bring in much needed new mentality into the political system We do know that some quite high-minded persons have stayed out of the political party structure because they cannot fit themselves into the existing parties. We should now have a chance to build a genuine multi-party democracy in which individuals can choose the people with whom they would really like to associate.
Political parties and political groupings are a backbone of democracy. If we are to achieve a truly democratic system, we need to have respectable, purposeful, and durable political parties. It is now known that one reason the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election was sustained was because it was so easy for the Babangida government to get certain leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to acquiesce, having been “settled” through bribes and promises of political offices.
The story might have been different if leaders of the SDP at all levels were unanimous in their opposition to the annulment. We need to have parties that will not only stand tall in victory but will be able to stand firm in the face of adversity.
How can the right political parties or alliances come about? The formula is surprisingly simple; it is written in bold letters everywhere in nature. Most people know the proverb “Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”. Another proverb, which expresses the same concept is “birds of a feather flock together”. Just as “birds of a feather flock together”, so do fishes of the same kind swim together. They congregate under water and move together in large groups called “schools”.
This grouping has many advantages for them. For example, fishes in schools find food more readily and are less prone to attack by predators. A fish that strays from its school exposes itself to the risk of being attacked and killed by enemy fishes. Doesn’t this remind one of the tendency of people to take refuge among their own kith and kin in times of conflict?
Economists say that bad money drives out good money; i.e. bad money and good money repels good money. Those who have studied chemistry might see the effect of this same principle quite clearly in the coming together of identical molecules to form compounds. All these phenomena are manifestations of a natural law called the Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species, or the Law of Homogeneity. In simpler, perhaps less precise language, it is also described as the law of “Like Attracts Like”. The Law manifests itself in the relationships among people, among animals, and even in the natural communities of plants.
The Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species also ensures that if a particular species is split, the split parts will re-unite when given an opportunity. It is for this reason that opposite poles of a magnet attract, as is taught in elementary physics. The fact that unlike poles of a magnet attract appears, at first, to be a contradiction of the Law of the Attraction of Homogeneous Species. Let us, therefore, take some time to reflect on it so that we may gain conviction of the correctness of this very important natural law.
Most readers are probably familiar with magnets that are in the form of long bars or rods. By convention, the two ends of such a bar magnet are called “south pole” and “north pole”. Imagine holding this kind of magnet in such a way that the left end is the south pole and the right end is the north pole. Imagine that we then cut the bar magnet into two (the two parts need not be equal). We now have two bar magnets.
Call the left piece "magnet A" and the right piece "magnet B". By convention, the right end of "magnet A is a new north pole (because the left end is the south pole), while the left end of "magnet B" becomes a new south pole. But remember that the right end of "magnet A" (the new north pole) and the left end of "magnet B" (the new south pole) were one and the same point before we cut the original bar magnet into two.
If the new south pole and the new north pole are brought near each other, we observe an attraction. When that happens, we would simply be witnessing the coming together of closely similar parts that were forcibly separated; adjacent molecules that were separated through the act of cutting are given a chance to rejoin. And they do so, in accordance with the Law of "Like Attracts Like". Therefore, the observation in physics that “unlike poles attract” is, in fact, in line with the Law of the Attraction of Homogeneous Species.
Whole species that are similar will attract. But so will the split parts of the same species seek to re-unite. This means that what appears to be attraction can be differentiated into genuine attraction, which takes place between whole species that are similar, and the desire for union of split parts of the same definite species. In this connection, one might note in passing that Germany was one county until it was split after losing the Second World War; the two Germanys (East and West) reunited as soon as the opportunity presented itself more than 40 years later. Similarly, against American military might, North and South Vietnam reunited. One should also expect that North and South Korea will eventually come together through the force of this natural law.
The thoughts, deeds, and volition of human beings are whole species that attract similar species. Thus, evil deeds will attract evil deeds, and evil thoughts must attract evil thoughts. On the other hand, good thoughts will repel evil thoughts. Whenever we send evil thoughts to our enemies, we are preparing our selves to receive evil thoughts - that is, we are making it possible for our selves to be victims of evil thoughts floating around. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ taught that we should love our enemies, including sending them good thoughts.
When next you are at a gathering, observe this Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species at work. Small groups form themselves based on what the individuals have in common - be it profession, religious or spiritual beliefs, language, political opinion, fashion, a shared hatred, etc. Hell, for example, is the flocking together of people who share similar weaknesses or evil. This is to say that hell is not the creation of God. If people were not evil and committed no sins, there would be no gathering of sinners and the evil-minded; that is, there would be no hell.
The point I am making with respect to the formation of political parties and alliances should by now be clear. It is that the process should be guided by principles and each party should represent a coming together of people who share common political values and subscribe to a similar vision of Nigeria. Those who have nothing in common should not belong to the same party.
This poses a challenge to each individual who wishes to participate in the political party system; for each one must first think and reflect on his/her motivations, political views, and personal vision of the direction in which the country should go. In this regard, thoughtless persons and those who have no principles are worthless participants in the political process. They are the type of persons who would today shout “Hosanna”, and tomorrow would clamour “Crucify Him”. Individuals must make conscious choices of the people with whom they wish to associate in politics as well as in other endeavours.
One should add that only political parties that are formed on the basis of, and are truly committed to, the God-willed principles of justice and love will endure. Political parties which are not guided by any clear principles or whose principles go against the Will of God will, before long, come apart and die. Parties formed by those who want at all costs power, money, and influence belong in the latter category.
The lust for power and the perquisites of power is a wrong basis for party formation; such a basis would only create unstable associations characterized by great distrust and, of course, would harm the country in manifold ways. Shared vision of what Nigeria should be as well as shared conceptions of governance and public service should be the factors bringing people together in political parties or pulling parties together in an alliance.
Guides
Forming Political Parties and Alliances