SEASON OF POLITICAL MIGRANTS
The Oasis Reporters
March 7, 2018
By Gora Dauda
The season of political migration is here with us once more and justifiably so as 2019 draws nearer. If politics is all about the pursuit of determined ends, individuals just like groups have the right to determine the extent to which their aspirations have been met as members of any political party.
Put in another way, your loyalty to any political party or platform depends on the extent to which the goals you set have been achieved.
Many a politician or interest groups have had cause to migrate from one political party/platform to another principally for the above reason. Others may migrate for lack of inclusiveness in running the affairs of the party. Whenever some feel that they may have fallen out of favour or are not being treated fairly, that could be reason enough for political migration.
For others, once there is an obvious plan to squeeze them out to the extent they will not be able to realize their ambition, such could move on to other platforms which are more accommodating.
Migration in politics is as old as politics itself. In Nigeria where politics is still a crude game, the frequency of political migration is worrisome. Our political space has witnessed this to and fro, or if you will, forward and backward movement too often.
For a few it did work but for others it turned out a disaster because they may have thought there would be room to accommodate them on the other side only to find out that there was none.
I lend my weight to all political migrants, the moment they feel they have no future where they currently stand. My advice to anyone hoping to migrate is very simple, do your homework very well before you abandon ship. You must wait until the ship has taken in so much water that it stands no chance of remaining afloat. That the engines of the ship are failing may not necessarily mean the ship will not arrive its designated port because every ship has engineers on-board who could work on the troubled engines. Those who abandon ship too early are cowards and and can only have second hand value wherever they go.
Currently, I know of a high profile political heavyweight who abandoned ship too early and as things stand with all the money at his disposal, he is not receiving the warm welcome he thought he would receive on the other side. Had this high profile politician tarried much longer where he migrated from, his chances of realising his political ambition would have been more. The tragedy of this migration lies in the fact that those in the new platform realized that the new Oga was fixated over his political ambition and they have told him in very clear language that he will have to join the queue at the end of the rather long line given that he is a new comer once more.
As things now stand, there is no political barometer yet to measure the pressure of the Oga’s calculus. I just hope that things work for the Oga so that at the very least, he clinches the presidential ticket of that party even though he may not win the presidential election. If money was all there is in a political contest, the Oga would have been assured of the party’s ticket.
I can foresee many obstacles for this man placed by people who he left behind years ago and who will be too eager to have a little more than their pound of flesh. I wish to humbly assure Oga that we are in an omnibus political situation for now and that so much can still happen before the dice is cast. The next 3 to 4 months will shape and provide clarity as to the shapes that will produce the major players in the political game to come.
If it is not working well for you where you have pitched your political tent, please move on as a political party is not a Church or Mosque. Since you are not an electric pole, move to some other position where you think you will find comfortable accommodation. If you are a money bag be smart and do not offer yourself cheap but use your head well . Wait for them from the other side to come begging you to come over to them. When this happens, place your cards on the table and obtain their consent after which you weigh the political economy of the new platform before you make your move. Remember that the political space is one huge graveyard where many dry bones litter the ground because they did not enjoy the basic benefit of a formal burial. There are many coyotes and vultures lurking and flying over the political landscape waiting and expecting their next meal. From your misadventure some smart guys will happily put bread on their tables or smile their way to the banks.
Am deeply worried for my people who are holding onto a dying political edifice as if it was a religion. Am particularly happy that I, and I alone has the decision as to the faith I profess. If one is not working for me, who is there to say that I should not move to another? As far as I am concerned, religion is for man and not man for religion and so it is with politics. The aphorism that any bird that stays for too long on the branch of a tree risks ending up in the hunter’s pot of soup has political relevance. For those toying with the thought of migrating, I urge you to do your homework very well. Do not abandon ship too early and do not wait until it is too late as you risk the same fate as the Titanic.
Written by Gora Dauda.
He writes from Kaduna, North West Nigeria.
