I am appalled at the level of pretenses in our dear motherland, Nigeria. Since yesterday, most social media commentaries have been on the leaked telephone conversation between LP Presidential candidate Peter Obi and Bishop Oyedepo. In a gotcha manner, the Leaked telephone conversation is now the measure of our political purity or madness.
The appalling part of the narrative is the way and manner people are behaving and sounding holier than thou as if this is the first time we are witnessing such. Ethno-religious colouration have always been part of politics in Nigeria even before our independence in 1960 from the British colonialists. Ethno-religious card was adequately deployed as political tactic pre-indepedence in the 50s and it continued through the first Republic till now.
Which among all the major parties or candidates and their supporters is not guilty of playing the Ethno-religious card. We had evidences of similar activities throughout the campaigns and election period. Politics is an interest game and it's based on numbers. All politicians, and their parties do all they can curry favours of different kinds of people and to woo voters to their platforms.
Examples are rife across the world of politicians patronizing religious houses or leaders to seek endorsement. Vivid example can be gleaned from the united States political landscape where candidates even promise to do the biddings of the religious leaders. For instance, the influence of the Christian Evangelical church is larger than life itself there.
Rather than be pretending or posting a holier than thou position and wasting quality time discussing the telephone conversation. We should now be appraising other more iissues related to the 2023 Elections and the build up to the elections.
Our inability to look past the leaked audio will certainly obfuscate our ability to critically appraise all the dynamics at play before and during the last elections in a way that we learn a few lessons for the future sakes.
