The die is cast. The whistle has been blown. The political arena is once again alive with drumbeats, dust, and desperation.
By INEC’s timetable, the campaigns have begun. And with it comes the familiar ritual bags of rice, branded polo shirts, face caps emblazoned with smiling candidates. We may pretend otherwise, but this theatre has become the face of our democracy.
Yet democracy deserves more. Politics, at its best, should be a contest of ideas, not a carnival of handouts. Issues should lead; everything else should follow.
We have entered that season again, a season of propaganda, of whispers and whispers behind whispers, of subtle intimidation and open shenanigans. In this clime where issue based politics is drowned in the loud waters of sentiment, tribalism, religion and nepotism, intellectual engagement becomes a lonely road.
And then comes the party straitjacket.
In Nigeria, you are expected to carry your party from top to bottom, to deliver every candidate on its ticket like goods on a manifest. That would make perfect sense if parties were built on ideology. But let us be honest with ourselves: in this third world democracy of ours, what binds a political party together is anything but ideology.
The binding force is convenience.
A man crosses to the ruling party not because his beliefs have changed, but because his safety lies there. When institutions are weak, aligning with power becomes survival. It is not conviction; it is calculation.
This is why I have always argued that Nigerian political parties are a congregation of strange bedfellows different tongues, different dreams, united by one hunger: the grab for state power.
Seen through that lens, the voter needs more than slogans. He needs guidance. For his ignorance will be exploited, his vulnerability weaponized, his poverty turned into a ballot. Those of us who understand the game must light a torch.
Remember 2023. The wind called the Obedient wave blew across the land. Many who never printed a poster, who never mounted a podium, who never knocked on a single door, were swept into office on its wings. Where are they today? I ask not to digress, but to remind us. Fast forward to 2026/27 familiar name again, and once more, political opportunists wait in the wings, hoping history repeats itself.
And this brings me home to Enugu West. To my Senator, Senator Ositadimma Ngwu.
I have written severally about him before, not out of sycophancy, but out of scrutiny. As a researcher, as a social scientist who weighs government not by noise but by numbers, not by propaganda but by performance, I state without equivocation: Senator Osita Ngwu has performed. And performed exceedingly.
Three years on the saddle, and his footprints are visible. Any honest, critical appraisal will tell you he is not just politically savvy; he is a workman whose work speaks, loudly and clearly.
In my next essay, I will lay out the workings project by project, touch by touch for we are now in the era of “show your workings.”
But for today, let me plant this thought: In Nigeria of today, let us vote for the man, not just the party. Let us vote for capacity, not just colours. That is my conviction. You are entitled to yours, that is the beauty of democracy, your inalienable right.
Yes, if you are from Enugu West, whatever flag you fly, whatever broom, umbrella, or ballot you hold dear, I beckon on you: let us build a consensus around Senator Osita Ngwu. For competence is rare. And when you find it, you nurture it. He has shown enormous capacity. Let him finish what he has started.
Gerald Obasi
DG: RG CANVASSERS
