society
Nigerian Political Parties Lack Ideology” – Joko, Mindshift Convener
“Nigerian Political Parties Lack Ideology” – Joko, Mindshift Convener
The Convener, Mindshift Advocacy for Development Initiative, Mr. Joko Okupe, has indicted Nigerian political parties for lack of ideological direction. Mr. Okupe made this declaration in a media interaction held recently at the Mindshift corporate office in Ikeja, Lagos.
Fielding questions from the press the Mindshift Convener argues that none of the parties in Nigeria contending and jostling for political power come 2023 is driven on the wheels of ideology. What directs the life and operations of a political party in a democracy, he said, is ideology. Ideology is the bulwark of the party’s culture. It stands tall as the oil or blood that runs the engine of the party and directs the actions of both the party officials and the membership.
According to Mr. Okupe, “Ideology consists of the common beliefs, values, and norms of the party directed at defining the kind of society a party plans to build. It comes from a common vision designed by the party as a roadmap to the society in view. Ideology forms the operating framework from where the political parties draw their inspirations and strategies which are encapsulated into manifestoes and agendas and subsequently communicated to the public through their campaign communications. But can we say the parties have any ideological direction? How, for instance, can you distinguish APC from PDP. Because the parties lack ideology, so there are no distinctions in their manifestoes. Every party appears to be saying the same thing about: building infrastructure, providing youth employment, providing good health care and good education. But we know it is the same thing they have been saying since 1999”.
Speaking further about the Nigerian state and the type of leader Nigerians will expect come 2023 he said, “There is no political party in Nigeria today you can say is a shining example of what a political party should be. They all lack ideology. We are in a Nigerian state variously described by political scientists as predatory, prebendal, parasitic, patrimonial, neo-patrimonial, crony, kleptocratic, venal, greedy, etc., that has created a crop of leaders who in themselves are selfish and do not understand their own historical mission. Under this situation he posited that we need a certain kind of leader. “We need a leader who is sufficiently knowledgeable about the task ahead, and understands the context behind Nigeria’s current historical trajectory, and would be ready to tackle it headlong. We need a leader who is bold, brave, and courageous – who can break the bounds of our stranglehold. A leader who understands the need to build cohesion in a multiethnic and multicultural society. We need someone who can confront orthodoxy and demolish our fault lines without diminishing our disparate cultural and ethnic values. Such a leader needs to have a clarity of his vision and how he wants to achieve it. I have not seen much of that in the present crop of party contenders for the post of the president in 2023.”
Speaking on the solution to the Nigerian leadership problem, he said that Nigeria needs an upgrade in the reformulation of the state, the leadership class, and the citizens. The state is malfunctioning because of its hackneyed structure which tilts towards centrality and unitary-federalism. That is an aberration in a multiethnic and multicultural state. The leaders are selfish and visionless, attracted only by the fancy of their kleptomaniac tendencies. They do not understand the very purpose of life, and hence can hardly understand the essence of leadership. The followers are famished and lack the understanding of what liberal democracy is all about. In the most part, they lack enough knowledge to appreciate that they are actually the king while the politicians are their servants. They mistake the concept of leadership in a political setting with the concept of kingship in a traditional setting; and this makes them subservient to the politicians who should be accountable to them. This contradiction makes democracy difficult to practice in Nigeria. Under this scenario the politicians weaponize poverty as an instrument of domination against the citizens.
Following this, Mr. Okupe advocates for the mass enlightenment of the political class and the citizens. For him, both the political class and the citizens are under bondage, and need to be enlightened so that they can be liberated to develop the country, without which Nigeria remains undeveloped for eve. This is the reason he convened the Mindshift movement.
Explaining further, Mr. Okupe said that, “Mindshift Advocacy Initiative for Development was created out of the vision and understanding that our response to whatever situation we find ourselves, either in our individual terrain, group terrain or national terrain, is directly a result of how we think. The bible says, as a man thinks in his heart so he is or becomes. So, if we understand that, we will all push for a Mindshift or a change of how we think. That is what will actually move us away from where we are now. So, the Mindshift movement is actually focused on shifting mind-sets from negative to positive. It is a non-governmental and non-partisan organization. It is focused on redirecting the mind-set of Nigerians from the route of destruction in every area of lives. “If a man wants to be destructive or disruptive, it is through the power of his mind.”
“There is so much capacity in the power of the mind that the way and manner that the mind is directed determines a man’s outcome. Even for us, as a lesson, other nations of the world are doing incredibly well is due to the different mind-sets that they have. The average Nigerian mindset is anti-progress and anti-development. How can we have progress and development without working on the re-orientations of the mindset we have? Even when government decides to run a campaign on changing attitudes, the success will depend on how people think.” We must have that clear understanding. That essentially is the mandate of the Mindshift advocacy.
Joko Okupe who is a brand management and marketing communications expert of about 35 years, and who has consulted for many globally reckoned organisations, is set to bring that knowledge and experience to the front burner in the management of the Mindshift advocacy, with the sole aim of galvanizing the Nigerian people to a new way of thinking and reasoning that will lift this country from one milestone of development to a higher milestone of development.
Ajadi Rejects Pay Rise For President, Others, Says Proposal Insensitive To Nigerians Suffer
A South West Chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) has said that he rejects the reported plan by the Federal Government to raise the salaries of political office holders, including the President, Vice-President, Ministers and others, saying such move is insensitive to the current plights of Nigerians due to the present economic challenges.
Ajadi said many Nigerians are groaning under unprecedented hardship due to the harsh economy, saying what is expected of the political office holders is to make sacrifices.
It could be recalled that the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, (RMAFC) has hinted at plans to review the salaries of political office holders in Nigeria, describing current earnings as inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated in the face of rising responsibilities and economic challenges.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu presently earns N1.5m monthly, while ministers receive less than N1m, figures that have remained unchanged since 2008.
According to Shehu, “You are paying the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria N1.5m a month, with a population of over 200 million people. Everybody believes that it is a joke.
“You cannot pay a minister less than N1m per month since 2008 and expect him to put in his best without necessarily being involved in some other things. You pay either a CBN governor or the DG ten times more than you pay the President. That is just not right. Or you pay him [the head of an agency] twenty times higher than the Attorney-General of the Federation. That is absolutely not right”.
However, Ajadi in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday, said at a time when reforms demand sacrifice, this proposal smacks of greed, tone-deafness and moral bankruptcy.
Ajadi said a progressive government in moments of economic crisis like Nigeria is currently going through will reduce the cost of governance rather than inflate it.
According to him, it is insensitive to increase political office holders’ salaries while workers have been struggling for a living wage without appropriate response from the governments.
“The proposed increase in salaries of the President, Vice and other political office holders at this time of economic hardship will amount to insensitivity to the plights of ordinary Nigerians
“The current Workers’ minimum wages is not enough to provide the means of livelihood for any worker. The inflation is biting harder on Nigerians. Contrary to the poor conditions of Nigerians, political office holders are flashing their riches, and displaying their wealth openly with utter disregard to the conditions of ordinary citizens. To now increase the salaries of these political office holders will not augur well for our country.
“In countries where the economy is bad, what obtained is for the political office holders to reduce their earnings as a sacrifice. It is with this that they will have the moral right to preach to ordinary citizens to make.sacrifice.
“In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her cabinet reduced their pay by 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the 2008 financial crisis, Ireland slashed ministerial and parliamentary salaries by as much as 30%.
“In the midst of Greece’s sovereign debt crisis, ministers and the Members of Parliament took salaries cuts in solidarity with citizens.
“True leaders tight their belts first before asking citizens to bear the burden of reform. For Nigeria’s political class to even consider “jumbo salaries” at a time of rising inflation, subsidy removal, unemployment and worsening poverty is unconscionable.
“RMAFC must immediately drop this self-serving scheme.What the nation requires today is fiscal discipline, leadership by sacrifice, not political overlords fattening themselves while citizens starve”.
Fubara Behind Campaign of Calumny Against Tinubu Over Rivers Emergency Rule – CJD
The Coalition for Justice and Democracy (CJD) has accused the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, of orchestrating a campaign of calumny against President Bola Tinubu as revenge for the declaration of emergency rule in the state.
In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday and signed by its president, Comrade Raymond Aighona, the coalition alleged that Fubara was also behind the circulation of a document on social media which falsely accused the Sole Administrator of Rivers, Ibok-Eket Ibas, of mismanaging half a trillion naira and inflating contracts under the guise of funding President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The group dismissed the allegations as “baseless blackmail”, insisting that the sole administrator had acted strictly within the limits of the emergency powers granted him and under the constant oversight of committees set up by both chambers of the National Assembly to monitor Rivers during the emergency rule.
“Siminalayi Fubara has chosen the path of bitterness and deceit. He has not forgiven President Tinubu for saving Rivers State from total political anarchy through the declaration of emergency rule. Now, in an act of reckless vengeance, he is sponsoring falsehoods, pushing forged documents, and trying to smear the reputation of the President and the sole administrator. These antics will not succeed,” Aighona declared.
The CJD said it had carried out its own checks and found no evidence to support the claims of financial recklessness being circulated online against Ibas.
“Every action of the Sole Administrator is monitored by oversight committees from both the Senate and the House of Representatives. His expenditures are scrutinised and subjected to due process. For anyone to claim that he single-handedly pulled out half a trillion naira from the coffers of Rivers State is not only laughable but deliberately mischievous,” the group added.
According to the CJD, the social media document, which alleged that inflated contracts were being used to bankroll the President’s 2027 campaign, bore “all the fingerprints of Fubara’s political desperation”.
“This is nothing but a forged narrative manufactured by those who lost relevance under the emergency rule. Fubara is the unseen hand behind these malicious reports. He hopes to poison the minds of Rivers people against President Tinubu and to discredit Ibas, whose steady leadership has restored calm and order to the state,” Aighona said.
The group further warned that such “propaganda politics” could inflame tensions and destabilise Rivers if not exposed for what it truly is.
“What Fubara is doing is reckless and dangerous. Rather than take responsibility for the failures of his short-lived administration, he is weaponising lies, sowing distrust, and dragging the President’s name into his personal vendetta. This is not only unfair to President Tinubu but also a betrayal of Rivers people who are finally enjoying stability after months of turmoil,” the statement continued.
The CJD praised Ibas for what it described as “disciplined and transparent stewardship” since his appointment as Sole Administrator.
“Ibas has not gone beyond his authority. He has been meticulous in carrying out his duties and has kept faith with the mandate to stabilise Rivers State. He deserves commendation, not blackmail. Anyone suggesting otherwise is only doing the bidding of embittered politicians like Fubara,” Aighona said.
The group called on security agencies to investigate the origin of the circulating document and to expose those behind the “malicious forgery”.
It also urged the Nigerian public to treat such reports with contempt, stressing that the claims were designed to smear the President and destabilise Rivers.
“There is no half-trillion naira missing from Rivers’ coffers. There are no inflated contracts funding the President’s re-election. These are lies from the pit of desperation. The real story is that Fubara, who has been constitutionally sidelined under emergency rule, is fighting back with propaganda. He must be called out,” the CJD stated.
The coalition reaffirmed its support for the emergency measures in Rivers, insisting that the intervention had prevented total collapse and restored a measure of peace and governance to the state.
“President Tinubu acted to save Rivers, not to exploit it. Ibas has executed that mandate with dignity. The blackmail campaign being funded by Fubara cannot erase these truths. Nigerians should see through his desperation and reject his propaganda,” Aighona advised.
Beyond Optics: Setting the Record Straight on Nigeria’s TICAD Booth
I feel compelled to clarify misconceptions around Nigeria’s so-called “unmanned booth” at TICAD, which has unfortunately become the subject of misleading commentary.
First, the space in question is not a national pavilion. It is a designated spillover area—typically used by delegates without access to the main auditorium to follow proceedings, hold side meetings, or work quietly. Countries may choose to convert such spaces into national showcases, but it is not compulsory. Any Nigerian delegate can use the space at any time. Several other countries also had similar spaces today that were quiet or lightly used. It is neither unusual nor a sign of disengagement.
Now, to the real issue: Nigeria is not in Japan for optics. Visibility is not the only metric. Value is.
While some chase appearances, Nigerian officials are working deliberately and with focus:
HM Pate is finalising a landmark health sector agreement with Japanese partners.
HM Power is advancing a major energy partnership.
BOI and BOA are deep in investment negotiations.
HM Foreign Affairs is leading ministerial-level engagements and aligning national plans.
Mr. President is meeting Japanese investors, Nigerian diaspora business leaders, development partners, and fellow heads of government.
The work is being done—quietly, strategically, and with impact.
So what purpose is served by amplifying an incomplete visual to imply national failure? Even if unintended, this kind of knee-jerk commentary can undermine progress and reinforce misrepresentation. Visibility should not be confused with value; applause is not the same as achievement.
Koko of the Matter: Nigeria’s space was not “unmanned” in the sense implied. We are under no obligation to adopt the performative routines of others. In diplomacy, presence is not always performance—and substance will always outweigh spectacle.
In line with TICAD’s structure, Nigeria’s space will see more active use on Day 2 and Day 3, which focus on Economy and Society, functioning as an open national stand accessible to all delegates.
Let us focus on outcomes, not optics—in the best interest of our country.
~ Otega #TheTiger Ogra
@NigeriaGov @NGRPresident @NigeriaMFA
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