Attention of New Independence Group (NIG), a socio-economic think-tank, has been drawn to the speech made by a former President, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, to consummate the mainstreaming of his movement- Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) into the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and marking the emergence of what many refer to as the alternative platform for the evolution of a Third force. We note with pleasure that the speech recognized the need to channel, in his words, “palpable anger against current misgovernance, poor performance, condonation of misconduct, incompetence, destabilising nepotism, cluelessness, denial and scapegoatism, lack of understanding of dynamics of internal…

Just take the phrase: “impending” in the title above with a pinch of salt. I use the word because in politics as in life, things happen - as seemingly absolute situations become redeemable and what originally appears impossible could be the catalyst for fresh opportunities. Otherwise, the truth is that the ruling Nigerian political party, the All Progressives Congress is already imploding, it has in fact imploded; the party is in the throes of a debilitating illness. The implosion began almost as soon as the party assumed power in 2015. The APC emerged as a special purpose vehicle – composed…

“Don’t get mad, get even.” That aphorism needs to become the new norm in democratic politics across Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Rather than complaining about populist successes, established political parties should take a page from the populist playbook. Three lessons, in particular, cry out for attention. The first lesson is to connect to the people you wish to represent by learning about them and winning their trust. The time when politicians could rely on party machines, focus groups, and traditional polling is over. The complacent assumption that people will always vote along party or class lines is obsolete.…

After a run of nearly one thousand years, quipped the French philosopher and writer Voltaire, the fading Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. Today, some two and a half centuries later, the problem, to paraphrase Voltaire, is that the fading liberal world order is neither liberal nor worldwide nor orderly. The United States, working closely with the United Kingdom and others, established the liberal world order in the wake of World War II. The goal was to ensure that the conditions that had led to two world wars in 30 years would never again arise.…