May 17, (THEWILL) – “Unity is not a luxury in politics — it is the only currency that spends.”
In 2023, Nigerians went to the polls not with hope, but with quiet dread. It was no longer a celebration of democracy — it had become a civic burden. A ritual.
The numbers reflect this weariness: voter turnout plummeted from nearly 54 percent in 2011 to just 27 percent in 2023. Nigerians didn’t stay away from the ballot box out of apathy, but out of exhaustion. They have seen the ballot morph from a tool for change into a tombstone of broken promises.
Yet, the outcome of that election was not necessarily a resounding endorsement of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Rather, it was the direct result of the opposition’s failure — their inability to organize, strategize, or even act like they wanted to win.
As any student of political history knows, divided armies lose wars — not for lack of numbers or ideas, but for lack of unity. That is the story of Nigeria’s opposition in 2023. The APC did not win because it was loved or trusted. It won because it was united while its challengers fragmented themselves into irrelevance.
Imagine if Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had locked themselves in a room and emerged with a single consensus candidate. Combined, their 14 million-plus votes would have dwarfed Tinubu’s 8.7 million. But ego triumphed over strategy. Ambition stood in place of vision. And Nigeria lost.
More Than a Coalition: The Need for a Covenant
What the opposition needs is not another coalition built on photo-ops and press releases. It needs a covenant — a binding commitment to power-sharing, ideological coherence, and national inclusion. A pact that answers the hard questions: Who leads? Who follows? Who sacrifices?
Unity is not optional. It is survival.
Unfortunately, opposition politics in Nigeria has become a collection of boutique parties, each pushing conflicting messages and personal ambitions. They behave like chefs in a burning kitchen, arguing over recipes while the entire building is going up in flames. The electorate is confused, disillusioned — and rightly so.
A Curriculum, Not a Catchphrase
Even with unity, opposition politics cannot succeed without substance. A coalition must come with a curriculum — not the recycled, flowery manifestos we’ve seen every election cycle, but a real plan. Nigerians want clarity, not poetry. They want policy that connects the market woman in Kano to the graduate in Uyo, the artisan in Ibadan to the fisherman in Bayelsa.
The north wants security. The east wants inclusion. The west wants reform. The south wants fairness. And all Nigerians want jobs, roads, power, peace, and dignity.
Don’t tell Nigerians what’s wrong. They know. Tell them what’s next. Show them why it will be different this time.
Young Nigerians: Not Just Foot Soldiers, But Leaders
Nowhere is the disconnect more glaring than in how the opposition treats Nigeria’s youth. In the 2023 elections, young people did not just participate — they powered the process. Peter Obi’s rise was a generational movement. It was fueled by WhatsApp groups, neighborhood campaigns, crowdfunding, and passion. But when it was time to shape real strategy and make post-election decisions, the youth were pushed aside — used, but not heard.
This must change.
Young Nigerians are not a demographic — they are the political majority. It is not enough to hire a few media-savvy youth aides or trend a hashtag. The opposition must build platforms where youth don’t just vote, but lead. Where they are not just mobilizers, but decision-makers. Because the next youth movement may not stop at the ballot box — it may spill onto the streets.
The Vote is a Battlefield
Then there’s the vote itself — a process that has lost all credibility. The 2023 elections were a betrayal of trust. INEC over-promised and under-delivered. The much-hyped BVAS system became a source of confusion. And the judiciary, when called to act as a bulwark of democracy, chose legalism over legitimacy.
If the opposition cannot defend the vote, it cannot claim to represent the people. Electoral defense must become an obsession. That means building pre-election legal teams. It means funding independent vote monitoring. It means pushing for real-time result transmission and demanding accountability from electoral officers who compromise the process.
The vote is no longer a ceremony. It is a battleground.
Defections and the Death of Ideology
Finally, the opposition must look inward. One of the most corrosive forces in Nigerian politics is defection. Politicians switch parties with the ease and shamelessness of mercenaries. The APC has mastered the art of weaponizing defections — not for competence, but for symbolism. Each defection tells the people that ideology is dead, and opposition is just a waiting room for the ruling party.
To reverse this, the opposition must become a movement, not a platform. It must stand for something. It must discipline itself. Internal crises must be managed, not multiplied. Because if a party stands for nothing, it will fall for anything.
The Final Exam Is Coming
Nigerians are not indifferent. They are simply tired. But exhaustion is not apathy — it is repressed energy. All it needs is ignition. The question is: who will strike the match?
2027 must be treated as the final exam. Not just for political parties, but for the very idea of an opposition in Nigeria.
Do you want to win elections? Or do you want to change the country?
If it is the former, the APC will always be one step ahead. If it is the latter, then act like it — now.
Not in 2026. Not when rallies start. Now.
Organize or be forgotten. Unite or be humiliated. Plan or be played.
The time for classroom politics is over. The curriculum has been written. The test is coming. And this time, the people know how to grade.
All eyes are now on the opposition.
How will they respond?
***Written by Olu Onemola
Olu Onemola writes from Abuja. He tweets @Onemola.
First published in Daily Trust Newspaper: https://dailytrust.com/the-opposition-curriculum/
