ANAMBRA POLL 2017: POLITICIANS AND ELECTION PROMISES.

ANAMBRA POLL 2017: POLITICIANS AND ELECTION PROMISES.

It’s another Anambra Gubernatorial Election, as Gov. Obiano seek for his reelection other aspirants seek to recoup power from him. As November 18, 2017 draws closer, we Ndi-Anambra would be left to either make a choice that may make or mar our collective interest further.

Election: To elect means, ‘to choose or make decision’ Election has been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th Century. Election therefore, it’s a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office(Wikipedia).

Election promises: An election promise or campaign promise is a promise or guarantee made to the public by a candidate or political party that are trying to win an election. Wikipedia

Politician: A politician can mean someone who identifies with a political party. It can also be a person who is professionally involved in politics, especially a holder of or a candidate for an elected office.

Insincere politicians have not only abuse the word *politics* but have also have given the word a bad image in everyday parlance.

In Anambra for example, 80% of politicians whose aim is to recoup state resources are seen to be manipulative, dubious and devious, typically to gain advancement within the organisational context.

No wonder, Harold Laswel refers to politics as: “he who gets what he want, when and how.” One can then argue less with the posit made by Laswel 1958.

This is simply because, our politicians who we entrusted with our votes after listening to their ‘Campaign Promises’ when clinched political powers turns to prove Laswel right.

Politicians and Election promises has done more harm than good. Election promises or campaign promise is a promise or guarantee made for the public by a candidate (politician) that are trying to win an election.

Election promise is another instrument needed in getting a politician elected into public office. In Nigeria, especially South Eastern Nigeria, election promises which are usually huge are often abandoned once in office.

Popular cynicism and new media hype has not only increase the public perception of lies, betrayal of the masses, abandonment of public thrust and broken promises, but has only help increase the ‘the general deception of masses of the more you look, the less you see’

We can argue less by the fraction of the broken election promise by the above politicians remain roughly high day by day, dispensation by dispensation.

It is agreeably that before you win an election, you must make exaggerated promises, failure to make such promises might make you lose gullible voters.

In Anambra context, we are currently witnessing so many election promises including *the one tenure* when elected.

Situations has proven that in Anambra, insincere politicians need not only exaggerated promises to win, they also need help of godfather’s.

The fraudulent nature of our political godfatherism have stunted our political development. it has held governance to a cage, we could not neglect the inevitability of godfathers in politics and spheres of human endeavours. It denied the people the opportunity for rapid development.

Politicians knows the implication of political godfathers and how it undermines political process, hence, the services of the so-called godfathers are been recruited by young politicians and less political minded ones who always serves as a bait for massive exploitation.

In Nigeria electioneering, it has been an uphill task for a challengers to challenge an incumbent factor who has corrupt ‘federal structure’ or for an incumbent to win a challenger who has a corrupt ‘federal structure’.

Every incumbent is believed to have an advantage over a challenger by virtue of having held the office being contested for a specific period of time while every challenger who has Federal might is believed to have an advantage over the incumbent.

We can agree that Ndi-Anambra need sustainable Democratic state. A state free from dubious godfathers and devious politicians and state free from maneuvering.

All we need according to Laski 1930, is politics as a life of man in relation to organize state.

Valentine Okonkwo, Agulu.