Understanding Nigerian Politics – OPPOSITION PARTY versus ALTERNATIVE PARTY

If truth be told, there has never been a viable Opposition Party (OP) in Nigerian since our adventure into this republic began in 1999. What we have had are Alternative Parties (AP).
The Opposition Party’s main role is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. The OP is responsible for upholding the best interests of the people of a country. They have to ensure that the Government does not take any steps, which might have negative impact on the citizenry. The main OP should be so structured that it appears as government in waiting. An OP will have detailed policy agenda and will brief regularly about their own alternative vision and plans for the country.
But an Alternative Party is only interested in power and its perks. They only make noise about government abuses that affects them negatively or reflects badly on them and the fortune of their principals. An AP does not look ready to govern and usually the distinction between the AP and the Govt is not very distinct. An AP shares a lot in common with the govt and many of its supporters have been through the revolving doors from the governing party and vice versa.
In my opinion, PDP is not a real OP, but an AP. Election Petition or not, PDP has been disappointing when it comes to major happenings in the country that have needed alternative voices or different policy agenda. They have been missing in action so far. And I can predict here that soon enough; dozens of current PDP big guns will cross carport to APC again as they always do. We can see the PDP ex Governorship candidate in Edo now joined the APC. That is just the beginning . PDP is an AP not a OP. These promiscuous politicians are mainly interested in their own interest, not that of the the citizens or the nation.
It seems we the people have to constitute ourselves into a movement to hold all Politicians accountable since no political party exist that does this effectively. We have to “Chase those crazy baldheads out of town…“ borrowing from Bob Marley