The art of Cross carpeting

At a glance the term cross carpeting might seem like one that relates to interior decoration as it bears the word carpet but in reality the meaning it conveys is no way related to any item of furniture. I first encountered the term in an English text while in high school. The writer of the comprehension passage lamented about the ill effects of the act on the political system.

The term is used to depict the act of moving across political party lines rather indiscriminately. It is prominently used in Nigeria due to the frequency and ease with which political 'gladiators' decamp or defect from one party to another. While researching for this article I was amazed that it is now recognised that cross carpeting is indeed a prominent challenge in the political landscape in Nigeria as seen in the results of my search query depicted below

In places where politicians still have honour, it is not out of place to defect in opposition to a move by one's political party which doesn't align or go down well with the individual's principles. In Nigeria however, more often than not, politicians defect only for selfish reasons or to fulfil personal ambitions. The reasons range from securing re-election to other more sinister motives which they usually conceal till the right opportunity presents itself.

The art of cross carpeting is reported to predate Nigeria's independence as the first prominent incident occured in 1951 when 20 members of the National Council for Nigerian and the Cameroon (NCNC) crossed over to the Action Group (AG) within a twenty four hour period. This move was reportedly along ethnic lines and aimed at influencing who emerged as the Premier of the then Western Region of Nigeria.

The ceremony to announce the decamping of (so called) political opponents to one's party is usually characterised by funfare and lots of publicity especially if the decampee is a political heavy weight with a large base of supporters or followers as this implies that a large percentage if not all the supporters will also follow suit.

Recently a prominent critic of the present administration in Nigeria, switched camps from the main opposition party to the ruling party citing the achievements of the government as the reason for the move. He even made peace with a minister whom he had previously called unprintable names. His defection took many unawares as he appeared to be a crusader of sorts championing the cause of checkmating the present administration. One of the reasons why many were shocked by his decamping was his statement that he would NEVER rejoin the ruling party till kingdom come due to what he claimed to have experienced in his previous 'short' stint with the party.

He has since come out to say that no one has any right to condemn him for his previous statements. He has spoken the truth as in reality he has neither been charged to court nor found guilty for his unguarded utterances. Indeed if he had been sued for his utterances and found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, the song he would have been singing at the present time would certainly have been different.

It appears that not all members of the ruling party welcomed the return of the proverbial prodigal son particularly the President. Someone remarked that the President's body language in the pictures taken when he received the prodigal son spoke volumes as to his stand on the decamping or would I say recamping. Another commentator remarked that he wondered how long it took to convince the President to agree to the photo shoot because of his facial expressions in the pictures.

Who knows what might have transpired behind closed doors that prompted the ruling party to accept him into their ranks considering his public display of animosity towards its leaders. Some have suggested sarcastically that

'hunger don beat am'

i.e. no more access to (free) cash from the government necessitated the move particularly in the tough economic climate in the country.

Another suggestion was that the move was possibly necessitated by a fear that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission may have its sights on him and might have been coming for him. Hence the need for him to take the necessary 'precaution' of decamping. Little wonder another politician once remarked that if one wants his past 'sins' forgiven simply decamp to the ruling party. These suggestions as to his motive or motivation s all remain speculations at best as there is no valid evidence to back them up.

Cross carpeting is a global challenge as there have even been a few instances in the self acclaimed home of democracy, the United States. The reason why the Nigerian scenario is disturbing is the frequency and the reason (which is usually selfish) for the defections. This has prompted a call amongst concerned citizens that it is high time that some restrictions are put in place to checkmate the act with some even calling for the act to be criminalised. The big question is who is going to bell the cat of making (the) legislation to checkmate the act of incessant decamping?Is it the same political class who are the beneficiaries?

Shukran

Danke

Merci

Gracias

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Спасибо

for reading.