The Importance Of Standardising Presidential Debate

TEMITOPE AJAYI

In the last 22 years of Nigeria’s democratic experience, it has become a norm for major newspapers, radio and television stations, religious organisations, social clubs and all manner of associations to jostle to organise debates for major Presidential Candidates.

While organising debates for office seekers like the Presidency and Governorship is highly imperative, making such an all-comers affair is tardiness taken too far. Pray, what could be more absurd than a plethora of debate organisers making it somewhat a must for Presidential Candidates to attend?

Now, let’s juxtapose the norm here with that of the United States, a country with robust tradition of Presidential Debates since 1960.

For starters, there is just one body that organises debates at least since 1988, which is the Commission on Presidential Debates, a bipartisan not-for-profit organisation with equal sponsorship of the Republican Party and Democratic Party. This body organises debates for Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates.

The process leading to this is well structured. Representatives of the Presidential Candidates of the two dominant parties would meet to agree on the format, venue and modalities the debates would take and, most significantly, decide on the date and time to accommodate the campaign schedules of the candidates.

But here, debate organisers are yet to understand the urgent necessity of having one broadly acceptable organisation to lead this charge.

It is a poor reflection of our civility as a people and unimpressive fidelity to world-class standards for some organisation, without consultation with candidates, to simply fix a date, time and venue for a debate and literally commandeer compulsory attendance via a letter to the candidates. It’s about time we up our game in this regard.

I love televised debates, but we can do this better by setting standards that would be worthwhile for all the parties and project us as serious people. This ridiculous mushrooming of debates must STOP!