PBA ReporterThe glaring reality that incumbents can now be wrestled in Nigerian elections is a proof of improved awareness and literacy on the part of the electorate. Everyone can testify that the 2015 happening presented interesting dimensions in the country’s political evolution – no longer business as usual!
Nigerians now vote performance, not ethnicity, not religion. Rather than act the political violence and thuggery script, the electorate now stand up only to ‘foment’ exquisite tension in the system.
Letter by letter, the Nigerians especially the media now demand practical explanation to manifestoes as well as full compliance to campaign promises from the political class.
Applying Niyi Osundare’s “Ours to Plough, not to Plunder,” the Nigerian electorate at the 2015 general elections brandished that a credible election is not INEC’s alone to plough and theirs to plunder. At least, not anymore! They have evicted, for good, all plundering tendencies and facing the reality that the entire country is to do the ploughing to get the best out of the political parties. In the popular Nairaland weblog, a contributor once said, “there won’t be absence of opposition. If PDP does not assume the role, the electorate will do. At the next election, Nigerians will vote any “seemingly credible” candidate…”
Recall that ruling APC was the opposition before the change of baton? As opposition, the party was headed by fantastic communications persons evident in the resounding success results. APC’s case was that of fighting tooth and nail. Nigerians on their own part felt they had a better choice to break free from the PDP supposed 16 years of bondage and misrule. They felt so because APC overhauled their psyches, wielding the powerful communication wand.
Without exaggerations, APC went viral with communications, branding itself as the change Nigerians have always yawned about. The then opposition APC won the elections, as a result.
As opposition, the question to the PDP has always been, ‘how market?’ Is PDP really formidable as an opposition? Funnily, ruling APC does not even see PDP as a threat. Political experts and analysts, including the APC think, PDP needs rebranding to succeed as opposition. APC once dismissed a communiqué issued by the PDP National Caucus on ‘the so-called political developments in the nation’ as “a rehash of the opposition party’s infantile whining which will not save it from going down unless it rebrands most urgently.”
Has the PDP rebranded today?
In that particular statement, APC continued, “The PDP just doesn’t get it, despite being the architect of its own fall. The days of winning elections with the aid of slush funds, brigandage, deceit and rigging are gone forever, hence the PDP must return to the drawing board to fashion out decent and empirical ways of repackaging and selling itself to Nigerians, just like the opposition did when they decided to come together.”
In sheer defence, PDP described its conduct as opposition as very decent compared to when the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was the main opposition party.
“The style we are bringing is constructive criticisms because the essence is not about winning. It is about serving the people. We want to serve the Nigerian people, that is why we are in politics,” Olisa Metuh, then Publicity Secretary of the party once said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
Very well! Nigerians themselves have formed the opposition since PDP seems to lack bite. Everyone thinks PDP is not strong enough so have taken up the mantle of opposition.
A Nigerian, Tobi Adebowale, said, “Nigerians must not make the mistake of leaving opposition to the PDP, saying, since the PDP is incapable of filling the opposition gap left by the now-ruling APC, Nigerians must do so themselves.”
PDP like every other Nigerian had argued that the APC and the PDP have become two sides of the same coin. No clear philosophy. No ideology or central motivating theme. No clear policy objectives. No true leadership. No defining party character or style. Only contestants, aspirants and office seekers. No party discipline, pedigree or ethics!
Furthermore, Nigerians have been emphasising that APC may not meet the expectations of Nigerians or may in fact fail outrightly but the PDP as it is presently constituted, will not be an acceptable alternative either.
At this point, one wonders why other political parties have not deactivated their sleeping mode. Besides, APC has thought them that defeating the power of incumbency was actually a no brainer.
Just recently, the media were awash with an acclaimed 43-year-old technocrat, Chukwuka Monye who declared to run for presidency. At one of his media rounds on “Your View TVC,” he continued to sound intelligent to the initial questions fired his way until he was asked what political platform he was knitting from. To everyone’s chagrin, Mr. Monye stated, he was yet to decide, so could not tell Nigerians. Whoa! Really? He was yet to decide? Oh well, whatever the reason, it did not speak well of his public relations team. If it was a strategy, then the tactic was dead on arrival. This is because Nigerians are tired of seeing ‘leaders’ who are UNDECIDED because they cannot even think on their toes. Or aren’t we?
Maybe Mr. Monye who positions himself, a youth simply because everyone has been clamouring that Nigeria is ripe for one is scared to name any of the two big shots – APC and PDP! His strategists apparently failed to remind him that at the mention of those two names, everyone now runs for cover.
Nigeria is a multi-party system, not two-pronged. The country has even lost count of registered political parties, currently. But the biggest question is, “where are the parties? We have Action Alliance, AA; African Democratic Congress, ADC; Citizens Popular Party, CPP; All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA; Alliance for Democracy, AD. Others include People for Democratic Change, PDC; People’s Democratic Movement, PDM; Fresh Democratic Party, Kowa Party, Advanced Congress of Democrats ACD, Labour Party LP among others. Then, why is APC and PDP everywhere!
Please. Nigerians are tired of the umbrella and broom which have shaded and swept them no good! The birth of APC was a wonderful debut in the political scene in the country, then. It was a mega opposition party determined to challenge the then ruling PDP. AND it did!
Indeed! APC succeeded!! Resoundingly so too!!!
This move should nudge small parties to abandon their docility and come forward. Let’s have even more choices.
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