Fellow
Nigerians, this headline may sound somehow bizarre but that is the
reality on ground in our country today. In the name of Almighty God, let
us remember and be assured that nothing is impossible. Providence has a
way of playing its own game which ordinary mortals may find difficult
to understand. I know many had written off the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) after its cataclysmic crash from grace to grass in 2015. It was a
prophecy boldly and clairvoyantly foretold by a few of us, in writing.
The PDP apparatchik were the only ones blinded by power and could not
see the hail of bullets coming their way until it hit them calamitously
and fatally. Today the rest is history.
The
All Peoples Congress (APC) that took over from PDP did so in style and
the world celebrated that incredible feat. It was a classic case of good
riddance to bad rubbish. But there was a caveat; APC was expected to
perform a combination of magic and miracle. The new President was
credited with the power of life and death. The Party that led him to
victory, however, had a substantial influx of the so-called demons that
had escaped from the pit of hell to join in leading President Buhari to
the remarkable success that he achieved. Many more absconded from PDP to
APC once it was obvious that things had fallen apart. This
contradiction was going to haunt and hunt APC eventually. And the cookie
has started crumbling already. The lack of principle and ideology has
always been the bane of politics in Nigeria. This is why most of our
leaders find it so convenient to crisscross political parties with such
reckless abandon and shameless gusto. The saint of today can become an
instant devil tomorrow and vice versa and this meandering and frolicking to and fro can go on ad infinitum.
Nevertheless,
no one expected the PDP to bounce back so soon. As a matter of fact,
many had wished, and commanded, them to eternal damnation and
condemnation. But reality is beginning to dawn on even the most
fastidious supporters of APC. Without mincing words, APC has been its
own worst enemy. The Party appeared to have taken too many things for
granted and sooner than later, it would have to pay dearly for it. The
APC has studiously ignored the lessons of contemporary Nigerian history,
as typified by the monumental failure and spectacular collapse of PDP.
APC has blatantly refused to organise itself into a more disciplined and
cohesive party. It started out fighting a war of attrition within
itself, like babies scrapping over lollipops, instead of settling down
to address the urgent and desperate needs of the people. The APC
government, although it made significant progress on the war against
Boko Haram and terror and to a lesser extent the battle against
corruption, crawled like a millipede, especially on the economy, which
led most people to assume that it neither prepared for power nor
expected to win the election. This lack of preparation collided with the
people’s giant expectations of an abracadabra moment in Nigeria.
Now
in its third year in power, APC is wobbling along while PDP seems to be
getting its groove and confidence back. The crack in APC has become too
wide and palpably worrisome. It has not been able to organise any Party
Convention. It is doubtful if any meaningful meetings are called or
held at any level beyond the local one. The PDP that was supposed to be
dead has since been almost fully revived and seems to be putting its
house in order. If APC continues along its disastrous path of reticence
and self-immolation, it may be in for a real and rude shock. It is
obvious that many prominent members of APC are only bidding their time
and merely hiding conveniently in the Party till they feel that there is
an auspicious time to jump ship again. In hushed tones, they whisper
and lament their disappointment, dejection, disgust and disdain at the
turn of events in their Party. They moan and groan about the way the
hawks, infamously known as the cabal, have grabbed and taken over power,
with no one in sight ready or willing to checkmate them.
In
the midst of this hocus-pocus the next set of elections are fast
approaching. The prominent and populist PDP governor from Ekiti, Dr
Peter Ayodele Fayose, has already declared his interest in becoming the
next President of Nigeria, in 2019. Sule Lamido, former Governor of
Jigawa State, has followed suit beginning with a launch in the South
East by his supporters. Say what you will, no member of APC, except
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been bold enough to come out openly to
replicate such audacity out of fear of stupendous reprisals from the
powerful goons in Abuja. Every one of them is waiting to know if the
omnipotent leader is going to run or not. Even then, they are not sure
whether he will appoint an anointed one which will effectively scupper
their aspirations. Meanwhile, time is ticking away at supersonic speed
and before we know it the season of Party Primaries will be upon us.
PDP
members are regrouping, rebranding and reinvigorating themselves for
the great battle ahead. APC on the other hand is adopting a wait and see
approach which has bedevilled the mode of administration since the
Party took over in 2015. Reality checks show that PDP is no longer as
weak as It once appeared, particularly in the early days of the Buhari
Administration, when it was clearly a headless, directionless Party in
abject confusion and disarray. Some of their Governors control the
States that lay the golden eggs in Nigeria, namely Udom Gabriel Emmanuel
of Akwa Ibom, Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Dr Ifeanyi Ukowa of Delta and
Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa. Those Governors appear to be making
giant strides in the development of their States and there is plenty of
potential there for a Presidential material to emerge. Those oil rich
States also parade some of the most formidable godfathers, who
themselves were former Governors and godfathers, such as Godswill
Akpabio in Akwa Ibom, Peter Odili in Rivers, James Ibori in Delta and
Goodluck Jonathan in Bayelsa.
The
permutation is that PDP will hibernate cleverly and consult widely with
the godfathers and kingmakers before picking its candidates. Their
prayer is for Buhari to force and foist his candidacy for a second term
on APC. PDP would then unleash its youth-friendly options on the nation.
Some of them are already assembled and waiting for the opportune time
to decide on the best and most ferocious combination. They include
Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe State, former Cross River
Governor, Donald Duke, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, Charles
Soludo … I am sure that PDP realises that it cannot afford to field a
candidate tainted with the spectre of corruption and abuse of office for
which the immediate past PDP administration of President Jonathan has
now become notorious and infamous.
The
PDP top chiefs are not ruling out the idea of poaching some of the
disgruntled big fishes from APC. Those being considered for tapping
include the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, former Governor of Kano
State, Rabiu Kwankwanso, Governor of Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal, and a few
others under the searchlight. The PDP will aim to exploit the current
schisms in the Nigerian nation, caused by agitations for restructuring
and ethnic self-determination that is being terribly mismanaged, and
benefit from it with their choice of Presidential and Vice-Presidential
candidates. They appear determined to give Nigerians younger and more
accomplished combination of candidates which they believe APC, with its
proclivity for gerontocracy and seniority would not consider. Who knows
if APC would fall into that trap by assuming that the youths, who form
the largest portion of the electorate, would follow and support any
candidate they push forward. If APC fails to respond to the cravings and
desires of those who feel Nigeria is long overdue for modern, urbane
and tested, cosmopolitan and visionary leadership, it will have only
itself to blame, if at the end of the day it is left biting its fingers,
rueing and regretting what may have been, as it is unceremoniously
ejected from power at the centre.
It
is expected that the next leaders of Nigeria would not be able to
escape critical debates in order that people assess their competence and
capabilities before the elections. Any Nigerian leader of the future,
starting from 2019, must be articulate, computer savvy, creative and
able to present coherent ideas on how to move Nigeria forward in a new
world of scientific advancement, technological innovation and economic
wizardry. It is the Party that recognises that Nigerians have moved on
and demand a lot more from their leaders not only in terms of
accountability and integrity but also in terms of social and economic
development that will carry the day. The PDP may seem better positioned
in this regard because it knows that its ambitions cannot fly with any
of the discredited old guard and maybe that is where its good fortunes
may lie. APC is fortunate that it is not presently burdened by any such
perception but, with events presently unfolding, even that aspect of its
goodwill may be eroded or lost if it does not manage its affairs well.
What
seems assured is that Nigerians wait with bated breath to see the
calibre of leaders that the Parties will thrust upon them as they seek
that elusive Eldorado.
World Cerebral Palsy Day: A Mother’s Passionate Appeal
Wife
of the Governor of Kogi State, Mrs. Amina Oyiza Bello has once again
taken a bold step in her efforts to call attention to the plight of
Nigeria’s children with special needs. The compassionate Founder of
Hayat Foundation has made a passionate appeal to President Muhammadu
Buhari to sign the Person’s With Disability Special Protection Bill into
law.
Speaking
in Abuja at a news conference to mark the October 6th, 2017 World
Cerebral Palsy Day, Mrs. Bello also appealed to the government and
school owners to make school environment-friendly for persons with
disability while, putting in place measure to end stigma against such
persons. For about a year now, Mrs. Bello has been championing the
cause of children with special needs. Through Hayat Foundation, a
Pan-African Organisation dedicated to promoting the cause of children
with cerebral palsy, she has been at the forefront of sensitizing
Nigerians to stop the stigma against persons living with disability.
Mrs. Bello noted during the conference that Hayat Foundation was born as
a result of her personal journey and experience with cerebral palsy,
while taking care of her own son, Hayatullah Onoruoyiza Bello, who lives
with cerebral palsy and in whose honor the foundation is named after.
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