The war of attrition bedeviling the country’s once powerful ruling party, the PDP, should be a source of concern to all Nigerians. The Peoples Democratic Party is witnessing an upheaval in its political and social space. The outcome of the last elections has led to the shift in the balance of power away from the self-acclaimed largest political party in Africa.
The result has triggered the unprecedented recalibration of influence held by its members at the Federal and State levels. The decisive outcome of the result of the polls, and the subsequent in-fighting within the top hierarchy of the PDP, have raised important questions about the long-term ability of the party to provide effective checks and balances (opposition) to the new ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The significance and complexity of challenges facing the PDP at the moment make determining priorities for it extremely difficult. Yet overcoming the party’s considerable leadership problems is crucial to the realization of a shared and prosperous future for all opposition parties in Nigeria. Democracy as a system of government only thrives if divergent views are aggregated and championed by the opposition and the citizenry.
That is why wherever democracy is consolidated, it’s because the right to oppose have been established and strengthened. Lack of effective opposition invariably poses a greater danger to the survival of democracy, and threatens to leave our political landscape bereft of substance. Most of the problems the PDP finds itself in today have been foretold long ago. I recall during an interview in 2011, one of its former National Chairmen, Okwesilieze Nwodo, said the contradictions inherent in PDP was best exemplified by its ability to win consecutive elections but always failing to win the hearts and minds of Nigerians. At almost every election circle, leading members take turns to complain about the party’s modus operandi, yet somehow, the complaints are swept under the carpet once victory at the polls were assured. The year 2015 was going to be different, if only the PDP leaders knew.
After leading the country to its most vitriolic hate campaign ever, of which the PDP takes a larger share of the blame, their strategists’ presumption that only terrorist sympathizers, Haramites as Femi Fani-Kayode referred to them, will vote for Muhammadu Buhari and the APC backfired on its face. So instead of focusing on development issues and sufficiently convincing us with a blueprint on how they planned to move the country forward, lots of energy was expended on demonizing Buhari. And in election season, there’s always a limit to where negative campaigning can lead to. Olisa Metuh, PDP’s national publicity secretary, alluded to the fact that if both the then ANPP and PDP had demonized late Ikemba Odimegwu Ojukwu for his rebellious past when he contested the 2003 Presidential election under APGA, he would have cleared the votes in the South East.
In Metuh’s point of view, negative campaign de-marketed PDP by currying favour for Buhari especially in the North. As things have turned out, all in the PDP will by now know that no serious party can survive shackling internal democracy, corrupt funding system and showing complete disregard to the views and opinions of the majority of its members. Incidentally, PDP’s salvation will begin by, first, subjecting itself to an ethos of internal democracy from ward to national level. The impunity we have seen from the party since 1999, once repeated, will stymie its future and blight any chance it has of regaining the trust and confidence of the people. Though an elitist party, PDP can brighten its prospects by building a membership base from the ground up. It can reshape itself through the establishment of community working groups and working with local people to help fill the gaps in social provision left by a majority of its uncaring elite. The question now is, can PDP be trusted to provide a credible opposition? At the moment, the answer is an obvious no.
At the rate things are going, not many believe it will survive the rigours of opposition politicking which is devoid of power, influence and sympathy of society’s big time players. The case of the PDP among many Nigerians can be likened to the case of a young maiden desecrated by a rapist. As time goes on and the days go by, the maiden will continue to suffer because of the trauma she was subjected to.
Once an opportunity presents itself to exert her revenge, she will grab it with both hands. PDP represents this nasty flashback the maiden wants to erase from her memory. 2015 provided Nigerians with the opportunity to pay back and they grabbed it with both hands. However, what happens if in later years the same rapist comes to be the young maiden’s suitor? The answer to this question should preoccupy PDP and its leaders in the days ahead. Parties are not humans, but they have souls too. So no matter the sweetness of the offer or the exigencies of the situation, it will take a massive change of character, remorsefulness, excessive pleading and a huge dose of luck before the maiden accepts the offer. Is PDP ready to be born again, figuratively speaking? To exorcise the devil within, the new PDP leadership must perform the work of an engineering turnaround manager.
Turnaround projects are not tasks that bring about immediate results. The turnaround manager does not understand the language of sentiment. His task is to achieve set goals irrespective of whose ox is gored. As the party grapples with wider challenges confronting it, I hope it can find an immediate cure for the debilitating leadership crisis it finds itself in, sooner, rather than later. Share this: Share on Tumblr profileimage Imam Imam Submit Opinion Login Sign up New! Get The Opinion’s picks delivered weekly to your inbox: About Advertise RSS