BODE OLAGOKE, who attended the recent national summit organised by the APC, examines some of the issues raised at the event as the party unveils its agenda to Nigerians
Making history
March 6, 2014 will remain indelible in the history of democracy in Nigeria. It was a day the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) scored another point in the history of political party and democracy in Nigeria, as it organised a successful national summit. This is another first coming after the manner of the party’s formation which saw about four parties surrendering their identities and fusing into what has come to be known as APC. Also on this day, the party made known to Nigerians its manifestoes and code of ethics. It was indeed a gathering of movers and shakers within the APC. Apart from nominated delegates from each state, all the sixteen state governors were physically present, except that of Borno who was represented by his deputy.
At the high table were notable national leaders of the party, both men and women numbering sixteen, among whom were those who could tell the story of the party. These included the interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, former Head of state, General Mohammadu Buhari, former governor of Lagos state, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Abia state, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Chief Tom Ikimi, Chief Segun Osoba, Senator Mohammed Gadi, Hajia Ramatu Tijani Aliyu.
Others were Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, Chief Tony Momoh, Senator Ali Modu Sherif, Chief Audu Ogbe and Senator Chris Ngige among others.
In his opening remarks, Chief Akande said the summit was meant to declare what the party believes in as a guiding set of principles binding on all members. “This draft code of ethics and Road map to a new Nigeria will be our contract with the people of Nigeria- a common bond that will never be broken,” he said.
Akande, who noted that Nigeria as a country has seen too much of the politics of division, also stressed that “It is time for change. It’s time for a new politics. It is time for leadership that brings people together, that creates jobs and opportunity and that brings an end to the disease of corruption. The movement for change has begun- APC is the new party for a new Nigeria.”
Building a future of hope
In his welcome address, Lagos state governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), also described the summit as a historic day, not only for the APC but the nation as a whole.
He said: “The work we begin today is the work that will build a New Nigeria; a future when there are jobs for everyone who wants to work; a future without leaders who deprive the very families they are supposed to protect; a future of peace and stability; a future when Nigeria can feed its families; a future when a Nigerian education is as good as any education in the world; a future when the high prices of food and fuel don’t undermine every family’s quality of life.
“This is the future that we start to build here, today. This is why we have come from all parts of the nation. The future we envision, the future we will build together, is not just for one political party; it is not just for one region; it is not just for one community, it is for all Nigerians. And that future is a future of change.”
Fashola, who called APC a home for Nigerians, described the party’s recent registration exercise as exceeding even the largest projections, saying it was a turnout of “people who have had enough of division in our country; people tired of the politicians who turn one group against another for their own political gain. We’ve all seen it. We all know how it works. We all know how demeaning it is to our nation.”
Continuing, the governor said: “What brings us together today is what we all hold in common. We are tied together by what we believe, we believe our nation must be economically and socially vibrant. We believe our nation must be peaceful, just and secure.”
“We believe that corruption must no longer be tolerated in any corner of our nation, not in political life and not in our business or civic affairs. We believe in investing in our people, because they are the most important assets of our nation. We believe every person deserves work that enables them to provide for their families, to contribute to the community and to have a favorable, quality of life.” he said.
Reasons for merger
The summit also gave an opportunity for the national leaders of the party to re-emphasized reasons why legacy parties, which included; Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) and All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANPP) to dissolve into what is now APC.
Giving an insight into this, General Buhari, who was the National leader of CPC, recalled: “We found out that if we don’t come together as a party, at least those with representation in the State Houses of Assembly, in the Senate, House of Representative, even to the local government, the ruling party will easily weed us out of political environment.
“They will deal with us individually but when we come together, Nigeria has to be properly managed. And you all know we have tremendous mineral and human resources but having good leadership to manage these both human and materials resources has become our problem and the youths are becoming highly agitated, so this is why we have to mobilize, make all the necessary sacrifices and have a party which is unstoppable.”
For Senator Tinubu, who was also the national leader of ACN, it was informed by the need to strengthen democratic values. “We have been travelling all over the world and all I can count on is my passport on entry point of a nation is Nigeria passport. Nigeria, I believe should be the locomotive of manufacturing prosperity, creating jobs opportunity for our youths, we are not seeking a country that will continue to nurture the vice sickness or promote the crisis.
“When I started politics, I started with two party system; Social Democratic Party and NRC. The party to the left and the party to the right, but prematurely terminated.
“But I believe that that consequence was good for my country, it is necessary if we must show the competitiveness of this country, if we must create a viable economy, we must create an enabling environment for the investors and to the manufactures. We can be productive. We have that challenges and we must solve it in four years,” Tinubu assured.
Also in his explanation, national chairman of defunct ANPP, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, described the birth of APC as an idea whose time has come. He said “it is very clear from the beginning up till now that God is with us. When we started many people never gave us a chance. As a matter of fact, up till the day, July 31st 2013 that INEC announced the registration of APC many people outside the APC felt that it will never happen.
“They have so many reasons but I want to commend the leaders and the members of the legacy parties and our brothers and sisters that came in from APGA and DPP. I think they are keen patriotic Nigerians because Nigeria is a nation that has the potentials to join the great nations in the world but instead of being a giant for so long we have been behaving like a giant with little faith. So the APC has come to make sure that the resources we have in our country can be utilized for the good of Nigerians and Nigeria.”
Why APC is different from PDP
One of the founding female members, Hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu spoke on the uniqueness of APC compared to PDP. She said: “We found a lot of things attractive about the APC. At the formation of this party, I happened to be one of the female on board, it is about concern for the development of this nation, concern for change, concern for the down trodden, the high level of the impunity.
“I saw a group of people very strong in unity despite our diversity, I saw a lot of things, I saw former leaders coming together irrespective of party even from the ruling party, I saw a group of people who are ready to say we are on the drawing board again, where did we get it all wrong? We must chat a new course and I saw the passion the desire to reach out to people that were really suffering in the mix of plenty, I saw a great future for Nigeria through the APC platform and I realized that can only be a stable Nigeria, a stable democracy and all what we need is change which is a child of necessity, coming together to say no to the high level of corruption that has eaten very deep into the fabric of our existence.
“We said no to the celebration of mediocrity, where a group of people will just sit and see a sitting member or local government chairman representing his people for about two term of four years and construct a two kilometers of road and the whole local government is out to celebrate it, so we have to gather and discover that something is fundamentally wrong with the style of leadership.”
Challenges
As it is today, political analysts believe that act of dictatorship may be a major problem for the rising opposition party, a view raised by Senator Ali Modu Sherif, who cited the exclusion of Tom Ikimi from the party documentary as unjust.
Accusation
Senator Chris Ngige, the gubernatorial candidate of APC in Anambra governorship election last year said the APC remains the only productive platform for the Southeasterners to realizing their political dream. He alleged that no South easterner can be anything under PDP, and called on his kinsmen to give APC a chance in the region.
Intervention
The intervention of the APC governors did not also go unnoticed, just as Chief Olusegun Osoba said there were twin issues of bordering on the party’s name and symbol.
Code of ethics
Like the Biblical Ten Commandments, the party set out its ten commandments, with a resolve to consider the Nigerian people as its greatest assets, do everything to protect and preserve human life and dignity, and upholding a Nigeria bound by the principle of freedom, justice, peace, unity and the rule of law among others.
The manifestoes
APC finally unveiled its 69 point programmes for the nation with creation of jobs, fighting corruption and free relevant quality education at the top. Others are restoration of Nigerian agriculture, housing plan, health plan for children and adults, social welfare plan for the less advantaged, building roads, power and infrastructure, better management of natural resources and strengthen peace, security and foreign policy.
Moment of discomfort
The summit reached a moment of some discomfort, especially for some APC members who were not used to frank talk. The guest speaker and former Vice President of the World Bank, Dr. Obi Ezekwesili, did not spare the Nigerian political elites whom he accused of being responsible for many woes the nation faces today.
She said, “I do not know how you decided to take this high risk of inviting me to your gathering, knowing full well that my zeal for candor can be generally unsettling for some people of your class and occupation.
“Since you took the risk, I have assumed the liberty to speak boldly even to your discomfort, especially considering that we live in a season of grim when our country is greatly troubled.”
At this point, not all the politicians gathered at the Transcorp Hilton, venue of the APC national summit were comfortable. Especially, some of them who have spent years in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to APC and all former public officials. .
Ezekwesili was in shock that “Nigerians have wondered whether our political class which carries on with politicking to “capture or retain power” is comfortable to govern dead communities. Is it not time for all of our political leaders to pay that utmost sacrifice of leadership- lay down their personal gain for the good of the people they wish to lead.
“Leadership is not the office, the title, the authority, the mansion one occupies. Leadership is the sacrifice offered that others may thrive. There are three grades of leadership- Transactional, Transformational and Transcendental leadership. What our nation asks all of you irrespective of the acronyms that thread together to make you a political party in this land today, is that you must immediately “transcend” and mobilize all of Nigerians against the immediate common enemies killing our own within our territory.”
Rounding off, the former minister said: “Citizens are redefining what true attributes of leadership are by demanding that those who shall lead must be all possessing of – competency, character, competency and capacity. Neither of the three can substitute for the other, the political and technocratic class has no choice but to commit to redeeming our public institutions and the human resources that run them.”
Conclusion
Political analysts generally endorsed a giant step taken so far by the APC; not only as an opposition party but ability to give alternative to Nigerians which they believe has signaled danger for the ruling party. The promises have been made; the fulfillment is another issue which time will determine.
