With its successful national convention effectively concluded in Abuja recently and the consequent emergence of national and zonal executives it could be correctly said that the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC has arrived. It is now in full blossom, capable of tackling its main rival the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with a view to edging it out of power come 2015. To be able to do that successfully the APC must close its ranks and patch up the unpleasant split of the party’s top echelon into mutually antagonistic factions consequent upon incidental events at the convention.
There is also the Muhammadu Buhari factor which could adversely afflict the party or strengthen and make it robust and more dynamic. It is quite clear Buhari is the pivot upon which the party is rested and many party members are very much enthusiastic about his presidential candidacy and many more, especially the moles of the PDP are secretly working to counteract his influence and dwarf his towering figure within the party. From whatever perspective Buhari’s position in the party is viewed he is predictably an indispensable trump card for the APC’s success anytime, anywhere.
In Nigeria today there is no politician as popular as General Buhari, duly accepted by more than 13 million supporters in the North of the country and equally endorsed by millions in the South. His dedicated, devoted supporters are always poised to rally solidly behind him in order to promote his political objectives and enhance his chances for electoral success.
They ardently believe that General Buhari was the messiah destined to deliver them from the harsh realities of life, occasioned by the apathetic indolence of decadent, vicious and nasty leaders. He was tested and trusted severally and collectively, and none had ever found him wanting. That simply stood Buhari up as the darling of the masses, the saviour of the down-trodden and the restorer of hope to the wretched.
Even though his transparent attitude and tolerant political behaviour were manifest and undeniable, yet he was reviled and reproached, often presented in poor light in the garb of a religious zealot.
That explains why his successive attempt at the nation’s presidency ended in unnecessary controversy. Events that led to the 2011 general elections were not favourable to General Buhari and his party, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC. Both were held in contempt by the ruling party, and with the active support of religious dogmatists and connivance of northern elites, he was dubbed as religious extremist whose main manifesto was to islamise the country. That was not because General Buhari was found unsuitable, either due to ineffectiveness or moral depravity, he was victimised and embarrassed by the enemies of united Nigeria who used religion and ethnicity to polarise the masses and to utilise those lethal weapons in the campaigns against him as a sure way of persecuting and crucifying him.
General Buhari represented the entire three raison d’être of hatred by his avowed adversaries. He was a northerner from a political zone whose importance and influence must be severely reduced; secondly he was a Muslim whose faith is currently persecuted world-wide by the godfathers of the tormentors of Nigerians; and most importantly, the blood that runs in his vein was that of the ostracized Hausa-Fulani stock who are now systematically being edged out and marginalised from the typical affairs of the state and political power.
This brings us to a pertinent question whose answer will be hard to obtain. What will be the future of APC in 2015 if Buhari were to be or not to be? It is not improbable if Buhari may stay detached without contesting in 2015, and any northerner, in similar mould and background the party may represent in his stead, could also suffer the same fate and indignity that had caused the CPC’s downfall.
What is now extremely important to APC is to earnestly garner more grassroots support to actualise the hopes of winning next year’s election and to enable it systematically throw overboard some undesirable elements within fold intent at causing havoc and mischief. What is paramount is the coming together of the party’s staunch loyalist, and its well wishers within and without, to design a road map to its unity and consolidation into a formidable and worthwhile opposition party. This will be in addition to concerted efforts at baking a cake first before wasting energy on how to share it.
Nigerian masses have learnt their lessons the bitter way: the humiliation that followed April 2011 elections still remained the nauseating pill they do not wish to swallow again. The accomplishment of a merger between three parties that were hitherto incompatible bed fellows was enough to inspire them into sacking an unfeeling government in order to guarantee their welfare, liberty and economic prosperity. Indubitably the destiny of the nation is in the hands of the opposition, and it will be better protected and defended if all will rally round Buhari to give him maximum support to fly the party’s flag in its determined march to clinch the presidency.
