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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Thursday, June 17, 2004.
Dying for the love of PDP
By Chesa Chesa
National
Assembly Correspondent, Abuja
Last
week was an intriguing one for our beloved country, Nigeria. Two
important Nigerian presidents showcased their respective ideas and
actions of how to “move this nation forward”- don’t bother that this has
become a clich� on this part of the earth. Anyway, while one was parading
the streets with a vow to lay down his life to ensure his countrymen did
not have another round of frequent increase in the prices of petroleum
products shoved down their throats, the other president was in the comfy
of an Abuja hall, swearing to die, if need be, for the leviathan Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) on which platform he got the incredulous second
opportunity to, as it has turned out to be, shepherd the stress-resistant
people of Nigeria.
The one
was of course the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole, who along with other trade unions and civil society
groups spearheaded a two-day nation-wide strike to force the government
through the all-powerful oil marketers to revert the price of petrol to
about N41, down from the about N52 they peddled about three weeks ago.
The NLC
boss had been so stringent in his demands that he called the bluff of
security chiefs who hinted that he was violating public peace and could
be made to pay the consequences. For how much they did not say, but
Oshiomhole did not bother much with that as he promptly hinted of the
price he had on one or two occasions in the past offered to pay - his
life.
Sure,
Oshiomhole could afford the new fuel prices if he chose to keep quiet but
he did not by virtue of his position as the torchbearer of the nation’s
workers, and in the absence of a reliable opposition party, also the
defender of other Nigerians who are not workers, all of whom suffer
continued humiliation from the people they supposedly elected to power.
He bore a social-economic responsibility and he tried to live up to it.
The
other also has a responsibility - social, economic, political, moral,
everything. And why not? After all, he is the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. He doubles as the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the country’s armed
forces. So, you can as well add military responsibility to his portfolio.
In any case, he rose to occupy that position courtesy of “the largest
political party in Africa”, the PDP.
Loyal
to it he should be. Loyal to it he was, last Tuesday, on the eve of
Oshiomhole’s strike. The occasion was the opening ceremony of a two-day
seminar for local government chairmen across the country elected into
office on the platform of the PDP. President Olusegun Obasanjo was there
to declare the conference open. He said he had a prepared text to read
but that he had a few things to say before that.
Those
few things lasted more than a few minutes and carried the weight of more
than few words. In the end, he hardly bothered with the prepared text.
What
did he say? “I believe that the PDP will rule this country for the next
30 years, in the first instance. I will work for it and I am ready to die
for it if need be.” Was he serious? He appeared so and he gave his
reasons. His words: “I know we have a party that can guarantee peace,
unity, and progress, maintain the rule of law and make Nigeria one of the
strongest nations in Africa and the world. God forbid that we disappoint
ourselves, the nation and the world”.
That is
how much responsible the President is to his party. Splendid. That is
what you expect from a true party man. Forget counting how many times he
has publicly vowed to die for Nigeria. Remember he fought during the
Civil War to keep Nigeria one. One can even argue that it is part of the
love for Nigeria that Obasanjo wants to die for the PDP to continue to
rule over us. That was why he did say that only the party could guarantee
peace, rule of law and progress in the country. If it is the peace and
progress we have been witnessing in the last five years, then the
President’s claims may just get the disapproving grumbling of some of his
countrymen.
A lot
has been said of peace or the relative absence of it in the country since
the PDP started dictating what happens in Nigeria. But the watershed was
the declaration of a state of emergency in the PDP-controlled state of
Plateau. The governor was thoroughly abused by the President and
literally deposed. His offence: he made peace a costly commodity in his
state and yet made himself unavailable. Many have wondered if the
President did not commit a similar offence when he traveled for a “very
important” meeting of the G-8 countries in the United States when a very
inflammable fuel crisis was threatening his home front. What confidence!
And why not, when any form of reprimand could only come from arms of a
government twisted into submission by the same party he had sworn to die
for.
Progress
begins at home and fortunately, the Chairman of the PDP, Chief Audu
Ogbeh, agrees to that. Which is probably why he consented to the seminar.
The party has been making progress. It has been muscling the country to a
one-party state with its “sterling” performance as the states not
controlled by it are now begging to be rolled over, even before the 30
years come to pass. But as if reading the minds and sneers of genuinely
concerned Nigerians, Ogbeh admitted the failure of his party to
substantially and positively change the lives of millions of Nigerians
who constitute the grassroots. The occasion was apt as he was talking to
the local government chairmen who control the grassroots tier of
government in majority of the states in the federation.
The President
did not dwell much on the party’s failure on this count but he gave the
local government chiefs recipe to help them perpetuate themselves in
office and become CP - Chairman Perpetual- as he called it. Interestingly
though, he made a point in condemning the system that threw up the
council chairmen, and of course, all others elected on the platform of
the PDP, in the first place. He faulted the electoral system in place in
the country right now as a one of the dangers to democracy. Good talk,
especially as the PDP is the greatest beneficiary and coming from the PDP
President himself. He advocated for a change so that people can have more
confidence in the results of elections. If that happens, does PDP have
the credentials to continue to conquer for the next 30 years?
The
inaction at the local government level is quite obvious and regrettable.
The PDP has not really fulfilled the promise to make the situation
better. Vowing to die to improve the situation should be more like it
rather than keeping it that way for the next 30 years.
Well,
going by his speech, the PDP chairman rose to the occasion with a stern
challenge to the council bosses to return life to the villages. Said he:
“My dear chairmen, we have to return life to the village, because unless and
until our villages are comfortable, our cities will never be at peace, no
matter the height of
our fences or the strength of our burglary-proofs.
“We
need you to deliver democracy, give it a fascinating fragrance, a
delicious taste, an irresistible flavour such that there can never be an
alternative to it. Do this
and peace and prosperity will be yours. Fail to do it and your
people’s murmuring will turn to curses and cause you pains which no
physician or fortune teller can cure”.
Not
even in 30 years, in the first instance. Die or no die! Is PDP the
messiah or do we wait for another?
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