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Well, the 2015 elections have been won and lost, but we are all glad that the level of violence experienced wasn't as much as predicted. The PDP, which will be the ruling party till may 29, 2015, really need to understand certain things about the new political atmosphere in Nigeria, cos they ran their campaign in thesame manner they've been doing since 1999 when they held sway. Below are a list of things they need to do to make themselves look attractive to nigerians once again.

1. Admit they caused their own loss.
Now is not the time to point fingers at the soon to be ruling party all in a bid to try to cover their misrule. It wasn't the APC that made them joke with vital issues like the chibok girls and the missing dollars. When they ought to have frowned at corruption, they condoned it alongside impunity. They rubbed a lot of dirts in the face of nigerians, forgetting that there's usually a day in every 4yrs when these people have a power they can use.

2. Stop tribal and religious politics.

Since 2013, when the nation started preparing for the just concluded elections, I felt it could be that a mighty oracle told the PDP that the use of some elements will make them win. Elements like the tribal and religious cards which they thought would enable them divide and rule. Those factors are actually what made people the world over believe they was going to be a war in the course of the election. How can a president be seated at a rally that had Arthur Nzeribe denigrating a sage like Awolowo and his tribe. It was as if the president gave it a nod. This same president visited churches more than he visited projects for commissioning. Yes, he is christian, but allowing the likes of ayo oritsejafor and other gospel charlatans flood aso rock and make divisive statements should have been considered as something that won't sit well with the muslims and traditionalists. The PDP's tribal politics also cost it a lot. When the president ought to have sacked stella oduah for the BMW scandal and master's degree forgery, he kept mum about it cos he didn't want to hurt the Igbos who he publicly proclaimed as the pillar of his government, as if their votes alone got him to power. A government which didn't think it could ride on impunity would have considered the feelings of other tribes, especially the northerners who shed their ambition to support him. This same tribal and religious politics cost them the chance of winning lagos, a state which would have served as a source of funding for the party's resurrection.

3. Put Unity first.

Losing 5 governors is not something a visionary party would want at any moment in time, especially when 2 out of them control states like kano and rivers. Banking so much on impunity really made the PDP forget about its flaws. They felt they could abuse federal power even under the watchful eyes of the world, a good reason why they turned deaf ears to the warning of a former president and PDP chieftain who has a lot of influence internationally. At this point, PDP needs to hold every sensible member in high esteem, even if the person is just a grassroot member. When you can't sustain your party's unity, how will you be able to sustain that of the nation? The party simply forgot its source.

4. Carry out cleansing.

Everytime I sit and listen to Alhaji Lai mohammed of the APC, I get carried away by his brilliance. His constructive criticism was one of the reasons I and majority of people fell in love with the APC CHANGE movement. He spelt figures as if he was looking into a paper. He was ever ready to make something out of nothing, issues out of non-issues. The PDP even helped him the more, cos when he was still ruminating on one of their miscalculations and scoring points for his party, they make another mistake, giving him a lot to say. That's why people still believe him even when he's just doling out propaganda. If PDP thinks APC will just sit back and enjoy the ruling party status, then they are still basking in the euphoria of still standing a chance, cos the likes of Lai Mohammed won't stop. It will be all about reaching for PDP's jugular. The party needs to hire more competent people as spokesmen, people with integrity. Olisa metuh, to me, is even below being a ruling party's spokesman, not to talk of that of an opposition that means business cos he doesn't add brilliance to the party's voice. He was thesame person that started the name calling when he called APC a janj.aweed militia. The unreasonable internet trolls also latched on to it, causing nuisance on social media. People like FFK, fayose, abati, okupe etc should either be flushed out of the party or made to keep quiet if the party wants to appear good again. Even their youths appear to be blockheads and noise makers eg Ayedee. When you field a Stella Oduah, a Buruji Kashamu, an Obanikoro and a T.A Orji as the best the party can offer for public offices, the likes of Jimi Agbaje will be demonised cos he's believed to be surrounded by the corrupt.

5. Social media.

I currently follow APC and PDP on twiter. I can tell you that for every 1 tweet the PDP handle doles out, which they seldom do, there's a thousand coming from the APC handle. The APC promoted themselves and sold their ideas in such a way that everyone, young and old, wanted to associate with them. They understood the trend on social media where a tonto dikeh posing with her dogs can get several views and comments on social media. Why not show a buhari having dinner with his loyalist and some youths or have a picture of him holding an Ipad? When the PDP youth team ought to borrow such an idea and perform such for their candidate, they were busy criticising buhari, saying they are sure the "illiterate" doesn't know anything about the device. Their too much talk even made the man more popular as they kept on asking for his medical records and school certificate, opening newspaper and social media articles to condemn him, an effort which should have been used for selling their candidate.

6. They should create model states.

The best way the party can regain its status is by having a strong grip of the few states they control now. Having a strong grip shouldn't involve the use of thuggery but ideas. The defunct AC/ACN had only lagos state, but a vision for progress saw them spread their tentacles to the rest southwestern states in 2011. The ideas of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola(SAN) saw the love for the party grow. The party simply picked lagos from its slum state and turned it into a model for all to envy or emulate. The model made it possible for the party's capturing of the SW region and also made it attractive enough for other parties to merge with which led to the formidable APC. If the PDP can focus on developing Abia and rivers states, they might just be in thesame direction that saw APC to the federal level.

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