I had settled down to a plate of Nkwobi and a bottle of
Malt drink. As I ate, I hummed to the music of Highlife
maestro; E.T Mensa, pouring out from Mama Rebecca’s
very old but audible sound system. It was Friday evening
and this was our neighborhood version of TGIF.
Two of the very young patrons entered and sat down on
my table. I use the word; ‘young’ to describe those
patrons between the ages of 30 and 35. I have been told
that the economic situation of the country is the reason
they have become patrons at the local area bar, as this is
all they can afford, but that is talk for another day. This
evening, as they sat and gave Patience; the service girl
cum waitress, their orders, one of them shocked me by
referring to me as ‘common ma’. I was indeed very
surprised as I had not the slightest inkling that they were
interested in the socio-political issues within the country,
never mind that they had knowledge of this column.
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My surprise was complete when the other of them said;
“So, as you have severally outlined the inadequacies of
APC as a real alternative to Nigerians, and you have also
pointed out that Goodluck Jonathan has not performed
based on his pre-election promises, now that
Mohammadu Buhari has declared his intentions to
contest, do you think they have a chance and what does
Buhari and the APC need to do to put them in pole
position?” I called out to Patience; I needed another
bottle of Malt drink as I explained thus;
There are several things that, I think, are wrong with the
APC, add these to the two things that, I think, are wrong
with Buhari’s person and image, and we have a party that
seemingly has the support of majority but ends up losing
the elections.
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The first thing that, I see, wrong with the APC is Lai
Mohammed. From the AD, to the ACN and now the APC,
the continuation of Lai Mohammed as the face of the APC
is a huge mistake for the following reasons; already, the
public perception is that the APC is an ACN /Bola Tinubu
controlled party. That the erstwhile spokesperson of the
ACN is still the spokesperson of the APC only serves to
reinforce this perception.
Lai Mohammed’s style is reactive and in contrast to what
party a party that professes to be progressive should be
putting forward. The majority of Nigerian voters are
under the age of 55 and thus the language of the
spokesperson must be the language this group
understands and identifies with and Lai Mohammed does
not even begin to fit these criteria, just as he doesn’t fall
into the ideal age group. Lai Mohammed is also Muslim
in a party that is already being labeled as a Muslim party.
The APC urgently needs a spokesperson that is young and
looks and acts it and being Christian will be a huge
advantage. This person must be pro-active; identifying the
many problems affecting Nigerians, bringing these to the
fore in press conferences, and proffering the solutions
that the APC will give to these problems.
The second thing that, I see, that needs to be done, is for
Bola Tinubu to retreat deep into the background.
Irrespective of the great job done in Lagos state, which is
the poster state of the APC, there is no doubt as to the
intense corruption and nepotism which is the hallmark of
Tinubu’s style and many Nigerians are extremely wary of
allowing such on a federal level. To this end, the party
needs to be seen or perceived to be distancing itself from
the person of Bola Tinubu and this will only happen if
Tinubu retreats into the background and let the party
chairman, spokesperson and the flag bearers be the faces
of the party.
The third thing that, I think, is needed is a detailed and
comprehensive party manifesto. The APC needs a
comprehensive document that lists our most pressing
problems with detailed explanations the solutions the
party intend to effect, complete with solution schedules.
This document should be translated into all the major
languages and made easily available. This will be a real
game changer for Nigerians; away from the usual ’10
point agenda’ documents that we always get shoved in
our faces and which the parties, upon failure, can easily
point fingers at previous governments, as is the present
situation.
Fourth; in a radical move from the norm, the APC seems
to be gearing up to have real primaries. For a party that
extols its progress qualities, to be seen to encourage
internal democracy is absolutely vital to any claims it
makes as regards the development of our young
democracy. There are unconfirmed reports of several
APC politicians currently stockpiling weapons in readiness
for the primaries and in a bid to avert the violence; the
party hierarchy is contemplating a return to its usual
‘selection’ process. As good a move as this may be to the
party hierarchy in staving of violence and internal strife, it
will be a wrong move in their quest to achieve the greater
goal. The party hierarchy should instead commence
investigations into determining their members who are
guilty of such unacceptable behavior and to publicly
dismiss such persons from the party. This will further
send the positive message to Nigerians that; the APC is
not a do or die party, as any party that actually means to
serve the people and not itself, should be.The APC urgently needs a spokesperson that is young and
looks and acts it and being Christian will be a huge
advantage. This person must be pro-active; identifying the
many problems affecting Nigerians, bringing these to the
fore in press conferences, and proffering the solutions
that the APC will give to these problems.
The second thing that, I see, that needs to be done, is for
Bola Tinubu to retreat deep into the background.
Irrespective of the great job done in Lagos state, which is
the poster state of the APC, there is no doubt as to the
intense corruption and nepotism which is the hallmark of
Tinubu’s style and many Nigerians are extremely wary of
allowing such on a federal level. To this end, the party
needs to be seen or perceived to be distancing itself from
the person of Bola Tinubu and this will only happen if
Tinubu retreats into the background and let the party
chairman, spokesperson and the flag bearers be the faces
of the party.
The third thing that, I think, is needed is a detailed and
comprehensive party manifesto. The APC needs a
comprehensive document that lists our most pressing
problems with detailed explanations the solutions the
party intend to effect, complete with solution schedules.
This document should be translated into all the major
languages and made easily available. This will be a real
game changer for Nigerians; away from the usual ’10
point agenda’ documents that we always get shoved in
our faces and which the parties, upon failure, can easily
point fingers at previous governments, as is the present
situation.
Fourth; in a radical move from the norm, the APC seems
to be gearing up to have real primaries. For a party that
extols its progress qualities, to be seen to encourage
internal democracy is absolutely vital to any claims it
makes as regards the development of our young
democracy. There are unconfirmed reports of several
APC politicians currently stockpiling weapons in readiness
for the primaries and in a bid to avert the violence; the
party hierarchy is contemplating a return to its usual
‘selection’ process. As good a move as this may be to the
party hierarchy in staving of violence and internal strife, it
will be a wrong move in their quest to achieve the greater
goal. The party hierarchy should instead commence
investigations into determining their members who are
guilty of such unacceptable behavior and to publicly
dismiss such persons from the party. This will further
send the positive message to Nigerians that; the APC is
not a do or die party, as any party that actually means to
serve the people and not itself, should be.