The Peoples’ Democratic Party and the Prospects of a Better Nigeria
For me, Ngugi wa’thiongo’s ‘Petals of Blood’ is much more than a work of fiction; it is a passport to adventure and a call to patriotism at any level. For these reasons, I always will refer to the ‘Petals of Blood’. For it is like a manual to help me stay on the course of popular democracy for Nigeria and Africa at large. I therefore beg license, most esteemed fathers, to begin with a quotation from that book even as I pursue my theme as it concerns our party.
‘…There is the dream still taken up by the voices of children. It is the dream of visionaries and believers, all the seekers who retain their faith. Such will always be. It is good so’.
The vision herein referred to was that of an elder generation that had witnessed the dread ravages of crime and treachery and greed which passed for civilization. That generation, witnessing too the resistance waged and carried out with cracked hands and broken nails and bleeding hearts, voiced visionary dreams amidst sneers and suspicions and accusations of madness or of seeking pathways to immortality and the eternal self glory of tyrants. Their dream was that of African unity. The elder generation strove untiringly for the realization of that dream. While some ‘took arms against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and by opposing to end them’, others engaged the former colonial masters at the stage of intellectual space. Their struggle was a multifaceted venture; ‘to be or not to be, that was their question’.
Though the decolonization process in this country may not have been as harrowing and as gruesome as in some other African countries, we sure have had our own fair share of the experience in another form; the form of battling years of certain military regimes which were not at all sensitive to the plight of Nigerians. Frantz Fanon argues in his ‘Wretched of the Earth’ that “the mobilization of the masses, when it arises out of the war of liberation, introduces into each mans consciousness the ideas of a common cause, of a national destiny and of a collective history”. He further argues that ‘… the building up of the nation is helped on by the existence of this cement which has been mixed with blood and anger’. There was something akin to the mixing of the lives we lost and the blood which was shed in other African nations and it cemented our bonds so that we came to share the same vision of Africa’s unity.
To make the case brief, a military President that was willing to handover to a democratically elected President came along. This paved the way for the floating of political parties which went mobilizing popular support for the upcoming general elections and groupings around these parties followed certain lines. While some ran in the direction of ethnic bias and regional divide, only one party ran truly in the direction of national interest and national integration. And though the bulk of those that participated actively in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria did not seek election into offices of trust, one party there was that could boast of many of those few that decided to aspire to elective offices; it will not be wrong to mention that the Peoples’ Democratic Party is like a house that was built on the ruins of the old Social Democratic Party. The PDP is that party that has been truly national in its embrace and in its extended hand of fellowship right from the outset. And even before I was a card-carrying member of the PDP, I had sympathy for it; neither because my father was a party stalwart nor that it was the stronger party in this part of the country, no! But because of the very popular support it enjoyed and the truly national outlook it had. The PDP was the most widely acceptable party to Nigerians taking into account the overall national point of view. For me at that time, the PDP held the promise of nurturing the democracy which Nigerians had labored for. And not withstanding that the experience has not been very smooth, if one takes into consideration our twelve (12) years of the democratic experiment, one should not berate the PDP for its job. From a democracy that was merely budding, our democracy has been nurtured into a blossoming one; and in the process of building democracy, Nigerians from walks of life have contributed. Under the guidance of the PDP, our young democracy is growing very fast. Today there is no gainsaying the fact that the PDP has become a household name in affairs of national development and in deepening the delivery of the dividends of democracy. The PDP has maintained the approach of ‘sustained pressure for more life-touching’. Whether or not we agree, the PDP has come to be one of the institutions of our democratic culture. One only needs open one’s eyes to behold the gains of democracy under the patriotic nourishment of the PDP: the amended constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999; the amended Electoral Act; the improved electioneering process and machinery; the supremacy of the rule of law and the restoration of confidence in the Justice sector, etc. all of these gains we have been able to secure at the national level.
Let us take Rivers State as a case in study of a PDP government. Let me just mention in passing that it is one misfortune of men to forget easily the benefits which others do unto them. Such seems to me to be the situation of people with regards to the former Governor of Rivers State, Sir (Dr). Peter Odili.
Most esteemed fathers, allow to borrow from Rousseau’s ‘Social Contract’ where he says: “ Born as I was the citizen of a free state and a member of its sovereign body, the very right to vote imposes on me the duty to instruct myself in public affairs however little influence my voice may have in them”. The little instructions in public affairs which I came to understand, I will venture to relate vis-à-vis, the administration of Dr. Odili. I understand that form very early on during his administration, that Governor took upon his administrations shoulders the financial burden of registration of secondary school students for senior secondary schools WAEC and NECO examinations. I knew of certain big buses which were made available to cushion the effect of hikes in transportation fares and others which operated on a pro bono basis for primary and secondary school children. I know that workers in Rivers State never had cause to complain about non-payment and late payment of their remunerations. I know that Dr. Odili set up low a cost housing scheme, erecting several houses across the Local Government Area Councils. I have seen the Gas turbine at Trans-Amadi and have seen on television the other one at Omoku. The efforts of this governor, a PDP governor, and his infrastructural developmental strides in the state made him to be adjudged the best performing Governor in Nigeria at a certain year. It was Dr. Odili that initiated the sending of Rivers State students abroad for higher education. Of all the religious crises which rocked this country, none found expression in Rivers State because Dr. Odili so stationed adequate security for the protection of life and property. So we see that Odili was willing to deliver the dividends of democracy to all and sundry. That was a Governor, a PDP Governor. Only a few seem to remember today.
After him, Governor Amaechi came along. We all know that it was on the strength of the rule of law that Amaechi became Governor. The seeds for the respect of the rule of law were sown during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo and those seeds germinated and grew into trees which bore the fruits of obedience to the rule of law as was manifested in the victories of Governors Amaechi, Oshiomole, Fawehinmi of Rivers, Edo, and Ekiti states respectively. So Amaechi came on the scene and consolidated and expanded on the gains of the Dr. Peter Odili administration. His achievements are too numerous for me to catalogue. They are so massive that he was adjudged second best performing Governor, a very near second to Governor Fashola of Lagos State. And he is a PDP Governor.
Look at the zoning formula of the PDP. It follows the principle of Federal Character arrangement. I do agree that zoning formulae are not the best but at this stage of our young democracy, the Federal Character arrangement helps to allay mistrust and misgivings from any quarters of the nation with regards to participation in many affairs of national interests. The Federal Character allows for active involvement of every zonal people in participation in governance; it also gives every people the sense of collectively working for our commonwealth. At this level of the democratic experiment, the zoning formula is still the best so far as the best materials from the zones are engaged in the dispatch of national assignments.
Another thing about the PDP is its tendency to stick together. Unlike in some other parties where it is almost always the case to have two or more persons laying claims on crucial offices, the PDP has never had experience of that sort. Though we have had our own fair share of the turmoil and agitations, we always found ways of resolving our differences with minimal bruises on our ego. We have stubbornly stuck together despite court injunctions, and removals of party chairmen, etc. And it is working for us. Today the PDP is stronger and it is taxing itself more on the point of internal democracy. Predictions did abound that the PDP was going to rupture as fallout of the last PDP Presidential primaries. But to the total consternation of those analysts, not only was there not a rupture, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar gracefully swallowed the outcome of the primaries in the spirit of sportsmanship and PDP interest. As such, we could hold up the PDP as a model national institution in that aspect of unity. Nigerians should borrow from the PDP that knack for unity. Like a compass that always points in the direction of the magnetic north after every disturbance, so the attitude of its members always assumes the poise of unity after every episode of unrest.
But most esteemed fathers! We cannot beat our chests and pride ourselves on the party. We should not rest content with this height that we have been able to carry the party to. The room for self improvement is the largest room in life. There is ever room for improving ourselves and by extension, our party. I do not believe that what we have attained today is the picture that the founding fathers of our great party projected when they rallied round for its establishment. True we have a structure that if properly fine-tuned would establish us in power for upward of sixty (60) years, but it is not the finest we could build. We could expand into many more African countries than two. We could forge a front very popular and strong as to bring us further nearer the dreams and visions of the elder generation even as we resolve all contradictions in preparation for the day of unity.
Allow me, most esteemed fathers, to at this stage suggest some modalities that would fast track the realization of the ideal PDP. Still from Fanon’s ‘Wretched of the Earth’, he argues that “ A country that wishes to answer the questions that history puts to it, that wants to develop not only its towns but also the brains of its inhabitants, such a country must possess a trustworthy political party”. Fanon further stresses that this party should be a tool in the hands of the people and not the contrary; that it is people who should decide on the policy that the government carries out. I entertain no doubts as to the genuineness of our party as it concerns the welfare of Nigerians. The PDP is no doubt a manifestation of something in the line of capturing the yearnings of the millions of Nigerians, but it can do more. We must realize the role which Providence has meted out on us with regards to the historical development of this country. We must begin to put our act together. We must strive to create a party that reassures the ordinary citizen and not one that rouses his anxiety. We must push for a party that embodies in concrete form, the needs of the people in what touches employment, human capacity development, etc. A sure way of starting this is by making contact with the people. I will make reference to Governor Amaechi’s quarter yearly interactive sessions with Non-Governmental Organizations, Faith Based Organizations, Civil Liberties Organizations, and others. These sessions help clarify certain policy thrusts of his administration which are perceived as obscure. At these sessions, the people also are afforded the forum to ask direct questions and to also make suggestions on how to approach certain developmental challenges. These sessions are like accounts of stewardship of the Governor. They provide the stage on which the people hear certain facts and figures undiluted and directly from the Governor. These sessions also serve to sharpen the edge of his policy thrust and his developmental giant strides because he very well knows that at particular intervals, he would come before his people and hold interactions with them. It is little wonder Governor Amaechi is very popular in Rivers State and beyond and that popularity directly rubs off on the PDP, leaving the opposition political parties very little room for destructive criticism and comments aimed at detracting the Governor and his administration.
To further stretch the bounds of popularity of the PDP, all office holders, elected under the umbrella of the PDP, should borrow a leaf from Governor Amaechi. They should return to their constituencies at regular intervals and hold interactions with their constituents. This applies to ward councilors, Local Government Chairpersons, states Assembly members, National Assembly members etc. Most esteemed fathers, if my tone offends your sense of loyalty, pardon me. It is only a reflection of the urgency of the times and it is against the background of the current reality of the PDP losing out in the South West Governorship race in the last general elections. As Governor Amaechi rightly mentioned on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony of LGA Council chairmen, the PDP may lose elections in 2015 if its elected representatives do not perform. The South West stares us full in the face.
All humans seek to express themselves. For this reason, humanity would clutch at any legitimate avenue to give rein to their expressions. We could make the PDP one avenue of legitimate expression for the people. To the people, the party is not an authority, but an organism through which they as the people exercise their authority and express their will. The party should not be made an automaton, insensitive to the yearnings of the people. It should rather be like a tree which grows according to the workings of the desires of the people, drawing nourishment from the active participation of the same people. The Town Halls meeting initiative of Governor Amaechi should be consolidated and expanded upon by the PDP. The leadership of the PDP at the Wards and LGA Councils level should regularly hold meetings of that nature with the people. Committees to handle the various villages that make up the Wards could be set up and directed to hold these meetings. This would guarantee a broader level of participation to almost every willing person in these villages and it is one way of bringing life to communities which are not yet awakened to life. As mentioned above, the party should be an organism and not an automaton. Activity in the party should not be clustered around election periods. Our mobilization campaigns should continue regardless of elections. That attitude of mobilizing only around election times has roots in the thought that the party is only an organ for winning elections and scoring other political points. But when we look at the party as an organ for deepening democracy and national development, we would cultivate the attitude of mobilizing at every feasible moment. We should mobilize opinion; we should mobilize sympathy; we should mobilize the mass of Nigerian people and channel their efforts towards national development correctly. That would be the attitude of a party which hopes to remain in power at the centre and periphery for at least sixty (60) years. That would be the attitude of a party which would prove to all and sundry that it is truly the largest party in Africa. That should be the approach of the PDP. Let us begin to aspire to the heights attained by political parties in farther advanced democracies. Let us shake off the fatigue satisfaction with the party as it is now and work so that we may put the PDP in the finest shape for it to play its part of guide of national interest and the more surely constitute for the people, a decisive guarantee of national development. Our party should be so positioned so as not to only have contact with the people but to be the direct expression of the people. Our party could be so worked as to make it the pulse of the nation.
Another thing we could do to further strengthen the framework of the party is educate the Nigerian people politically. It is very obvious that political consciousness and enthusiasm for affairs of national importance have risen tremendously over the last few years. This rise in enthusiasm was contributed to by the media and more importantly, by the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan factor. Not only is there this rise in enthusiasm, there is an attendant surge in concern for the success of our democratic process and development. Dr. Jonathan is truly the heartbeat of a process in motion; a theme I pursued in another dissertation.
Our party should take up political education of the people to further deepen the democratic process and also improve on this enthusiasm for issues of national relevance. This education should be a continuous exercise and it does not mean gathering people and delivering long political speeches. This education does not mean summoning the people only to demonstrate our skills in elocution. Political education means opening our minds. It means to teach them to understand that for every progress we make in the direction of sustaining democracy, they take the credit. Political education means to make the people to understand that every one of them owes obligation to the nation, to protect and to nurture ‘the unity and the married calm of states’ and to keep them from derailing quite from their fixture. Political education means to imbue in the people the knowledge of the historical epochs which brought about our nationhood and the exertions of our many heroes past to the end of attaining nationhood. Political education makes the heart of the people beat in unison with that of the party. Political education would restore the dignity of the voter and the sanctity of the vote. That man who is politically educated would not give away his vote for the pot of porridge. Political education means to teach the people that government and the party are at their service.
‘To educate the people politically is to make the totality of the nation a reality to each citizen. It is to make the history of the nation part of the personal experience of each of its citizen’. With a very politically educated people, race considerations, ethnic bias, and religious prejudices would play very minimal role in issues of national development and sustenance of democracy. Our party should take up the duty of politically educating the people and we would have the people solidly behind us.
Our party could also take up charitable concerns. Charitable concerns are aspects of human endeavour which rarely fails to register favourably in the hearts of society people. Our party could take up building of primary and secondary schools and the education of children of indigent parents/guardians. We could support the orphanages, and other institutions dedicated to the education of special children. We could also support the prison authorities in providing finer prison facilities. These little things would make all the difference. These are the little things that would cause the hearts of Nigerians to beat in sync with that of our party. Whatever stops our party from handing out special scholarships to students? Whatever hinders us from bringing succor to widows and their wards? Whatever stops our party from setting up self help schemes for our people in the rural areas? And who says anything hinders us from becoming actively involved in the social life of Nigerians? This is one way our party can truly be an organism and not an automaton. We should diversify our party’s aspects to include all these social and humanitarian endeavours. It should not only be a platform for winning elections. Let our party go the extra mile. We could assist in the welfare packages for the elderly. We could also contribute to the health of society by donating and equipping health care facilities. Most esteemed fathers, truly there are people who are only waiting for our party to assume this concern for the welfare of Nigerians to break ranks from opposition parties and join us and many more unaligned people who would also give us their sympathies the moment we put these things in place. Look at Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State. It was on the strength of his antecedent charity contributions that he rose to become Governor. Let us borrow a cue from him. Let us give back to society as a party.
Finally we should work to broaden the praxis of internal democracy within the party. Ours should be a participatory democracy where election of candidates to represent us in general elections would be on the basis of popularity and the acceptance of the candidate by the party faithful while we adhere strictly to the party guidelines for eligibility for contesting elections. The supremacy of the party’s constitution should be respected. For it is that document that binds us as a party and without it, there would not be this overboard arrangement we have as party today. Any single action which contravenes the provisions of the constitution of the party serves to undermine the confidence and trust which people should have in the party. What else informed the decision by several members to drag the party to the law courts? For situations in which duly elected people are deprived of the party’s flag is very athwart the democratic praxis. In other cases, party leaders would call for fresh elections after arbitrarily cancelling prior elections and declaring their outcome a nullity. These are the things which tarnished the image of our party and forced the aggrieved parties to seek redress at the courts of law or break faith with the party.
But things are changing. The last PDP primaries which produced candidates to fly the party’s flag in the last general elections were exercises in due process. What we should do is guard against forms of interests and arbitrary wishes that might want to again shift the course of our internal democracy to run along the lines of autocracy. A return to autocracy would be stifling the wishes of the PDP faithful and Nigerians by extension. So, we should guard the blossoming internal democracy within the party. We should open the windows of our party to the fresh air of popular participation. We should guard it with the paraphernalia of a total obedience to the provisions of the constitution and a return to the ideals of the fathers that founded the party.
Most esteemed fathers, permit me to also touch upon another subject that is of importance to the party and the nation by extension: the subject of the youth and our participation in the PDP process. It is common saying that the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow and it is against this backdrop that we see parents, communities, states, and indeed countries investing in their citizens. These ones are from a very tender age taught sound societal values and skills necessary for self and community and nation building. Most advanced nations, understanding the necessity for the proper education of the future leaders, set aside certain institutions for the inculcation of leadership s kills, human capacity expansion, and the acquisition of conventional social skills in their young. This contributes to a large extent in molding them in the fittest shapes for the assumption of leadership roles when due. And whether or not they eventually make fine leaders, the economies of these countries are there to tell. Most esteemed fathers, it is not exactly the same with us in this country and in our party. It seems to me that the extent of our relevance as youths in the PDP process is limited within the confines of mobilizing for elections. It seems to me that we just are tools for winning elections and that that is the farthest our relevance extends in the PDP establishment. It does not seem to me that the PDP leadership realizes that in the nearest future, the youths would rise to fill up offices currently occupied by the fathers; and what would become of our party and the country if the PDP does not put enough effort towards our education as youths? Whoever has heard of a PDP youth leadership training scheme? Whoever has heard of a PDP youth conflict management and resolution training programme? Whoever has heard of a PDP organized cultural awareness programme for youths which would advance the process of national integration and minimize tribal and ethnic mistrust? Can the PDP youth measure up to the youth of parties of other developed countries? Again, the earlier we see the party as being much more than a platform for winning elections, the better would be the prospect of the youth of the party and the party in general. With these, the PDP would help advance our quest to expand our capacity for organized reasoning which would catapult us to the height which we aspire to as a party. These are very crucial for the continuous evolution of our party and so should not be seen as luxuries. Times are changing and with it are changes in affairs of politics and in the provision of leadership to our nation. It is only that which guarantees regular training and retraining of our young cadres that would best position us for the roles which the changing times foists on us. As mentioned earlier, these should not be seen as luxuries, but provisions should be made for them in the constitution. For written constitutions are a bulwark in democratic organizations and parties, and societies need them to guarantee individual liberties and protect themselves from threats of extremism. With these provisions allowed by the constitution, it shall be viewed as the duty of the party to make available these leadership skills acquisition outlets for the youth of the party. In this way, our party would ensure the nurturing of a genuine democracy free of corrupt electoral practices and dedicated to the basic goals of collective social justice and individual self realization. History furnishes us with several examples to buttress this point. Suffice it to cite only the examples of the MPLA of Angola and the ANC of South Africa. The MPLA had organizations for children and as well as for adults. There was the pioneer group, the women’s group, and the group for the young MPLA cadres. Its passion was for the people. Again and again ‘people’s power’ was honed in the periodic seminars which were organized at various places to emphasize the link of the party with the people. Other events were organized which kept the people at a fever pitch politically. The party never ceased and never tired of pointing to the people that the MPLA control of most of the country was due to the people. Records also tell us that the MPLA ranks never tired of holding regular interaction with the people of Angola and that the truth was what they always told them at every turn of events in the decolonization process of that country. Look at the ANC of South Africa; after how many decades and still not just in existence but in power. These are some parties we could hold as models even as we follow their time honoured practice of politically educating their young and the country people. The modus operandi and the tenets of the party should be taught us and this should be done in complete clarity. With these put in place, one can vouch that the PDP would go the way of historical recognition as the MPLA and ANC went.
As I pursued in another work, the process of transformation of Nigeria has been started and this process is spearheaded by Goodluck-Sambo. Let this process reflect in the way we look at our party, the PDP.
Most esteemed fathers, today the ball is in your court and posterity is watching you. What becomes of the party shall be either to your credit or discredit.

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