Lest
we become guilty of what we accuse others of doing, it is imperative
that we calmly but unequivocally state that the national leadership of
the All Progressives Congress needs to apologise to their voters and
supporters for the way things have turned on the political landscape of
the country in the last three weeks. There is no other way to honestly
put it and the latest spectacle of “Fighting Senators” sums it all: The
APC leaders have so far performed below the expectations of their voters
and supporters. The least these leaders can do to redeem themselves for
such level of unsatisfactory performance is to find the wisdom and
courage to apologise to their voters and supporters.
Just in
the astonishing case that the leaders of the APC are unaware or have
forgotten, let us remind them that those who voted and supported their
party did so because they genuinely wanted and continue to hope for
radical change in the way things are done in the country. We must also
remind the leaders of the APC that during the last general elections,
the party’s candidates, leaders and champions at various levels
encouraged and reassured people that such mode and level of change is
possible. In case the leaders of the APC are unaware, then I have some
information for them: Your voters and supporters expect mega efficiency
and even miracles from you. They expect you to be very different in
substance and in style and all these bickering and whiff of continuity
with prolificacy are at wide variance with their expectations.
Scholarly
speaking, there is nothing so shocking or unprecedented about the mess
the APC is throwing up. As students of history and politics will be well
aware, everywhere you look at in time and space, it is a very common
feature of truly progressive political parties to be vibrant, divided
and rowdy associations and movement. Their survival and efficiency in
government tend be a function and merit or demerit of their leaders.
History is littered with examples of messy and rowdy progressive parties
and coalitions saved or destroyed by the virtues or weaknesses of their
leaders. You can take your pick from Italy, Israel or even Nigeria of
the Second Republic. Discipline and orderliness are traits more
ascribable to conservative parties be it on the left or on the right
side of politics. As a student of politics, I found it odd and
fascinating to note that in Nigeria, self-professed progressive parties
like the defunct Congress for Progressive Change and the Action Congress
of Nigeria were able to maintain high level of discipline and
orderliness in politics and governance.
Knowing that progressive
parties are prone to chaos should not however be conceived or admitted
as a mitigating factor for the APC leaders; rather I consider it
aggravating.
Although it will not hurt them, we are not even
asking the leaders of the APC to be scholars of history or politics,
their Peoples Democratic Party rivals and their surrogates were very
vocal and articulate in postulating the APC as a mere conglomerate for
power and positing that the APC will fall at the first hurdle.
Knowing
that their party is theoretically prone to chaos and that those who do
not wish them well like those in the PDP are expecting them to
disintegrate into a mess at the first hurdle should have made the
leaders of the APC prepare for the events leading to their mess today
and deal with it in a satisfactory manner.
There is no good
enough excuse. The elections of the Senate President, the House of
Representatives Speaker and all other related leadership positions were
known events long before now and even the names of those interested in
contesting these positions were out in the open way before now. If there
was no time at all, there were at least two months before now and the
days of those elections. The party leaders should and could have come
together to find a graceful solution to these issues. The APC leaders
need to apologise to their voters and supporters for their failure to do
so.
Many were quick to describe the last elections as historic
and crucial in the life of the country and that of Africa. Well, now
that the APC is in power, the leaders of the party need to remember that
historical fact and crucial to the country is now their own utterances,
comportments, legislative and executive acts. People are hopeful and
understandably impatient. The recent squabble and uncertainty as well as
the lack of extraordinary pace in actualising the party’s manifesto is
worrisome.
The elections that brought these leaders into power
were a tough expensive and polarising battle that pitched neighbours,
siblings and even couples against one another. They were elections that
saw a lot of people see their own party win national elections the first
time ever. The leaders of the APC need to apologise to their voters and
supporters for putting them in a position in which supporters of
continuity of the past administration and cynics can now say to the APC
voters and supporters, “Did we not tell you that they are all the same?”
Elections are over; if anybody in power still wants to fight,
let him or her face and fight corruption, unemployment, insecurity,
epileptic power supply and bad roads.
-
Anthony A. Kila, a Jean Monnet professor of Strategy and Development,
is currently Director of Studies at the Centre for International
Advanced and Professional Studies.
@anthonykila
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