Feeling the new rhythms of PDP

All lovers of democracy in the continent of Africa and particularly in this part of the world ought to be euphoric with the systemic rescue of the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the biggest political party in Africa, by the most esteemed and honorable jurists of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria via their landmark judgment of July 2017 and the subsequent successful convention of the party which was held in Abuja in following month of August of this year. The jurists in arriving at the profound and ground-breaking judgment had followed the creeds of Lord Dennings, then Master of the Rolls, and abandoned legal niceties and jurisprudential technicalities to dwell mainly on reason. And as if taking a cue from the thinking of the Supreme Court jurists, the president, Muhamadu Buhari also towed the same course of thinking while addressing the leadership of the two major political parties (APC and PDP) the other day in Abuja shortly after he arrived from his long medical sojourn in Great Britain, when he clearly stated the need for a vibrant and robust opposition to the growth of democracy and progressive development of the country. He had counseled that opposition must be alive and active for the survival of democracy in the country, as well as success of any administration. Bravo to both the jurists and Mr. President!

Sincerely, one must confess here, this writer felt fulfilled for the first time about the political developments in the country since a while ago. Now one can be rest assured that the divine hand of Almighty God has wrought these great wonders in the life of party democracy, the country and Africa continent as a whole. This is because the thought of the wider implication of the implosion of democracy in Nigeria is just unimaginable, as its ripple effect will be felt brutally beyond the country’s shores. Now that the party has been rescued from its most unnecessary internecine warfare by the Hand of God, the task ahead is now well defined for the members to execute with single-minded loyalty, trust and responsibility. The party has just been afforded a second chance to live and reclaim its lost glory. In clear terms, to feel a new rhythm; a new rhythms different from the discordant, flat and monotonous rhythms of the past. A past filled with better forgotten squandering of goodwill and common heritage.

At the last Convention in Abuja, it was clearly heartwarming seeing some old faces, hitherto on the sidelines, or outrightly displaced by the gale of the immediate past, and listening to the hordes of speakers, and other enthusiasts bellowing this new rhythms. Prospective aspirants of various colorations seized the occasion and turned it into a carnival. One can feel the warmth and camaraderie from the VIP section.

Agreed the task is far greater than the rhythmic drum beats and singing, the open vaunting of ambitions and the various political rhetoric’s on display at the convention ground. But the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Markafi had synergised the party along this new melodious path. He wisely stroked the cord of the Party’s heart-beat rhythmically by declaring that there this is no victor and no vanquish between the Committee and the Senator Ali Modu Sherriff faction of the Party, thus jettisoning his earlier stand that the other faction would have to meet certain conditions before they can be re-absorbed back into the party’s fold. This is commendable and patriotic. I shall commend the same spirit to other leaders of the party’s across board, both at the federal, state and local levels.

The task ahead is mammoth, indeed very huge, but quite frankly, not insurmountable; what we all need do is put all our hands on the deck for us to achieve our major goals of reclaiming back the lost glory of the party. And at this point, one must put on notice that mere apology to Nigerians is not enough to assuage the hard feelings that followed the extravagant mismanagement and squandering of the goodwill of the original founding fathers of the party by some party officials and elective office holders. One must however note here the fact that Nigerians were truly aggrieved by the carriage and conduct of some officials of the party; and these cuts across all tiers of the party’s strata. Most of our elected officials became disconnected with the very people that produced and worked selflessly towards their elections at the general elections. Some even abandoned the leaders that produced them and tried to sabotage the system, forgetting that he who destroyed the ladder with which he got to the top might still need that same ladder on his journey down!

It is particularly disheartening noting the plethora of corruption cobwebs that has tainted some of the electoral mandate holders of the party, although this is not particularly exclusive to PDP alone, but in all the parties. My belief is that a party with the type of PDP’s pedigree ought to maintain some level of decorum and decency in public life. Also of shocking reality is the level of impunity and brigandage amongst part’s officials. Most of us elders watched in utter dismay and sore displeasure how these anti-social vices played out in the journey to the self-destruction of the party towards the last general elections. We could do little to help when the fatalities these vices planted boomeranged and the structures we spent years of hard work and sweat to build started collapsing right before our eyes. But today, I am glad that we have in our hands another opportunity to get it right once again. The Almighty God has done His part, the judiciary has done its part, now it is left for us party faithful to do our bits and we are condemned to doing it. At this point, I do not think there is much opportunity to gamble around, as the next general elections is just around the corner, with Ekiti and Osun State governorship elections coming next year and the other federal elections just few months after.

Now is the time to curb the tin-god like carriage of some party chieftains in the states. Their activities are utterly inimical to the progress and attainment of the much desired unity and cohesion in the party, and lest their activities are curbed, it will affect the party negatively and hurts its success. We need not play the ostrich in this case, no money bag can successfully prosecute an election all alone, and except all hands are on deck, we stand the risk of frittering away the opportunity to sing a new song that will be melodious to the ears of the generality of the voters. Whatever we are able to make of Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections will largely affect and determined what shall come for us in 2019. This we must always put at the back of our minds now while we continue our march to the new heights. Like I once posited before, it is still my conclusion that: PDP will rise again!

• Chief Jimilehin, a former National Publici ty Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, writes in from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.