Nigeria needs a third force against PDP, APC —Former presidential aide

Dr Olusanya Awosan, a Public Relations Consultant and a scholar in Religious Ethics and Civic Virtues, served as Special Assistant on Public Relations to former President Goodluck Jonathan. He speaks on the last Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention, the recent gale of endorsements for President Muhammadu Buhari to seek re-election and why a third force should emerge in the political circle. Excerpts:

YOU were at the PDP National Convention as a member of its Publicity Committee; can you share your experience, because people have been reacting differently to it?

Let me first of all say that we have to appreciate the fact that the PDP was able to hold the convention. We can consider it an achievement for the party, considering the inaction on the part of APC. At best today, APC is a grave yard of confusion and inactivity. The convention is a pointer to the fact that there is a lot of strength in the party, even though this strength seems to have been hijacked, misdirected and now it has now produced “Fuji House of Commotion.” In that respect, it is my opinion that the process that led to the election of officers of the party and indeed the outcome of the election itself has drawn the hands of the clock back for the party in terms of meeting the contemporary expectations of Nigerians. So as it is today, PDP is not in good hands.

Nigeria is a country of many nations and for any party to be able to galvanise the support of citizens across board, such political party must be sensitive to the yearnings and aspiration of the ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria as a country. Clearly in the last convention of the PDP, this was not done. Those who hijacked the control of the party through acute heavy financial misdirection and infantile rascality, in the period leading to the convention, did not reason beyond foisting on the party their preferred leadership. This they did without considering its possible negative implication on the fortunes of the party. The way the South-West was treated was very unfortunate and I think those who orchestrated this did it because of their own naked selfish interest. They did not consider the overall interest of the party. And you will remember that General Ibrahim Babangida, shortly before the convention itself, warned seriously against heavy monetisation of the process and that was what happened. People compromised in the face of enormous money and the process leading to the election was tailored to arrive at a pre-conceived end. All these are clear indications that the party has really not learnt much.

It was learnt that the party, before the convention, zoned the chairmanship to the South-West and from what happened thereafter, is it that the South-West did not strategise well-enough? 

It was not a matter of not strategising well; it was a case of betrayal and infantile rascality. The betrayal involved some members within and without. Many elected members from the South-West, both party officials and parliamentarians at the national and state levels traded off the collective aspirations of the South-West on the altar of Naira. Many also became short-sighted by inordinate ambition and greed. My take is that the Yoruba nation should be very careful about the type of people being elected to political positions across parties. There are many prodigal sons and daughters around.

How do you want to react to the role of Governor Wike in all these and especially his alleged attack on the contribution of South-West to PDP?

Wike was not the only one who attacked the South-West; some principal officers of the National Assembly at a meeting held to ‘buy and sell’ also behaved in that manner.

On Wike, well he had a candidate and he was campaigning for his candidate; only that he should have exercised some restraint and recognised that after election you will need everybody. Leadership needs a lot of emotional capacity. No one can be an effective leader without high emotional capability. His confrontational rhetoric was totally out of place. He had the support of Governor Ayo Fayose.

You will remember that these two brought Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, which caused the party so much problems that nearly swallowed the party.

But what do you think would have been responsible for the South-West losing the chairmanship seat, was it because those who were contending for power in the South-West did not campaign enough to secure the backing of the delegates or is it because the zone refused to pick a consensus candidate among them?

Whatever might be the error or miscalculation of those who aspired to be the chairman of the party, the overall interest of Yoruba nation should have been paramount. Our people would say, if you do not eat the yam because of the palm oil, you would eat the yam because of the salt used to season the yam. I think a number of those presently representing us on the PDP platform are not the best to so do. Their vision and aspirations are at variance with the Yoruba culture and aspirations. They do not represent the rich cultural and socio-ethical heritage brought to us by our hero progenitors.

What is your take on the reconciliation efforts?

About all this reconciliation, they can only reconcile with the PDP members in the South-West. It is very doubtful if they would be able to reconcile with South-West voters. I must also point out that some of elected parliamentarians in the South-West became agents for distributing money to compromise the system. They became agents of those who were contesting for chairmanship position against the South-West. That is not in our character. These people did not represent us culturally and you will agree with me that with the situation we are in the country today, the clamour for restructuring here and there, every ethnic nationality needs people who will not betray its collective struggle.

The fears that people have about Uche Secondus is that he may be readily manipulated by the governors, because they see him as not being firm to be put in that position, having steered the ship of the party in an acting capacity. What do you think?

Good luck to them. All I know is that you can’t give what you don’t have and only the deep can call to the deep.

What is the way forward for the PDP ahead of 2019?

I am interested in the way forward for Nigeria. I am interested in how we can restructure Nigeria and get the best for all.

What do you think will be the alternative for the South-West?

What I would advise people to do at this juncture now is to disregard political platforms and go for that individual that has the pedigree and the antecedents in terms of performance. People should look for a man of character, knowledge, wisdom and unflinching commitment to a society where we can all live as human beings. We should go for people who are not ‘money-miss-road,’ not stupendously wealthy individuals with no record of working anywhere.  We need accomplished professionals, dutiful public servants, traders and business people with flair for leadership and who desire to change the present empty change of herdsmen; people  brought up by crooked political  arrangements. We have reached the point for a Third Force to emerge against the PDP and APC as they are presently fabricated. There are individuals in the two parties who should be thinking along this Third Force line. This should be the real amalgamation for real change; an amalgamation for restructured Nigeria on the basis of justice, peace and unity.

If you have the opportunity to advise Secondus, what advice would you give him to enable him to run the party well to make it return to power in 2019? 

He should first of all understand that as history changes, human institutions must change accordingly and the time we are is a precarious time. The leadership of every political party must strive to be humane, humble and willing to accept that he or she is wrong whenever he or she has gone wrong. All have sinned and come short of glory of God. So there must be repentance. If genuinely he can prove critics wrong, he can prove people like us wrong by his activities, but none of the kind of thinking that Yoruba will get juicy positions. Nigerians are tired of corruptive tendencies. What Nigerians are looking forward to are people who will be able to combine the centrifugal forces to advance the cause of nationhood. People are doubtful of Secondus because of those that are behind him. Those who are behind him have invested enormous resources, including financial resources, are they going to allow him to be objective and focused?

Some people are already endorsing Buhari for a second term in office ahead of the 2019. What is your reaction to this?

First of all let me speak about the person of Buhari, I want to congratulate him so far that he has stood out among the political class. There is nothing negative that you can directly link to him, though the people around him are helping themselves. But you see, generally, the world we live in today has become a knowledge-driven entity; information and ideas are critical. It is not enough for you to be a good person; it is important for you to be a good person, but such a person that would lead any nation successfully must not only be physically fit, he must be intellectually competent and must be emotionally capable. You see, the water of life is very deep, only the deep can draw from it. Go and see anywhere in the world where government is doing well, the number one person is not just a driver but a knowledgeable driver. Nigeria needs a knowledgeable driver now; the challenges of today are enormous. It is not about whether you like Buhari or you don’t like Buhari. I like Buhari as a person, but I think by 2019, we should be thinking of a leader who is intellectually strong, emotionally balanced, who is deep, not just a good driver, but a knowledgeable driver. President Buhari would do us a lot of good and write his name in the golden book of history if he chooses to go the way of Mandela. President Buhari must go the way of Mandela, but he must use his integrity to ensure that the process leading to the election of a new president in 2019 has as much integrity. Everyone clamouring for second term for Buhari is doing so because of his/her selfish interest.

Look, there are professors who can no longer teach in universities because their time has passed, but they are behind the scenes helping the system. I doubt if Prof Aluko were to still be alive, he would still want to teach in the Economics Department of a university; he would not want to. Not because he is not a guru; he was a first class brain, but there is an elastic limit and beyond elastic limit, there is a breaking point. So, it is not a question of whether someone likes Buhari or not; by 2019, time should be totally up for a leader like President Buhari. I personally like Buhari to some extent, but it would not be in the interest of this nation for him to go for a second term in office.

Mandela had every reason in this world to have contested for a second term, but because of the interest and stability of the country and the growth of his party, he chose to step down. Look, a good actor leaves the stage when the ovation is louder. Now that the ovation is not even there for President Buhari, he should quit the stage come 2019. That is my take.