Thursday, 18 February 2016

PDP, Ali Modu Sheriff And The Long Road To Recovery – Chinyere Akataobi


former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff,

The 2015 elections have come and gone and the fallout and aftershocks of the last elections is still reverberating across our nation’s political landscape. While the APC are still grappling with the right method to fairly share the spoils of the war which they won, the PDP is still staggering under the intense blows that the last elections gave them.

It is understandable if the party is still licking the wounds that the last elections inflicted on it but there is really no time for the party to wallow continuously in misery.

If the PDP is to have a future and position itself has a viable alternative to the ruling APC in subsequent elections, the party will have to embrace reconciliation of the warring factions who are yet to leave the party, redesigning of its internal architecture and total rebranding of the party’s image.

If you want to understand how bad the party’s image is, observe little children engage themselves in a game of the famous “monkey post” any unfair act that takes place is followed by the shouts and choruses of PDP!!!! PDP!!! PDP!!!

The position of the national chairman of the party which has been vacant for too long has made the party look like a bus without a driver, a family without parents and more so a ship without a captain.

The lack of synergy and direction in the party over the course of the last eight months has seen the party fail to really take on the obvious faults of the ruling party and the continuous internal wrangling gives you a sense of a party which is divided against itself.

Selecting Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff as its national chairman is simply another nail in the coffin of a party which once boasted that it will rule for 50 straight years. In today’s world where public perception is vital, branding is key. Alhaji Modu Sherrif adds no value to the brand of the PDP.

It was under his watch that Boko Haram grew from a small group of fanatics to the prominence which they now have in the northeast. Alhaji Modu sherrif cannot be tied to one positive event during his time as governor.

For those that scream about his clout in the grassroot in the north, the 2015 election numbers from Borno is a clear evidence of how great an asset he is (numbers don’t lie).

What PDP needs is a father figure who the governors would respect, who would play a positive role in selecting the next chairman. The PDP needs a leader who the internal factions will listen to and who has a clear vision of how the party can return to power within the next 16 years.

Some may excuse the current situation as that of a boxer who has been pummeled severely and who is still staggering in a daze of the aftermath of the punches which his opponent laid into him.
I refuse to make excuses for the party, PDP has scored an own-goal.

This article was written by Chinyere Akataobi. She tweets @prolific_jackk

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