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
