by Timothy Godson
For more than 10 months after it lost a historic election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was transfigured from the renowned ‘lion of Africa’ into a sleeping lion.
The PDP after losing the March 28 presidential election where its candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan lost to candidate of the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, was so battered by the defeat that many of its members began to jump ship to the APC even before the hand-over date, May 29, 2015.
Many PDP members who were bereft of political ideology gave all manner of excuses ranging from impunity, lack of internal democracy, Hawks have hijacked the party, darkness has enveloped the party among others as reasons they defected to the new bride the APC.
Yes, they lacked political ideology because when a man’s house is on fire, he never runs away, but seeks for means on how to quell the fire. But these fair-weather friends were just jumping ship and throwing all manner of mudslings against a party that brought them to limelight.
The gale of defections that hit the once largest political party in Africa was so unprecedented that it left the party in a state of “odindu onwu ka nma” (an Igbo adage literarily meaning- it’s better dead that alive).
The PDP’s tremendous defeat at that last general election left it an orphan with just a handful of lone but consistent voices in the wilderness.
Kudos to these three musketeers- Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP’s embattled national publicity secretary and erstwhile Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
They led the pack of loyal-to-the-core partymen, who ensured the opposition PDP get at least a fair share of media space to shaping narratives particularly in the mainstream media.
While they did this, another band of young party faithfuls, and sympathizers of the PDP also ensured that they gained a fair share of the social media space. To this band, their vociferousness on the super information highway, against the ills, flip-flops of the current administration won them the historic brand name #WailingWailers. No thanks to my ‘Oga at the top’ and Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina.
At the last count, I was reliably informed that the PDP Social Media Think Thank ably led by the boisterous Deji Adeyanju is still ‘giving out forms’ to millions of youths who would shape the narrative that will see the PDP give the ruling APC a run for their money come 2019 general election.
Only Adeyanju could tell what the exact number of #WailingWailers stands at at the moment in their data base.
However, at the national front, the PDP was a sleeping lion, not until former Political Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, took necessary actions that woke this sleeping lion from its 10 months slumber.
Precisely on January 27, 2016, Gulak convened a press conference inside the National Working Committee (NWC) Hall of the party’s national secretariat, where he declared himself the substantive PDP chairman.
Gulak had said that it became imperative to take over the leadership of the party following the court order of December 16, 2015, which asked the party to name someone from the North-East to replace Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, who resigned as the party’s chairman, following the defeat of the party at the last general elections.
Mu’azu’s tenure is billed to expire next month.
That dramatic step taken by Gulak, a political strategist to the core, is today, undoubtedly, the morale booster that woke the sleeping PDP from its sleep.
Fast forward to the emergence of ex-Bornu Governor, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff.
There has been political in-fighting since Sheriff emerged as PDP substantive chairman, pending when the tenure of Mu’azu expires next month.
The party’s stakeholders who have bared their minds on why Sheriff should stay put or not, have their valid points. But one thing remains that, both the proponents and opponents of Sheriff must give kudos to Gulak.
Had he not taken that bold step to declare himself the chairman of the party, God knows if the party would sleep till 2019, and even beyond.
Infact, Gulak’s action has thrown at us, names and voices that we ordinarily thought were permanently dead on issues of national importance. This is indeed a welcome development, given the voices that have expressed mixed feelings over Sheriff’s emergence as the party’s chairman.
Therefore, looking at the recent happenings in the country, since the ruling APC took over nine months ago, one can only urge party faithfuls who have remained in the party against all odds, to sheathe their swords but resolve their differences amicably.
The report of the Senator Ike Ekweremadu led Post-2015 Election Assessment is also key in addressing the random musings and beat of war drums by political actors in the party.
Now that Gulak woke the sleeping lion, is it not imperative that the woken lions, lionesses, as well as their cubs, resolve their disputes amicably?
One, for the sake of saving our nascent democracy from sliding into dictatorship and two to forestall a one-party state where healthy political rivalry is amiss.
If not for the opposition voices, the scandalous 2016 budget would have scaled through the National Assembly and giving assent to by the President. This alone is one achievement that underscores the importance of a virile opposition in a democracy like ours.
Once, again, there is need to give Gulak some cannon shots for sounding the cannon shots that woke the sleeping lion from its slumber.
Timothy Godson is a political commentator. He lives and works in Anambra State.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
