ANPP and opposition politics in Taraba

(ANPP’s Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State while delivering a key note address at this year’s-2012 LEADERSHIP Newspapers Conference in Abuja) The All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP) is unarguably the most consistent opposition party in Taraba State since the return of democratic governance in 1999 based on the remarkable political breakthroughs it has recorded through […]

(ANPP’s Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State while delivering a key note address at this year’s-2012 LEADERSHIP Newspapers Conference in Abuja)

The All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP) is unarguably the most consistent opposition party in Taraba State since the return of democratic governance in 1999 based on the remarkable political breakthroughs it has recorded through canvassing and winning massive grassroot appeal and voter confidence that enabled it posed a formidable challenge to the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) during the 1999 and 2003 (then known as All People’s Party-APP) as well as the 2007 and 2011 gubernatorial elections respectively. It is the only opposition party in the state to have fielded gubernatorial, national and state house of assembly candidates in all the 4 previously held general elections in the last 12 years.

Central to the ANPP’s overwhelming success in providing stable and credible opposition in the state is the party’s structure and machinery across all the 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state. The foresight and vision of its founding fathers and pioneering executives ensured the evolution, development and sustenance of an ideological platform that attaches premium on building a strong internal democracy upon which, the current state chairman and one-time speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Hamidu Sulaiman with the support of other executive members is religiously consolidating, guarding and improving on by giving equal opportunities to all party members especially those aspiring for elective positions.

This is the reason behind the emergence of the party as a crisis-free one and a viable alternative to the self destructive politics of “selection and imposition” that have continued to weaken the internal democracy of other parties in the state as reflected in the intra-party squabbles which use to characterize their respective pre and post primary election activities. ANPP is thus generally seen in Taraba as an embodiment of true democracy, a voice of the voiceless, an advocate of socio-economic and political justice, a promoter of good governance, a succour to the politically maltreated or marginalized and a front liner in the realm of politics of issues as championed by the likes of Mallam Aminu Kano’s Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) of the first republic and Alhaji Balarabe Musa’s Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP) of the second republic.

Sense of maturity, patriotism, flexibility and societal development has continued to guide the party’s stand on all issues affecting the peaceful co-existence and overall development of the state. Its zero tolerance for politics of bitterness or personalities for instance, had endeared the party to the generality of Tarabans and even the liberal-minded members of the other parties as exemplified by the huge support being enjoyed all these years by Hamidu Sulaiman from them (other parties) as chairman of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Taraba State.

Critics of the party in the state are more likely to point out at the failure of the party to win any of the previously held gubernatorial elections in the state as an evidence of the party’s weak level of acceptability or popularity and therefore, not a force to reckon with in Taraba’s tough terrain of party politics. To a certain extent, the viewpoint of these critics is understandable owing to the “winner takes all and looser looses all” nature of democratic government in a developing democracy/society like ours. But in broader analysis, not winning a gubernatorial, national/state assembly or LG chairmanship election is not enough reason to dismiss the party that came a close second or third as a push-over. We have seen what the opposition Congress for Progress Change (CPC) did in Nasarawa State during the 2011 gubernatorial elections after the party was virtually written off by some critics as incapable of wrestling the gubernatorial seat away from the incumbent. What if ANPP do something similar in Taraba in 2015?

Everybody knows that being in the opposition especially in our kind of democracy is pretty a difficult task due to the associated stress and deprivations; hence the appropriateness to respect and commend anyone that chooses to remain with an opposition party for the purpose of serving his people, state and country. Also, since maintaining a political party of any kind requires a regular flow of “cash patronage” by members, one needs not a magician to tell him/her that the executives and members of ANPP in Taraba are really making great sacrifices in the face of what some political economists may consider as “zero returns on investment”.

It appears that what is keeping the party going is the undying faith of the executives and members in the capacity of the party’s manifestoes to fast track the attainment of individual and collective aspirations of Tarabans once elected into power in the state. This is a feat the party is capable of achieving one day if it keeps to the advice of Gov. Kashim Shettima during the said Leadership Newspapers Conference thus; “It is possible for the opposition to become a viable alternative and it is desirable for me as an opposition member (within national context). The political opposition has far too long, been weak, fractious and easily divided: this is because it is very difficult for many politicians to survive without the patronage which comes from government. But it is precisely when we work with dogged commitment to principles that we can then find the viability to be seen as serious challengers for power, I mean power to work for people and not our turn to chop.”

Zongre, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Yerima Bappa Sanda Road, Turaki ‘A’ Ward, Jalingo, 08067771017, [email protected]