APC needs better storytellers

It’s no secret that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is going through what some call a healthy implosion, which others define as an identity crisis. The solution to PDP trauma, some say, can only be resolved by an electoral defeat, to allow PDP time to return to its senses, if it ever had one.And that […]

It’s no secret that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is going through what some call a healthy implosion, which others define as an identity crisis. The solution to PDP trauma, some say, can only be resolved by an electoral defeat, to allow PDP time to return to its senses, if it ever had one.
And that obviously suggests a victory for the opposition. But it will not come on a platter as the APC thinks. Last week, APC chieftains, including Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Amosun, Ibrahim Shekarau, Kanti Bello, Nasir el-Rufai, Sunday Dare and not the least, Lai Mohammed have all been talking about the fallow fortunes of their party. Kanti Bello specifically said winning the northwest was a “walkover”. Can that be true if the party just sits on its hands?
APC has a crisis of its own. Many have argued that APC must shake off the heresies of cult-heroism and approach politics properly by accepting full internal democracy itself. APC is already perceived as a Muslim party, for which northern Christians are vehemently opposed to its existence, their partnering with the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, notwithstanding. The big fish from the South-west Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola are both Muslims and even if the seven rebellious governors of the PDP were to join the APC the Muslim badge will not go away. Mark you, “Alhaji” Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and “Sheikh” Rochas Okorocha, the “Hausa-Igbo” ruling Imo state don’t change matters.
Those are hardly good credentials for a party that is seeking to dislodge the PDP. One would have expected the APC to start fighting fire with better fire and offer better policies and reforms than just brandish old horses. What for example will they do to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians? How differently will they handle ASUU? How will they cajole Boko Haram? What about poverty and unemployment? These are more virile issues than saying that Buhari is the only Nigerian who can eradicate corruption. Those who said the same thing about the late Umaru Musa Yaradua were eventually saddled with Goodluck Jonathan – man proposes, God disposes.
Regardless of what policies APC would offer or what philosophical Northern Star they might follow, one thing the APC could definitely use is better politicians who can fly as alternatives to Muhammadu Buhari. Mallam Aminu Kano’s following remained strong and deep even today, because he groomed others to bear the PRP torch. Abubakar Rimi, Balarabe Musa, Sule Lamido, Sabo Bakin Zuwo were all tailor-made alternatives to Mallam who himself was a really good politician with sound convictions and timeless principles.
Contrast Mallam with Waziri Ibrahim (remember politics without bitterness?). Ibrahim was every bit a principled man, and wealthy; but Aminu Kano was by far a better politician. That’s, at least, partly why in 1979, Waziri Ibrahim, in spite of siring the NPP and GNPP shrunk to only Gongola and Borno States, while Mallam, with his meagre resources won in Kano and Kaduna. It didn’t matter to Mallam what political philosophy one held dear, he won the hearts of moderates, independents and conservatives. While Mallam’s disciples are all over the place, there is not a single soul in Nigeria today playing politics without bitterness.
To walkover the PDP anywhere, the APC needs a thousand Muhammadu Buharis. Muhammadu Buhari alone can’t save the country, because a man does not make a forest. Unfortunately, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you go into elections with the politicians you have, not the politicians you want. So the question isn’t how to find more Buharis but how to make more Buharis in the APC. So what should the APC do? One remarkably simple answer is: Find better stories to tell.
As the catastrophe that hit the PDP continues to unravel the APC must embrace this window of opportunity to spread its tentacles and seek soldiers on horses, local champions, who can carry the narrative beyond Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna and Kano. The APC must discontinue embellishing the infighting in the PDP, because parties thrive when their crises are in the media. Worse, many of the stories we continue to hear are old brittle dogma. Nigerians already know their Judases, and are seeking alternatives. This is a big problem for APC. For roughly all of human history, nearly all of human wisdom was passed by word of mouth.

Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, <[email protected]>;