Dapchi girls: Buhari’s masterstroke and PDP’s tactlessness

Opposition in participatory democracy is sine qua non to the attainment of good governance and rule of law. The absence of credible and constructive criticisms as well as lack of oversights by institutions and individuals that are statutorily charged with it could derail and stunt the growth of the internal equilibriums and templates necessary for […]

Opposition in participatory democracy is sine qua non to the attainment of good governance and rule of law. The absence of credible and constructive criticisms as well as lack of oversights by institutions and individuals that are statutorily charged with it could derail and stunt the growth of the internal equilibriums and templates necessary for the germination of democratic principles to sustain cohesion and unanimity for development. In Nigeria, opposition political parties that are supposed to provide leadership to amalgamate these principles in order to keep the ruling party on its toes have at various times been found either derelict or completely askance in the effort to ensure good governance. After sixteen years on the saddle, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has found itself on a reverse role of providing the fulcrum to give the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) the kind of positive and issues-based opposition platform, on the same trajectory and baseline which the APC had exploited when the PDP was in power. Has the PDP done a good job of it? I beg to say, without any iota of doubt, that the party has not only failed to play its role well, but has, more or less, ridiculed itself on the few occasions it had, seemingly struggled to push the embers of opposition in the country.

The Dapchi girls debacle in particular, which the PDP had cashed in on, in order to fluster the ruling APC and keep it perpetually on the defensive, provided the much needed ammunition to the opposition party. The fury and indignation expressed by Nigerians and the international community when the Chibok girls abduction happened and the way the PDP government mismanaged the post-abduction period must have informed the decision if the PDP to come out smoking when the Dapchi girls were frittered away. Understandably, the party and the motley of armchair social media attack dogs, launched an assault calling for the return of the #dapchigirls, reminiscence of the #bringbackourgirls mantra launched the world over soon after Jonathan had dismissed the Chibok girls abduction as a non-event. Of course, nobody can deny the PDP the opportunity to extract its pound of flesh, but the way and manner President Buhari had risen up to the occasion, visited Dapchi to reassure parents of his government commitment to bring back their girls and actually went to work, culminating in a successful reunion, was the masterstroke that completely jeopardized opposition elements’ design to undermine or sabotage the government in the run up to the 2019 general elections. Instead of them to eat the humble pie by the unexpected release of the Dapchi girls, congratulate the Buhari administration, as did the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and a number of respected world bodies and individuals, the rattled PDP damaged itself further by its lack of tact and adroitness. Or else, how can one describe the glee with which a top functionary of the party, a governor at that, posed with a placard with #bringbackourdapchi girls inscription without giving any thought to what becomes of it in the event that Buhari is able to free the girls.

When the world insisted on #bringbackourgirls when Jonathan mismanaged it, his best answer will have been to go all out and negotiate their release to shame his traducers, but he left the question to gather more support around the globe by his cluelessness and lackadaisical approach. Even when Buhari successfully negotiated the release of some of the Chibok girls, an action that drew the encomiums around the world, the PDP elements refused to see the inanity and absurdity of holding on to the banality and stupidity of clueless opposition. The intemperate and childish interpolation of the likes of Femi Fani Kayode and Governor Fayose and the refusal of the leaders of the PDP to rein them in casted a shadow of lack of cohesion and responsible leadership to know when to open fire to make political capital and when to shy away in order not to look excessively immodest and immature, a situation that could be more harmful in the long run and hurt any chance of bouncing back into reckoning. Situations of national calamity and disaster are periods where partisan and opposition politicking are kept aside for a subdued retrospection and national bonding, to sincerely search for solutions and provide the bastion to comfort one another. As those of us have always claimed, all the problems of Nigeria and their seeming insurmountable genre are only a function of leadership. The way and manner Buhari followed up and successfully brought the Dapchi girls back and in record time, at variance with what seemed normal during the time of Jonathan, was just a matter of leadership. It is the same way that the Buhari administration had introduced policies that have cut the nation’s $25b rice importation bills, dealt with the cankerworm of corruption which had forced a former first lady to seek for an out of court settlement, recovery of billions of dollars from looters of all color, improvement in power supply, massive rehabilitation and construction of road infrastructure in all the geo- political zones as well as the several rail line projects dotting the whole landscape of Nigeria amongst many other achievements.

One pertinent cliché that became the rallying point for the PDP and its allied likeminded associates shortly after the Dapchi girls were returned was ‘’Buhari has returned the girls he took away,’’ albeit mischievously. The essence was to connote that Buhari was, in the first place responsible for the abduction of the girls. That was the first sign that the PDP had been rattled beyond imagination by the success of the negotiations. The rattling question, in response to that cliché from the APC ‘’when would Jonathan return the Chibok girls he took away?’’ further made matters worse and complicated for the PDP.

Monguno is a Board member of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Abuja