Imo PDP and the road to hell

Ohakim

Araraume

Chris Anyanwu

Kpaduwa

By COLLINS Ughalaa

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State may implode before the primary election. I have strong feelings about this. I have talked about the PDP imploding before the 2015 elections and said that such implosion would cost the party the much needed 2015 governorship election. But recent developments in the party have shown that the implosion may happen quicker that I had prophesied. The party may implode just before the primary. Yes, that is how quick it can happen. The party, from the look of things is sitting on a keg of gun powder and what we are waiting for is the slightest ignition, the least contact with friction or fire or any such thing that can cause the implosion. It is not as if the ingredients for the implosion are scarce, no; they are in quantum supply, and we have them in excess. The supply is more than the demand, as the economists would say. The only reason the party has not imploded so far is the tiny thread that is holding the party. And this fall will be worse than that of 2011, because it will reverberate all over the country, that PDP, the once glorious party, has fallen, like Babylon The Great.

The PDP should hold on to the tiny thread and ensure it does not cut; ensure that it is not stretched to the limits; ensure that the thread is not held on loosely. But I am afraid. I am afraid that the PDP may let this tiny thread cut; sorry, the PDP will cut this tiny thread and disgrace all of us. For one, the PDP is not behaving like a party that was forced to play the opposition for a period of four years. The party seems to be unconscious of the fact that it is an opposition party and that it is facing a formidable candidate from the All Progressives Congress (APC) who is the Governor of the state, and who has the masses following him. The PDP is behaving like soldiers drinking and dancing in the face of a fierce battle, just like in the days of Noah when men were drinking and getting married, ignoring the warning from Noah and the impending destruction of the world. They did not mind what Noah said to them. They did not care that their world was about to be destroyed; and they continued to enjoy, to get married, and perhaps insult Noah and call him all sorts of name. But they couldn’t stop the impending destruction of their world. God did not continue to tolerate them, and he wasted no time in destroying that world. And they all perished, save Noah and his family and some animals.

As it is now, about 19 aspirants have picked their nomination and expression of interest forms. This is a reduction from the more than 26 aspirants that were in the media space for some months now claiming to be running for the governorship of the state under the PDP. We knew some of them were pretenders. And they have bowed out after enjoying the euphoria and after some people have addressed them as His Excellency. And perhaps they will continue to enjoy this title. That is what we see in our clime. If you want to be addressed as Honourable, no matter how dishonourable you are, buy some drinks and some meat pie and call friends and announce to them over the drink and the meat pie, that you are running for the governorship or the presidency or the Senate or the House of Reps; and the next thing you see is that they will begin to address you as Hon; His Excellency, etc,etc, etc.

As at my last count the following persons have picked their forms and are set to fight for the party’s ticket; set to tear down the party’s umbrella: Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, Prof. Jude Njoku, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Hon Bethel Amadi, Chief Charles Onyeagbako, Chief Humphrey Anumudu, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, Lady Clara Njoku, Chief Charley Amanze, Engr. Emma Ojinere, Chief Chris Brown, Chief Charles Onuoha, Dr. Ngozi Olehi, Chief Ken Ojiri, Barr. Ken Njemanze, Benjamin Nzimako and Chief Mike Ahamba SAN.

These are heavy men and they are set to scatter and leave the party breathless, all in the mad race for the governorship. No party can house these big men and escape an implosion. It will take only an act of God to keep off the implosion. 19 aspirants is too much for the PDP in Imo State; it is an unnecessary number, and this shows how ill prepared the party is for the daunting task ahead. If the party is thinking of winning the governorship election in the state in 2015the 19 aspirants it has for the primary election is unnecessary. The party does not need it. How can 19 elephants fight without pulling down the house, without destroying the platform? How do you get 19 men to lock horns without the house collapsing? How do you house 19 powerful men in one umbrella without tearing the umbrella? That is the matter with the PDP now; their blessing has become their curse.

But how do men change their own blessing to become a curse? How do men change their advantage to disadvantage? How do men make their strength become their weakness? That is what the PDP has done, and by this reckless action they have placed themselves on the ugly road to perdition, on the road to hell. And hell does not hold any sweet experience. The Christians, not the Bible, say it is a place of torment, anguish and gnashing of the teeth.

I had expected the state chairman of the party, Barr Nnamdi Anyaehie, to come up with a position on the number of those aspiring to contest the governorship election. I had expected that the party should have said “this is our position as far as the election is concerned”. I had hoped that the leadership of the party in the state would come up with a policy direction on what to do to get the state from the APC. Alas! I don’t think the party has a programme. It appear to me that the party has left every strategy and programme to winning back the state to the aspirants, and once a candidate emerges, you would see that the party is grossly ill prepared for the outcome. This is why the party is left only with the carcass after every election. That is why the party is always rebuilding and never held intact. That is why Mr. A leaves the party today and returns to contest an election every four years. And it is my opinion that Barr Anyaehie is leading the party to hell. He might be a good leader; he might be democratic; he might be the legal and legitimate leader; he might be trusted; but as far as the election is concerned, I don’t see any programme coming from him yet, except that he has been singing around that he would provide level playing ground for all. And to the best of his ability he has done this. He has not stopped anybody from contesting; that is democratic enough. He has welcomed those who have returned to the party. That is fair enough. He has not discriminated against anybody. That is wonderful. But are these enough strategies to keep the party? I am afraid. Are these excellent strategies to win the election and avoid the impending implosion? I think a hell no!

Every leader who has a mandate to deliver must have some level of autocracy in his democracy. He must do the extraordinary. What is more important is the success he records. For example, in the press there is a rule that a newspaper is not produced by a committee. There is always one person whose responsibility it is to produce the newspaper, and he has a deadline. He must do all he can to make sure that he produces a newspaper that is good, that can compete in the market and serve the society. This person is called the Editor. It is his job to produce the newspaper; and if the newspaper were to be produced by a committee the Editor would have to seek the opinion of every member of the committee on every item for publication. This is the reason it is also said that there is no democracy in a newsroom.

If Anyaehie wants to be a nice man, if he wants to provide a level playing ground for all contestants – that is fair and democratic – but he should understand that that will also put the party on the road to perdition. My findings show that Anyeahie has not called a meeting of all the aspirants. There is no agenda for a consensus candidate. All the candidates are allowed to pursue their aspirations and I bet that what this freedom will lead to is implosion.

But why the level playing ground mantra? How many of the aspirants are ready to compete in a level playing ground? What Anyaehie is providing is what many of the aspirants loathe. They don’t want a free and fair election, and it is needless making that a policy. What the aspirants want is that they want to emerge the candidate of the party and the only way many of them want to do that is to bend the rules. Bend the rules they must, to clinch the ticket of the party. Nothing shows the bitterness that is brewing in the party among the aspirants and the impending implosion more than the delegates’ election that was conducted on Saturday. That election has brought to the fore the fear of an implosion in the PDP. Reports show that in Imo State the election did not hold in many places yet there are results from those places where the elections did not hold. There are reports of aspirants fighting each other. There are reports of aspirants hijacking the results sheets and running away with them. There were all kinds of intrigues, and that is what to expect in family that lacks organization, in a family where everyone is big. I have said before that the PDP is populated with people with big ego and it is this big ego that is leading the party on the road to perdition.

In a party that is organized, where there is unity and sanity, the likes of Ken Ojiri would have been prevailed upon to withdraw from the race. In a party where the members are serious about their mission, the likes of Chief Charles Onyeagbako would have been prevailed upon to drop his aspiration; after all they say that the interest of the party is supreme. And who determines what the interest of the party is? You cannot determine the interest of the party and push it forward when you are led by the people that only cut the snake by the tail. Only people that are pragmatic leaders stamp their feet and say what the interest of the party is and they go on to propagate it, and by the time you say good morning it would hank sank into the consciousness of the people, and they will follow. And it will become a culture, a way of life, and then you achieve.

Yes, the like of Dr Kpaduwa, though a man of vision and great experience, would have been prevailed upon by the leadership of the party to withdraw. In fact, the party should have since come up with a programme of having a consensus candidate. And if the party had taken that position, the number of aspirants would have been reduced. Yes, the like of Chief Jerry Chukwueke would have been asked to withdraw. It doesn’t not matter how rich you are. On the other hand, the leadership of the party would have come up with an elimination process where aspirants are asked to pick lots. That would have reduced their number. And the party would have been safer, better.

And as it is now, the life of the party has gone out of the hands of the state chairman. It is no more for him to give life to the party. There is very little he can do because it appears he is surrounded by men to whom he cannot say no. He seems to be the kind of person that says yes to all the aspirants because he wants to provide a level playing ground. It is up to Mr. President and the national leadership of the party to take actions to save the party from implosion. The President and the national leadership of the party should not sit on the fence. They should do something quickly because the life of Imo PDP is in their hands. They should summon a meeting of all aspirants and have a consensus candidate. That is the only medication that can keep the PDP alive. And it is no more in the hands of the state leadership of the party. Abuja should anoint a candidate and let the other back him.

And the way the Imo PDP is, there can never be a free and fair primary election. The aspirants have demonstrated this and we have got their message. If the PDP goes into a primary election the way it is now, it cannot come out of it. The only thing we will see is the implosion; we will see the carcass of the party lying by the way side.