Will Nwodo do Jonathan’s bidding?

By DAUDA NDAKENE
Posted: Sunday, July 4, 2010

Obviously, not many Nigerians see the confirmation of Dr Nwodo, the new PDP chairman, as a sign of new things to come in Nigeria political landscape. This is not unconnected with the fact that appointments of such nature always come with agendas that are mutually exclusive to serve the interest of the ruling elite in the corridors of power. Whatever, there are always three sides to a story: my side, your side, and the truth; my lecturer, days back in school would say.

 From 1999 to date, we have had 6 PDP Chairmen; not one of them left voluntarily or resigned without an option of either to fight and live to tell the story or lives honourably to save his or her political career, so to say. just name it, starting from Solomon Lar to Barnabas Gemade,  Audu Ogbeh, Vincent Ogbulafor, and finally Dr.Okwesilieze Nwodo.

Glaringly, it has always been a case of someone coming in to salvage a presumed internal political quagmire in the party, or put differently, someone to do the biddings of the cabal in the power circle.

While Solomon Lar and Barnabas Gimade’s reasons for leaving were shrouded in secrecy, the cases of their counterparts were quite different. In the case of Audu Ogbeh, one of the most flamboyant PDP chairman Nigerians had ever seen. When his era as the PDP Chairmen was coming to an end, he found himself in a political wilderness; he was left with the options of choosing between his erstwhile boss, the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar and the former president, Olusegun  Obasanjo. As of then, Obasanjo’s third term project needed the political blessings of Audu Ogbeh which he refused to be generous with. This infuriated Obasanjo.As expected, Audu Ogbeh’s exit became, so to speak, a predictable certainty, thus paving the way for the “garrison commander”, Colonel Ahmadu Ali.

Apparently, it was during the tenure of Colonel Ahmadu Ali that the party in its bid to force its third term agenda on the party’s stalwarts, that the party became riddled with godfatherism, corruption, nepotism, power grabbing tendencies by all means, to mention but a few. A practice that is contrary to the ethics of modern democracy, so it was reported, became an article of faith in the reigning PDP.

Stunned by the reality of the impending doom that awaits the party, our late President Yar’adua decided to organize a special national convention, since the Ahmadu Ali-led PDP in collaboration with Obasanjo’s garrison politics imposed candidates on the party for almost all elective offices. Sanitizing the whole of PDP became palpable; a new mentality and the party’s politicking as well as electioneering must be changed.

So, purging the party of its do-or-die mentality which appeared to be the hallmark of the Ahmadu Ali led PDP ushered in Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, a man political pundits called “the apostle of 60 years uninterrupted PDP reign” As it were, Ogbulafor inherited a highly polarized PDP where many members were denied access to its leaders not to talk of having a say in the affairs of the party. On the insistence of the late President YarAdua,Ogbulafor led-national working committee called for reconciliation, led by Dr. Alex Ekwueme, to address the grievances of the aggrieved party members which had almost torn the party apart.

Quite typical of Nigerian political scenario,   some of the fundamental recommendations of Dr.Ewueme’s reports threw up a groundswell of opposition amongst   Obasanjo supporters. This is not unconnected with the fact that the BOT chairmanship Obasanjo and his allies craftily cornered to themselves was tampered with. This and other latent political factors coupled with the crisis that characterized the appearance and disappearance of the late ailing President YarAdua placed Ogbulafor in the bad books of Jonathan and his supposed allies.

Clearly, Ogbulafor’s actions and inactions were suggestive, to borrow a leaf from Shakespeare’s famous play Macbeth that Ogbulafor had  murdered sleep and, of course, Ogbulafor will sleep no more. Amidst Ogbulafor’s battle for political survival, the Governor Forum promised to rally round Ogbulafor to protect him from the poisoned tentacles of his political enemy, only to chicken out at the eleventh hour, when a new political arrangement meant to take care of the their political interests was agreed upon; evident in the surprise nomination of Governor Namadi Sambo to fill the vacant vice-president seat.

   The one-time governor Forum consensus candidate fell dramatically like a pack of cards and today Dr. Okwesilieze  Nwodo is now the new PDP chairman of the most populous party in West Africa. Now, that brings us to the fundamental question: will Nwodo do Jonathans biddings? Or put more appropriately, whose biddings will Nwodo do? Is it the Governors’ Forum who have found the magnetism of power so sweet as to quit, or Jonathan and his foot soldiers that are beginning to find relinquishing power to the North come 2011, based on the gentleman’s agreement entered into by the party’s stakeholders, as a mirage? What about the Maradonic general, IBB that is reported to be busy plotting his way back to the coveted Aso villa hot seat? Also, what about the grand master of politics, Atiku Abubakar?

   As the saying goes he who pays the piper calls the tune. As usual, pundits expected Jonathan to nominate    that person that will reflect the ideas and vision of its leader who in this case happened to be Jonathan. However, Nwodo, in his post- inauguration speech, perhaps based on the same visible excuses the leader’s of the party always give before its predecessors were removed,  promised to lead a party that will eschew corruption, and have great respect for internal democracy and due process. The chairman, undoubtedly, seems to be accepting the fact that all was not well in the party. If you asked me whether the chairman is really sincere in his speech, I would say not quite.

 From 1998 to date, it has always been the same old song, perhaps with different meaning. Glaringly, the party’s favourites individuals are either selected or unduly sponsored by the party chieftain to contest elections; they never really prepare for it. The non-liberalization of the political field has more often than not led to the emergence of opportunist, self-seeking individuals and mediocres as the representatives of the party.

    For instance, the late political iron man of Ibadan politics was reputed for anointing and sponsoring candidates for election at the three tiers of government. This he did in defiance of an existing internal democracy. Not only that, the party lost election in some states purposely for imposing unpopular candidates who never won the primaries. This is evident in the case of River State where a sitting governor was deposed by the court; the man who won the primaries was given the position. So, even with the reform, the party is still a motley group of power mongers, without any ideology, clear-cut programme or policies that will rebound to the well-being of the masses.

    The question now is, with the emergence of a new chairman, will the party, once again, continue with the trade of imposing unpopular candidates on the masses? Aminu Masari, a member of PDP reform forum, believed to be speaking for Jonathan, ones argued that “why should a governor solely decide the fate of every aspirant in his state? Clearly, a negation of internal democracy” Whatever the case may be,Dr.Nwodo, has a daunting ,if not intimidating, task to accomplish; because taking over party that is merely democratic in name, but harbour all sort of undemocratic practices put to question, his ability to bring the much needed sanity the party require at this critical moment.

    The recent failed attempt by the members of the PDP reform forum to wrestle away control of the party from the state Governors met a brick wall; the party’s national executive committee blatantly threw out the reform’s agenda. Beyond the furore however, is can Nwodo withstand the pressure to discard the PDP zoning arrangement?  The constitution of the party unequivocally states in section 7[2], “that rotation and zoning will be part and parcel of the party’s operation.”

     Whichever way, neutralizing the perceived political enemies in the party will definitely be a hard battle to fight. This is not far from the fact that public opinion, especially in Nigerian political context, does not necessarily translate into political reality. Quite all right, Jonathan could be brainy; so is his strategists no doubt, but it remains to be seen how well prepared he is when he faces a grand master of politics, the Maradonic general and their battle-tested political  soldiers, with eight years of experience in political combat.

     Well, political pundits will always say, Nigerian political scenario could be unpredictable; the likes of IBB could meander through the political space with the dexterity of football legend Maradona, but we must not forget that Jonathan has one thing going for him. The nomination of Nwodo was single-handedly carried out by him. With the national Identity Card scandal still hanging on Nwodo’s head like a sword of Damocles, it is either he does the biddings  of Jonathan  or risk touring the path of his predecessor.   Anyway, whichever way, underestimating Jonathan’s political skills, will certainly be   politically disastrous.