By Kenneth Jude
First, one can't understand the fuss neither the hoopla. He stays with you, you see no good in him. He is demonised with every oomph of energy you can muster. But he was squeaky clean in your eyes when the platform made him Finance chief, then senator.
You can't do it alone, so you recruit hallelujah mob with lucre. They can't say no because of the scorchness of pocket, belly and all. So, anon, they suspend their senses for ephemeral freebies. This has become a potent tool to command unmerited loyalty.
In life, we are told to be ambitious. But the ambition shouldn't make one bay for blood. Ambition is in order when done within the precincts of decency and recourse to humanity.
But it baffles the mind when someone elects to be ambitious and he becomes, suddenly but unwarranted though, a target of dirty darts from every Tom, Dick and Harry. This however shouldn't be so in a clime where civility and respect are held high. But here, nothing, nobody is sacred so long as the palm is greezed. The Rev. Patrick Edet is one example this year.
I refer to Obong Bassey Albert (OBA for short), a member of the Red Chamber representing Uyo Senatorial District, who has exercised his fundamental human right of freedom of association. He seeks the governorship chair of Akwa Ibom State after Mr. Udom Emmanuel next year. He aspired for it on the PDP platform; the field wasn't leveled for him and others to test their might. Now, to keep faith with that quest, he has elected to leave the platform for another in order to keep his aspiration alive. But this hasn't gone down well with those who have always wanted his neck.
Of all those seeking the landlordship of Hilltop Mansion post 2022, the senator has faced the most sustained yet largely uncoordinated and clumsy vitriol from a camp that isn't at ease with his aspiration. They are unsettled by his ambition because they fear his weight and capacity. If the man was a lightweight, he won't be given any iota of attention. But when every other day, he is in the eye of a bitter storm orchestrated by people who can't imagine a serious contest that may put their days in government in jeopardy, you know he's a man to watch. Messi and Ronaldo get rough attention from opponents more than others. The reason is known.
So, they have gone bananas. Not alone, but have clamped unsuspecting youths into a forum where the bad, the very bad and insipid meals as pieces as cooked for onward distribution and wide circulation, no matter how unsavoury it taste. This is not right, but yet again, for the sake of currency, these lads have little choice. Bills are mounting. There's a hair to cut, fix. A house rent to pay. A footwear to buy. For some, up-to-the-minute fashion fad to embrace. The things to cater for are elephantine, the legal tender for execution is dwarfish.
Maybe the thinking, or shall I say belief is that one must not leave PDP whether mud is splashed on one’s face or not. In the Nigerian political firmament, political parties suffer from poverty of ideology. So, we say they are mere platforms to achieve goals. Why then should one think that to win a contest, only one party can afford one an opportunity? To think this way is wrong. Perhaps, we could have pardoned such thinking in the recent past. But the reality of today has rendered that thinking shallow, myopic.
Some say a party represents a religion. This is wishful thinking, I must hasten to add. No party is a religion, anywhere. You can say a state is known to have always had a particular party in power, but never say it's a canon. No, it's not. It's the people that make up a party. It's the people that line up to exercise their franchise, not an inanimate thing called party. If a people, transformed of mind, unanimously decide to vote for another party other than the one they've always voted for, the party will make a bold statement. So, to link a party to religion is nothing but sheer fallacy.
What a lot of dyed-in-the-wool party people have yet to come to terms with is that, Nigerians are no longer beholden to political parties. Their choices are now determined by the quality of individuals political parties put forward. What this means is that political parties who think they can present just anybody as option for the people to vote for, because of the seeming popularity of the party and not the quality of the candidate, are cocooned in fool's paradise.
Things have changed. People have grown in reasoning. The herd mentality of yore is gradually giving way to a new paradigm. People are hungrier for good governance. They now know that getting this done is not about party but individuals. When people say they'll vote for individuals, they are not ignorant of the fact that the constitution today does not provide for an independent candidate. But what they mean is that where they spot someone that they trust can lift the burden of starvation and penury off their shoulders irrespective of the political party such a person decides to push his aspiration, they'll vote for the person in massive number. This is the new normal!
It is normal that the PDP in Akwa Ibom is startled by OBA's decision to leave the party. They'll claim they knew long ago he'll toe this line, but the truth is that, they know a key member of the party has moved on. In public, they won't admit, but in their closets, they grieve.
Senator Bassey Albert is a nightmare to the PDP family and ruling government. This was clear from day one. It was his impressively massive Thanksgiving Service that led to the official anointment of Mr Umo Eno the next day. One would have thought now that OBA has left PDP for people who labelled him an integrate, for aspiring against the governor's preferred choice to pursue his aspiration, he'll be out of the misfiring line of people wielding hammer, cudgels, slings and all. But no. They have intensified effort that'll ultimately terminate in futility.
I say so because I have not seen the fan base of OBA deplete despite the arrows that have been directed his way. The vain attempts to tar him with bad brush have all fallen flat. The man has kept his eyes on the ball. Taking strategic and well calculated steps toward actualising his ambition of becoming governor. He hasn't said it's a do-or-die or that he must be governor. No. But like every other eminently qualified citizen of the state, he has a right to go ahead with his aspiration without resorting to the antiquated thinking that if it's not PDP, you cannot breathe in the state.
By next year, there'll be many options to choose from. Senator John James Akpanudoedehe is now of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP). We have Arc. Ezekiel Nya-Etok in African Democratic Congress (ADC), and others. The renewed optimism that a candidate who receives the highest number of votes and meets the constitutionally required spread, will emerge winner is driven by the reforms in our electoral system. So, what it means is that your vote will count. And the person the people massively vote for will win. No more allocation of phantom votes to undeserving people who, after enjoying such criminal benevolence, turn around to visit torture on the people.
But you can't blame them when they misfire, because their rogue mandate didn't come from the people but a greedy cabal. That is the more reason candidates who emerge from the whims and caprices of a select few, whether elderstatesmen or false claim of celestial seal must be rejected. Let leaders emerge from the choice of the people so that such a leader can be held accountable when he strays.
For OBA, this writer is of the view that he has taken a bold step, a leap of faith that many won't. There are those not happy with goings-on in the PDP today, but can't leave for fear of the unknown. But we can't be doing the same thing always yet expect different results. Until you're ready to do what is uncommon, history can't be created. A place of comfort is no place to excel. Jesus left the comfort of His Father's abode to earth to fulfil a divine mission. It's still talked about to date. You can't make omelettes without breaking eggs.
The senator has left a party some think has the clout to dwarf any other party in the state. No problem with that. It was like this before the PDP crumbled in Abuja in 2015. There's a first time to everything in life. To think he'll lose is free. But while at that, don't be deceived by making unhelpful comparisons on defections in the past. In defecting, he has not said his former party was evil or can't provide good governance with the right people, he is leaving because the party didn't provide a level playing field for him and others to push their aspiration.
Whichever party he decides to pitch his tent with, one sure thing is that his support base will remain intact. Even those flaunting the umbrella will ditch it on ballot day and vote for a man they believe will meet their needs and aspirations no matter the party. In Osun, we saw a sitting governor unseated. So, let no one talk about empty structure. The people are the structure. And on election day, the people will decide their destiny beyond blind affiliation to party.
The earlier one wakes to the emerging reality, the better. But you're also free to drive in the motorcade of delusion.
