Politics in Nigeria has degenerated so low that it is now a comfortable habitual habitat for outlaws and offers perfect legal atmosphere for pirates to ply their trade. Plato the Greek philosopher once said and I quote "one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors". I dare say that the current political situation that Nigeria find itself in now is a direct result of years of neglect. Neglect on the part of the society and its people. We have failed to care about what is going on in our country. While the opportunity for good governance waited for the real Nigerian man to take over, the Nigeriana was busy shipping his talents to Europe to help in the building of their government whilst neglecting his home. Anyway, that is a story for another day.
I often wonder why I get the shrills when I hear the pronunciation of that acronym called APC, I feel as if a cold knife is being driven through my veins each time I watch the news and the APC stories come on. But first, let me introduce myself.
I am not a particularly political individual and neither do I have an unpolitical dispensation. I am not in love with either the PDP or the APC and neither do I abhor them. I am simply a Nigerian country man expressing his heart objectively about the state of my nation. On a final note; I am not a member of any political party neither am I under the direct or indirect employment of any politician or political boot licker. Having said that, I shall go back to my analysis which frankly speaking has been carefully researched in order to deliver a perfect insight into the subject matter above.
The potentials and promises that the APC came bearing to Nigeria is great and comforting to the weary hearts of millions of Nigerians that have been praying fervently for the messiah that will lift Nigeria out of its sorry political, economic and societal state. We can not neglect the fact that our country needs serious attention especially in the leadership sector and I believe that the kind of change effect that will change the course of Nigeria needs to be one that will be performed surgically and rapidly to weed out all the root causes of the canker worms that has been eating into the very fabric that holds our country together as one indivisible nation for years.
It will be wise to differentiate the name of the political party called All Progressives Congress (APC) from the inhabitants of the political party called APC. The name in itself is harmless and it is a bringer of rains to dry lands. The name of APC in itself connotes progress, better standards of living, advancement and empowerment for the masses. It is a name that one can find succor and respite in and I am advocating that the masses should always endeavor to fly the banners carrying the acronym APC because I believe it is a healthy alternative to the present dominant political party in Nigeria; PDP.
But the only enemies that the APC have are its occupants. In this context I mean occupants to be the drivers, think tanks, financiers, representatives and implementers of the APC project and I shall strive to dwell on only a handful of them for now.
Formed in February 2013, the APC is the result of an alliance by Nigeria's four biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) merged to take on the People's Democratic Party. It has been a train of interesting events ever since the formation of the All Progressive Congress and Nigerians have been following these developments with keen interests and this has in return generated a massive number of followers to the party and as expected, a large army of critics.
I do not believe that there are enemies of one party or the other. It will suffice to dub the alleged enemies of APC with the title of critics, because just as all good things need critics to survive, the bad ones need them as well in order to keep the bad elements in check. And I dare say that APC in all it's shinning finesse has a sizable number of stained honors that it goes about brandishing in the sun.
The ragged band of individuals currently occupying positions of authority in APC are the greatest threat to its survival. The party that started out as a healthy competition to the ruling People's Democratic Party is fast becoming a shadow of itself as it has constantly soiled its grace with fierce hate campaigns currently being carried out against the Peoples Democratic Party. It's occupants have worked so hard every day and night to destroy the credibility of the party. The APC is now a topic for every gathering where brutal government opposition and malicious libels against the order of peace and transparency in the country are being discussed.
I have tried so hard to find a way to be at peace with myself with the consolation that APC can probably shine the light on some darker parts of Nigeria's road to progress and national advancement but the more I try, the more the swelling waves of inquisitiveness outweigh my heart because the name APC is synonymous to terrorism, insecurity, hopelessness and a national scam.
It is about time that APC begin to show Nigerians that their mission is to lift Nigeria to higher heights by contributing to the various levels of developmental projects currently going on in the country. It is about time they dump all the hate campaigns and baseless attacks on the Jonathan administration and start working constructively to better the affairs of our country together with the government and the citizens of this great nation. They should stop working assiduously to divide the country into pieces by embarking on a massive nationwide campaign promoting the spirit of unity and love between all the people of Nigeria if they honestly believe in the gospel of one indivisible unity, one brotherhood and one nation. Then and only then can we say the inhabitants of APC are practicing a healthy democracy.
There has been different views across the country about which political party is more people friendly, accommodating, democratic in nature between the PDP and the APC but the fact remains that the APC has come to stay alongside other existing political parties currently on ground in Nigeria and yes, it has been making a statement and gaining mass fellowship each day. That in itself is a good sign but it may as well spell doom for the party because it has been proven many times over the years that Nigerians have a gift for sniffing out the truth about a scam project and we are notorious for switching our allegiance overnight once we find out that our needs as the masses are not being meet by the supposed heroes imposing themselves on us. In view of this, it will be wise for APC to drop their hidden agendas and secret missions to undermine the country and start proving to us that they are not prophets of doom who go about in white garments on every street, market and corners with clanging bells in one hand and the holy book in the other hand to deceive the unsuspecting and innocent public with misleading and misguided information.
It is a known fact that the APC is a party that is benefiting from all the current insecurity challenges facing the country. It is thriving flourishingly on the blood of the thousands of innocents that have lost their lives to all these challenges as a result of the fact that the people are impatient with the current administration and are seeking for alternatives where there is none therefore believing in very single propaganda that the APC is selling to them - evil propagandist. It brings to mind the story of the children of Israel that carved a golden idol for themselves because of their impatience with God Almighty while He was giving the Ten Commandments to Moses on the mountain - well, we all know the end of the story.
Although we can not push aside the fact that Boko Haram has grown wings and it's now rubbing shoulders with the who is whos of the highest hierarchy in global terrorism, but the fact still remains that constant supply of nurturing, caring, planning and feeding are needed for anything to survive in this world and Boko Haram did indeed passed through these stages for it to get to where it is today. The puzzle that begs to be resolved is:
* who are the group of people that tended to Boko Haram as an infant and insignificant threat?
* why didn't we hear any news of a Boko Haram in the administration of our past leaders and;
* why did it suddenly started to wax more stronger in the PDP led administration of president Goodluck Jonathan after a highly placed individual and senior citizen in the country vowed to make the country ungovernable for the GEJ administration?
* why hasn't the APC northern elites who claimed to have the best interest of the country at heart taken any visible step to try to stem the tide of insurgency in their lands?
* who are the people gaining from the woes of terrorism in our nation?
All these are questions that begs to be answered and we shall evaluate them all in the second part of this article. Meanwhile I dare to say that I am not directly indicting the APC and his band of cohorts as the big trees behind Boko Haram but I am bold to say that there are strong and visible indicators linking them to the insurgents and I shall also start beaming my search light on the issue in subsequent parts of this article.
Thank you for your time.
God bless us all and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
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