There is a popular saying that a house divided against itself can hardly expect to stand. That, sadly, is the story of the once self-acclaimed largest political party in the whole of Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). At the peak of its vainglory, it boasted that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Steeped in that pride, it was only a matter of time before it was tipped off the edge of the precipice. It could not manage success. Worse, it has proved outrageously incapable of managing electoral setbacks.
In those days of its peacockish propensities, the PDP, regardless, had the opportunity to live up to the arrogance political power conferred on it if only it had the discipline to submit itself to the demands of democratic processes which included resisting the temptation to take the source of that power – the electorate – for granted. The party and its operatives got themselves mixed up in a dangerous combination of greed, corruption and unbridled quest for more power to the point that they lost sight of the much-needed internal cohesion. And with it, the sympathy of not just the electorate but also its own members who started fishing in other waters while still claiming to be ardent party members.
As is to be expected, what followed was an acrimonious scramble for space. Like a worm-infested apple, the rot began from within as members dubiously undercut one another just as they shifted their loyalty to other political interests. The result was the political cataclysm that led to its dethronement in 2015.
Curiously, in the opinion of this newspaper, the lesson and significance of that epoch-making, even if embarrassing, development that produced a scenario whereby a sitting government was defeated through the ballot box in Nigeria, of all places, and which ought to have been a wake-up call for the party and its leadership, was lost.
As was observable by many a political analyst, the party ran out of reliable and strong political personalities, imbued with maturity and qualities of a statesman, that would have provided a rallying point for its rejuvenation. In the ensuing confusion, the field was thrown open to all manner of political jobbers, power grabbers, rent seekers and influence peddlers who, consumed by their own inordinate ambitions, further precipitated the downward spiral.
It is rather unfortunate, in our view, that in the resultant cacophony, attention was diverted from the main issue of providing alternative viewpoints to counter the propaganda of the ruling political party. Even worse, the rabid obsession for political positions tore to shreds what was left of a once viable political machine. Due to internal dissention, the party has just lost an election it could have easily won.
Yet, in our opinion, the lesson is yet to be learnt as the party is still not able to put its acts together so as to forge a united front capable of providing for the nation an alternative democratic argument. The emergence of the Labour Party, which most people dismissed as a gathering of political neophytes without structures, but which succeeded in redefining the political system in the country, ought to serve as a warning shot to this political behemoth that boasts of structures spread across the nation that the Nigerian electorate is becoming fade up with the old order.
Still, seemingly so, that lesson is not learnt and is about to be lost by this same political party that has as members, some of the biggest politically-exposed personalities in the country endowed with stupendous war chest that is the envy of its peers. Presently, no one with the desired clout seem to be in charge to rein in the rascals and spoilers.
As a newspaper, we expect PDP to embark on a journey of self-discovery by first taking stock of events that culminated in its defeat, again. It should be for them a period of fence-mending and applying balm on sores that have become infested. This, in our view, is no time for posturing. Or for that matter, congratulatory chest-beating and self-praise to demonstrate personal relevance or lack of it.
We are persuaded to admonish PDP to learn from the mistakes of the past and rebuild its fractured structures in readiness for the role it is expected to play as an opposition party. It will not achieve much if the ongoing raucousness persists. Already, it must be realistic enough to accept that its sphere of influence within the nation’s political space is shrinking by the day. There are willing undertakers waiting in the wings should the party refuse to learn from the lessons of its own history, short as it may be.
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