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Tag: implosion

  • APC: Will implosion happen?

    •Fasanmi, Okorie, others identify selfish interests as motives

    All Progressives Congress (APC) Chaiman Adams Oshiomhole has opened talks with the breakaway ‘Reformed-APC’ to pull the brakes on their likely defection from the party. Will he succeed? BUNMI OGUNMODEDE, EMMANUEL OLADESU, RAY MORDI, LEKE SALAUDEEN AND MUSA ODOSHIMOKE write on the turmoil in the ruling party, which some leaders have described as a storm in a teacup.

    It is not beyond expectation. Many analysts have predicted it. The potential defectors are only bidding their time. The formation of the ‘Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) on Wednesday became the first critical step to an imminent defection. But, will it lead to an explosion?

    The game is on. Neither of the two sides – the mainstream APC, led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and the faction, led by Buba Galadima, knows where it will end. Galadima, former Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has been threatening fire and brimstone. But, Oshiomhole has been conciliatory, urging the aggrieved chieftains to halt the rebellion and resume negotiations that will lead to reconciliation.

    Galadima is not the main person behind the show. He is acting the scripts of some powerful and influential stalwarts, including Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal.

    However, some of their complaints are unfounded. Galadima has alleged that Oshiomhole’s election by affirmation amounted to fraud. He explained that the Convention Committee Chairman, Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State, only conducted a “Yes vote” and neglected the corresponding  “No vote”. It is a strange complaint. His colleague in the internal opposition business, Kawu Baraje, was at the convention. He did not raise an eyebrow. Instead, the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) leader hailed Badaru for a job well done.

    Also, Saraki and Dogara had no objection to the process that produced Oshiomhole. They hailed the peaceful conduct and called for unity and cohesion in the party.

    Last month, the nPDP leaded tested the waters. He fired salvos at President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that his government has sidelined his members. He complained about the lack of a sense of belonging.

    A prominent nPDP member and former Nasarawa State governor, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, objected to what he described as the tissue of lies. He pointed out that, in this dispensation, nPDP members are serving as governors, ministers, federal and state legislators, ambassadors, chairmen and members of boards.

    Since Adamu has resolved to ‘stand with’ the President, his former co-travellers in the nPDP have turned the heat on him in and outside of parliament.

    The phased programme of defection has motives. The major objective is to cripple Buhari’s government, whip up sentiments and bring the ruling party to ridicule through sustained propaganda.

    But, the victims are Nigerians. Although, the APC commands the majority in the Red and Green Chambers, this has never translated into cordial relations between the legislature and the executive. Some presidential nominees were rejected during screening by the parliament, to the consternation of President Buhari.

    The recurrent delays in the passage of budgets have also underscored the gulf and the frosty relationship between the two organs of government.

    The Presidency is always blaming the parliament for things improperly done – although the Senate President and the House of Representatives Speaker are expected to be members of the President’s kitchen cabinet.

    However, the National Assembly has always been on the defensive, firing back and accusing the members of the executive of gross insensitivity to the doctrine of separation of powers. It is as if the two arms of government have sworn to permanently work at cross purpose in this dispensation.

    The presidential style of frugality, the low tolerance for corruption and impunity and stiff penalty for ‘business as usual’ are to the detriment of career politicians who perceive the corridor of power as avenue for private accumulation.

    There is a belief that the President may have been slow in responding to the medical needs of the party as its health nosedived. While President Buhari reframed from direct interference in the affairs of state chapters, he, also, was aloof to their plights when crises seized the troubled chapters

    The reconciliation mooted by him was late in coming. Some dangers had been done in Kano, Kaduna and Kogi chapters where APC gladiators were war. While some aggrieved chieftains are visiting the their frustration in the President, there are scores of chieftains who ordinarily, will contemplate defection because of the overbearing attitude of some governors.

    The R-APC onslaught, has no doubt, deepen the division in the ruling party. Ahead of next year’s polls, the crisis may be continually fueled by discerning opposition leaders – in PDP, SDP and ADP – in a bid to profit from the logjam. They may supply new tools of propaganda and provide other veritable resources and impetus required for the balkanisation of the ruling party. Ultimately, the support base of the APC may shrink.

    But, pro-Buhari forces will not sleep on guard. The R-APC challenge may be a wake-up call. Two options are open. Oshiomhole’s reconciliation efforts may still yield some dividends if the demand for consensus by the aggrieved are swiftly met. It is, however, dangerous to yield a strong bargaining position to the faction as doing so may ultimately weaken the mainstream APC loyal to the President.

    If the R-APC maintains its hardline position, reconciliation may become more difficult or abortive. Trust may collapse completely and mutual confidence will be further ruptured.

    The second option is to embrace the reality of slight decimation and work hard to overcome the political deficits. It is more dangerous. It is more dangerous to harbor disloyal party men and women in the fold who will subvert or undermine the party from within. Those who will defect from the APC will not look back, if they feel that personal interests are threatened.

    In an election year, the threat of defection is a minus to the ruling party that has failed to put its house in order. But, the end has not come for the platform, it its leaders deploy the right strategy. The split in the nPDP offers a glimmer of hope. Reconciliation with moderates among the rebels will halt the tendency to join the bandwagon of defection.

    Critical grievances germane to inclusive internal democracy and a new approach to party administration which guarantees a sense of belonging to the majority of party stakeholders may pacify some aggrieved chieftains and foster peace and harmony.

    Reacting to the development, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chekwas Okorie, said the APC has lost its electoral mileage with the emergence of R-APC and what remains to be seen is whether it would affect the President’s re-election chances.

    He said: “The formation of R-APC was long predicted. So, what is happening now is not taking anybody by surprise; the method they adopted is not different from the one used by nPDP when they were planning to pull out of the PDP.

    “This new group calls itself ‘Reformed APC’ and their period of hibernation will be short, because I understand that by tomorrow (today), they will sign a memorandum of understanding with the PDP or any other group they choose to align with. I understand that about 40 groups, including the R-APC, are going to sign the memorandum to work with the PDP.

    “In a country like ours where ideology does not determine political affiliation, there would always be a realignment of forces when an election is around the corner. That is what is happening now; there would be more of this kind of drama till the end of this month, because by next month, according to INEC guidelines, primary elections would start. This is one of the things we should expect, as politicians try to reshape the nature of the struggle for the next general elections.

    “With this development, there is no doubt that the APC has lost a lot of electoral mileage. But whether this will result in the downfall of President Buhari and the APC remains to be seen. The level of hunger in the country is such that when there is a flash of the naira at election period the people may not even reflect, to recognise the fact that they are being induced to vote for those responsible for their predicament. We saw it in Anambra State recently during last governorship election in the state, where those who were shouting Biafra ended up voting for the APC, which came second in the contest. So, when the time comes what will determine the winner may not the sentiment and propaganda that is playing out now. A new set of propaganda may come up and because we have a very vulnerable and pliable electorate, the result of the election is not predictable.

    “Given the calibre of the people involved in the latest drama in the APC, some of them may succeed in delivering their states for whichever platform they choose to align with.

    “This is because they have a strong political clout in the states they come from. Senate President Bukola Saraki, for instance, would always deliver Kwara State for any platform he chooses. But, those in the above category are few, because a good number of them are paper tigers.

    “Incumbency will play a major role in the coming general elections, as we have witnessed in the past in Nigerian elections. Nevertheless, the development within the APC is a healthy one for Nigerians, because it would not create room for anybody to believe that without him nothing happens.

    “This development will bring new options for the people in the next general elections. It will make the people in power to be more sober and circumspect in the way they treat others.

    “It is also a good development for multi-party democracy, because without this kind of development people will almost kill themselves in the small space they occupy in the ruling party.”

    Lawyer and human rights activist Monday Ubani blamed the APC for mismanaging the situation since it emerged as the ruling party over three years ago.

    His words: “From the beginning, the APC has been a political party that is enmeshed in crisis. This stems from the fact that they did not expect that they will win in 2015 when they emerged the ruling party.

    “From the look of things, power was suddenly given to them and they didn’t know what to do with it. That is why there was crisis right from the beginning and it has remained up till now. As they are preparing for election next year, the crisis is even becoming bigger.

    “So, it was a marriage of convenience and because power was entrusted to them suddenly, they mismanaged it. There has been a lot of conflict between the legislature and the executive, which was not supposed to be.

    “As the party with the majority in the National Assembly, that should have given them a level of comfort and a cordial working relationship. But, that has not been the case.

    “I think they need a lot of intelligence and wisdom to actually handle this crisis in a way to overcome it. I read somewhere where they were described as paper tigers that have no electoral value. That may not actually be true; you can’t call somebody like Saraki a paper tiger politician; he still controls Kwara politics.

    “This is a challenge for the new National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. I hope he can handle it with maturity in a way to translate to electoral victory. It requires wisdom and tact to ensure a harmonious and peaceful relationship with the different groups within the fold.”

    On the complaints of marginalisation, Ubani tagged many politicians selfish, saying: “It is about their selfish interests and political survival. House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara for instance, has been schemed out, going by the result of the recent party congress in his home state.

    So, the whole idea of R-APC is all about selfish interest; the interest of Nigerians does not come in at all. Whether it is the APC or the PDP, the interest of Nigerians does not matter.

    “But the way their complaints were handled by the APC was not professional enough. The President did not address the issue well. What he should have done is to meet them, discuss with them and try as much as possible to assuage their feelings, by carrying them along.

    “Even if they manifest some selfish interests, there is a way you can handle them in a more matured way and there won’t be any crisis brewing in your political party. The present state of affairs is an opportunity for the opposition, the PDP, and they will do everything possible to take advantage of it. And this will not be good for the APC, which has lost a large chunk of its goodwill in the last three years.

    “I don’t know who is advising them. The best approach to handle the matter is to engage them. APC should leave sentiments aside; if they want to play politics, let them play politics and achieve what they want to achieve, using wisdom and knowledge.

    “Most times, Nigerians politicians do politics with sentiment, because they have no idea of what good governance is all about. They play politics of destruction; politics of crisis and at the end of the day, there is nothing you can point at as their achievements. Sometimes, there are certain things you have to endure to achieve the ultimate goal, which is giving the people good governance.

    “The little governance I did at NBA Ikeja is instructive. When I came in, 99 per cent of the people in my executive were in the opposition. But, in spite of this, I was able to achieve what any branch chairman could achieve in Ikeja; I was able to achieve a lot in two years. I was able to do this, because I focused on what brought me there as chairman and not on crisis.”

    Head of the Political Science Department, Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State, Dr. Godwin Dappa, said he foresaw the implosion in the APC a long time ago.

    He said: “I have always told you that there was going to be a breakaway in the APC and a breakaway in the PDP and that they are going to strengthen the SDP… Nigerian government and politics is just like a Nollywood film, with a lot of crisis in the script. The new SDP is being built by the cabals; our retired military Generals who are appear to be watching the whole thing from behind the scene.

    “This is a replay of what happened to the PDP before the last general elections, when a handful of governors left the PDP to join the APC. This gave the APC a formidable strength to work and fight against the PDP.

    “So, based on their experience, they already have the strategy to unseat the APC. It is not the PDP that would challenge the APC, because the main opposition party has their own internal wrangling.

    “The problem started from the recent APC National Convention. At the convention, they virtually imposed most of the new party executives on their members; just like we witnessed during the PDP years. For instance, Oshiomhole is not supposed to be the party’s chairman. He was the President’s choice. The President should have allowed the people to make their choice.

    “From the day of that convention in Abuja, I saw the cracks within the party. Now that it has happened, the centre can no longer hold again.

    “This is the beginning of uncertainty; it is the beginning of pictures of what is to come not being clear. Again, when the proper selection process comes, of who will represent each constituency, from ward level, local government level, state level to the national level; that is where you will see more exclusion within the party (APC).

    “I want to say that we are still practicing the art and science of democracy; we have not gotten to the real democracy. The way we are practicing democracy, we are not getting the right people to lead us. It is like a recycling bin; the same set of people is being recycled every election time to lead us.

    “It is not a positive and a welcome development. Self-interest determines everything. It shows that we still have the syndrome of neo-colonialism. This is retarding the development of the country.”

    A political scientist Prof Ayo Olukotun said he was not surprised with the emergence of a splinter group R-APC from the APC because of the recent development in the party.

     

     

     

     

     

    He said the formation of the new group followed the same trend with which the nPDP emerged in the build-up towards the 2015 general elections.

    Olukotun, a Political Science teacher at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, said: “it is a political development that may work or may not. It is too early to early to predict whether the split would have effect on the APC fortunes in 2019. We still have few months away from the general elections; we can’t rule out some other developments before then.”

    On the way out for the APC, he suggested: “They have to evolve peace building modalities so that they don’t lose members of the new faction; it is possible they want to use this strategy for bargaining”.

    Afenifere chieftain, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, said he was saddened by the development.

    According to him, the emergence of a splinter group within the APC was not a good development for the nation at a time when the whole world was looking at the APC as a progressive party that would rescue the country from the mismanagement of resources and bad governance of the past administrations.

    Fasanmi said the Buhari administration had succeeded in laying the foundation for good governance but regretted that there were those within the APC who were opposed to his style because of selfishness.

    The elder statesman said: “The selfish interests of these people are threatened because it is no longer business as usual. These are the people who constituted themselves as opposition to a government controlled by their party.

    “These people have ganged up against the Buhari administration’s anti-graft war. They want to see Nigeria as Federal Republic of Corruption. By the grace of God we shall triumph; Nigeria will never return to the abyss of corrupt practices of the past years”.

    Wale Afolabi, a lawyer, said the formation of a faction sponsored by top members of the National Assembly would not affect the performance of the APC in 2019.

    Afolabi said the performance of the Buhari-led APC government was in line with the aspiration of Nigerians.

    He said: “It is the people that will vote; I believe given what the government had achieved in three years compared to PDP’s  16 years, the electorate will vote for APC come 2019″.

    A chieftain of the APC in Lagos, Lanre Razak , said the party will come out stronger and better from the problems.

    He said: “I must say that the managers of the party have done wonderfully well. This is because strange bedfellows were assembled together for the purpose of winning election. Remember that it took the effort of our National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to bring these people together and the same effort have been put forward to ensure we work in unity.

    “But, I must say that the instrument used in winning that election is still there. So, whatever they do will not affect it. We are forging ahead and we will win. President Buhari will get a second term, so that Nigeria will be a better place for everybody to live. I want to say 80 per cent of the 200 million Nigerians are in support of Buhari and be rest assured that these elements trying to leave will not pull it back.”

    Former Transport Minister Ebenezer Babatope described the formation of the R-APC as welcome development.

    He said: “Though it is not my business to comment on what is happening in the APC, but for the benefit of concerned Nigerians I must say it is a welcome development.

    “I want to say it is good news for all Nigerians because it has further fueled the mechanism for their exit from power. All we know and by the grace of God, the election is next year and the PDP will take part in it.

    Yinka Odumakin said the ruling party was just being paid back in its own coin.

    Odumakin said: “What goes around comes around. The ladder which threw you up may be the one that will bring you down. How did the APC emerge? The party emerges through this kind of conspiracy.

    “We have not forgotten the years when Tambuwal was in the PDP, but working for the APC. We had the New PDP moving out of the PDP. This was bound to happen in the APC and I must say the chicken has come home to roost. I am so sure the top hierarchy of the APC did not prepare for this.”

     

     

  • ’Tinubu’s panel saves APC from implosion’

    The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) would have been worse but for President Muhammadu Buhari’s Reconciliation Committee headed by the party’s National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Coordinator of Buhari Support Organisation in Ondo State, Mike Adeyanju, has said.

    Adeyanju said setting up of the Committee was recognition of the problems confronting the party and the resolve of Mr President to ensure that all shades of opinions and interests were accommodated in the larger interest of the party and the country.

    He noted that Tinubu’s Committee could best be described as “work in progress” for the party. He, however, noted that going by the look of things, the party’s national convention might not be rancour-free.

    Adeyanju, who is a member of the Security Sub Committee of the Convention, appealed to members of the party to follow due process during the convention.

    Adeyanju, a House of Representatives aspirant for Akoko North and East in Ondo State, said: “For now the party has put the mechanism in place and all the party structures are working to ensure that a successful national convention takes place. In politics all interests cannot be accommodated. And we can only appeal to members to show the spirit of give and take.

    “The security sub-committee will do its best to ensure that the convention is free and fair. And it is our hope that it will be quite different from some of the experiences recorded during the congresses at the states.

    “But I can assure you that with the level of commitment and reconciliation that is on-going in the party, we would not witness what happened in 2014 in PDP where some people staged a walk out at the National Convention of the party”.

  • World is watching Nigeria’s near-implosion

    Under British rule, Nigeria did not begin to be one country until the British colonial rulers unified it with a   federal constitution in 1949-51. From that moment on, the makers of Nigeria began to make the mistakes that have now led Nigeria to unmanageable disharmony – disharmony that has now brought Nigeria close to breaking up.

    The makers of the 1949 federal constitution recognized that Nigeria was a country of hundreds of diverse nations. But in the making of the federal constitution, they chose to accord recognition and respect to only the three largest nations – the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo. There was no thought of respect for the smaller nations; all of them in each of the three regions were supposed to accept to exist happily under the large and dominant nation of their region. Naturally, the small nations in each region protested loudly and demanded a separate composite region of their own. The leaders and government of the Western Region stepped forth and supported the demands of the small nations of each region – including even the small nations of the Western Region. But, even after the British rulers were forced to set up a commission to investigate these demands and the commission had recommended that the British should grant them, the British chose to reject them.

    It was in the context of these historical happenings that Nigeria went astray in the management of its diversity. In the first place, it was gradually made to look as if seeking the interest of one’s particular nation in Nigeria was a backward looking stance, an attack on the unity of Nigeria. This got so bad that a Nigerian could not even say that Nigeria was made up of different peoples, without being called a “tribalist” – without being stigmatized a “Pakhistanist”.

    The foundation of it all was a woolly-headed superficiality – a refusal to look at facts, or a deliberate rejection of obvious and inescapable facts.  Our country is a country of very many peoples or nations, some large, some small. That is the fact. That fact does not presuppose that we cannot build our country into a harmonious and prosperous country. Sure, we can. Sure we could have done it if we had cool-headedly accepted the fact of our country as a country of many nations, and proceeded from that point to find ways to make our country a land of equitable opportunities for all its many nations, large and small, and all its millions of citizens.

    None of us needs to turn down his or her own nation, or to play down its interests, or to reject its unique heritage and ways, in order to be seen to be contributing to the unity of Nigeria or the building of Nigeria.  Building Nigeria does not demand that from any of us. But unfortunately, many Nigerians have quietly and timorously bought into the pernicious frame of mind which says that being “educated”, being “sophisticated”, being “broad-minded”, means that they must subdue any show of interest in the particular interests of their own nation. For such people, being “detribalized” (as it is called) is a virtue. And any Nigerian who shows concern about his own nation’s experiences in Nigeria becomes suspect – becomes “un-Nigerian”.

    By and by, those sections of Nigeria that desired to dominate the rest of Nigeria, and those who wanted Nigeria moulded according to the military command culture to which they are accustomed as soldiers, have succeeded in developing this rejection of Nigeria’s nations into an ideology for the building of a “united Nigeria”. The section of Nigeria that came to believe that it was its right to dominate Nigeria was the Arewa North – the Hausa-Fulani political elite of the Arewa North who happened to be the first controllers of the Federal Government at independence. Their quest for such domination generated serious conflicts in the political process, and these ultimately pushed Nigeria into an era of military regimes. And the military regimes, accustomed only to military command systems, proceeded to organize Nigeria as a country controlled only by the Federal Government. Since most of the military dictators since mid-1966 have been northerners, the excessive centralization wrought by the military regimes has enhanced northern success at domination, and therefore enjoys resolute northern support.

    Thus the Arewa North elite and the military have collaborated to foist an excessive centralism, and a mainstream ideology, on the making of the Nigerian federation, with the result that what we now have is not a federation but a unitary system. The coming of large revenues from petroleum in the years after 1970 put enormous economic power in the hands of the federal government, seemed to make full federal control of Nigeria achievable, and greatly increased the domination ambitions of those in control of the federal government. The final legal formulation of the system was effected in the making of the 1999 Constitution – a constitution which the Arewa North intellectual champions of the mainstream ideology wrote for the military regime of 1998, and which has since been touted as a constitution written by “the people of Nigeria” for the “people of Nigeria”.

    When a Yoruba citizen, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, a retired military officer turned civilian politician, was elected civilian president in 1999, there was hope that he would bring into the governance of Nigeria the typical and well-known Yoruba ideology concerning Nigeria. The Yoruba ideology proposes that since Nigeria comprises many diverse nations, each nation deserves to be respected in the context of Nigeria, and deserves to be allowed some autonomy to manage its unique concerns and desires in the context of Nigeria. Yoruba leaders (in Egbe Omo Oduduwa) first wrote the basic outline of this in 1949 as a proposal for the British colonial rulers to use in organizing Nigeria. Thereafter, succeeding generations of Yoruba leaders have restated this ideology over and over for the proper and harmonious structure of Nigeria. By the time of the Obasanjo presidency, it had become essentially a unifying Yoruba position concerning the proper and stable governance of Nigeria.    Hope that Obasanjo would follow this Yoruba ideology was heightened by the fact that he had written a book in 1998 (The Animal Called Man) in which he had advocated that the Nigerian constitution should include clauses stating the rights of Nigerian’s nations to secede from Nigeria and spelling out the processes towards peaceful secession.

    But as president, Obasanjo veered completely away from his Yoruba political heritage and energetically pursued the centralizing and mainstream ideology of other people, with serious efforts to subdue Nigerian nations (including his own Yoruba nation) to federal control. Unhappily, President Jonathan too, another president from another region that has always resisted excessive federal power, simply followed Obasanjo’s centralizing example. Even when Jonathan finally yielded to pressures to call a National Conference to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, it was obvious that his heart was not in the exercise, and that his real expectation was that his calling of the National Conference would boost his re-election chances. Obasanjo and Jonathan have thus demonstrated that it is almost impossible for any Nigerian president to accept federal loss of the control over all the power, all the money, and all the resources now controlled by the federal government.

    With President Buhari, a retired general from Arewa North now serving as Nigeria’s president, we should not be shocked by what we are seeing. He has said that he has no business with restructuring; and that he has “not bothered to read” the 2014 National Conference Report, but that he has simply tossed it into the archives.

    The only pity is that Nigeria has now absolutely reached the point of decision – either to restructure its federation or buy harmony and stability, or to refuse to restructure and thereby face implosion and break up. Conquering and subduing Nigeria’s peoples in order to keep Nigeria as one country, though attractive to those who control power over Nigeria, is no longer a viable choice. President Buhari says that he is exercising restraint over the use of military force for ending revolt in a part of Nigeria, and that is a good thing – but that is far from being good enough. The world is watching.

  • Messi retirement highlights implosion of Argentine football

    Argentinian football is imploding, and Lionel Messi’s international retirement will put more focus than ever on the national Football Association (AFA).
    This was supposed to be the year. Argentina’s last senior international trophy came in 1993, when a double from Gabriel Batistuta – who Messi surpassed as their record goalscorer with his 55th strike in the Copa America Centenario semi-final against United States – guided La Albiceleste to the Copa trophy with a 2-1 win over Mexico.
    After the disappointment of losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany in extra time and the Copa showpiece to Chile the following year, not forgetting defeat at the final hurdle in the 2007 edition, 2016 looked like time to end the 23-year drought.
    Messi appeared destined to restore the glory days when he, along with the likes of Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero, helped inspire Argentina to a triumphant campaign at the 2008 Olympics – a golden generation.
    But with another penalty shoot-out loss to Chile in the Centario showpiece at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, a fourth defeat in an Argentina final, Messi – someone not accustomed to being on the losing side with Barcelona – announced his intention to retire.
    “I was thinking about it in the locker room. That this is the end for me in the national team,” the Argentina captain, who missed his spot-kick in the final, said in the wake of the defeat.
    “It’s four finals, it’s not for me. Unfortunately we tried, I tried, but that’s it.
    “It’s for the good of everyone. We were not satisfied with making the final and not winning it.
    “I’ve tried a lot to be champion with Argentina. It didn’t happen, I couldn’t do it.
    “The decision is already made. That’s it.”
    But it is not just the perennial disappointment from being runners-up that will likely have influenced Messi’s comments.
    The AFA has long been a strange beast, but, since Julio Grondona’s death brought his 35-year reign as president to an end in 2014, it has plunged into disarray.
    Last December’s shambolic presidential election drew the attention of the world when, despite there being 75 delegates present, a vote of 38-38 was counted.
    Provisional president Luis Segura, who replaced Grondona, remained at the helm as the elections were pushed back, but opposing candidate Marcelo Tinelli has since pulled out.
    With a permanent replacement for Grondona still not confirmed, elections scheduled for June 30 were postponed by the Argentinian government pending an investigation into the misappropriation of finances related to the national ‘Futbol Para Todos’ scheme.
    This raised concerns that Argentina could be banned from competing at the Copa America Centenario, with government interference in football matters banned by FIFA.
    And, on Friday, FIFA announced its decision to appoint a “normalisation committee” with a mandate that put it in charge of “running the daily affairs of the AFA, revising the AFA statutes in order to bring them in line with the current FIFA Standard Statutes, and organising elections accordingly by 30 June 2017 at the latest.”
    The worst case scenario could see Argentina’s FIFA affiliation revoked, disqualifying them from 2018 World Cup qualification and preventing domestic sides taking part in international competition.
    This will be a severe concern for Boca Juniors fans, who are scheduled to watch their team face Independiente del Valle in the Copa Libertadores semi-finals next month.
    Domestic concerns are heightened by a lack of clarity over the structure of the upcoming season’s league campaign.
    Shortly before his death, Grondona authorised a change to the structure of Argentina’s top flight that resulted in a 30-team tournament, running out of sync with Europe, for 2015.
    After one season those teams were split into two groups for a transitional competition, but there is not yet clarification over how the 2016-17 season will be run.
    With confusion and chaos paramount in all sections of Argentinian football, Messi’s retirement may well have come even if he had got his hands on the trophy.
    The 29-year-old vented his frustration when he called out the AFA with an example of poor organisation when their flight to New Jersey was delayed, branding the governing body “a disaster”. Their response, however, insisted the blame lay with the unsuitable weather alone.
    But with other stars such as Aguero, Mascherano and Di Maria potentially following their captain’s lead in turning their back on the national team, the AFA must look at itself.
    Their only hope is that FIFA’s normalisation committee help clear up the mess, enticing Messi and his team-mates to return for another shot at glory at World Cup 2018.

  • An implosion

    An implosion just occurred. The largest party in Africa has collapsed under the weight of its hubris-infested lead4ership. Before their very eyes, in the twilight of their ascendancy, the impregnable suddenly lost grip of the power to fix and it is music to the ears of the people, the true source of democratic power.

    The announcement on Tuesday, November 26, 2013, of the merger of New PDP with APC was the culmination of series of events, miscued by the leadership of the original PDP as simply a nuisance that was going to evaporate. Well, it didn’t, and that is enough evidence of an underlying ailment that continues to afflict our political class. The elite takes the people for granted, and in the process takes its kind for granted. We saw, in the case of the old PDP, a power struggle that has bedeviled the party since its inception.

    Power struggle is an intrinsic element of the political process and is not unique to the old PDP. However, there is something unique and damaging to the brand that PDP represents and portrays. As the party that controls the central government and the largest number of state governments, the old PDP sees itself as unbeatable and its will to dominate and to pervert as unbendable.

    The will to dominate is geared towards external victims and is, therefore, tolerable and indeed admirable to the internal brigade. The will to pervert is, however, an equal opportunity victimiser. It affects and impacts both external and internal victims. And that is the undoing of the brand. It was the final storm that shredded the open umbrella.

    As an organisation, the PDP considers itself unique in political party formation in Nigeria in the sense that it has no individual founder, just as the NPN before it bragged about not having a Baba, an indirect jab at the then UPN. However, this self-description is only partially true, and its partial falsity is demonstrated by fact that the collapse of the party is due to the appropriationby a few of the power of a non-existent founder. In other words, though there is no single founder with enormous powers, there are multiple innermost centres of power, which call the shot and dare those perceived as external others to leave.

    If there were no real founders, and every member came into the fold on his or her own, that is a good reason for the elected leaders to see themselves not as tin gods but as servant leaders. In the history of the PDP, that was never the case. In a party without a Baba, one was invented between 1999 and 2007. And a Mr. Fix-it has always lurked around Aso Rock to ensure that any viable competition for a position occupied by an incumbent is frustrated, even when the incumbent is a non-performer and an embarrassment to the party. On hindsight, it now appears that progressives were right back in 1998.

    Daring the unhappy folks to leave has worked well principally because of the potency of its will to pervert. With the party in the driving seat of the political economy of the country in the last fourteen years, the potency of its will to pervert the system is crystal clear: subsidy scandal, crude oil theft, Oduahgate, comatose refineries, and generalised corruption, despite EFCC. The will to pervert is consistent with the reluctance to flush out culprits of corruption from its rank. If you join the party with the motive of perverting the system to get the most for yourself, then your motive is not in conflict with the environment that the party sustains. Why would you want to leave? Even if you were outsmarted once, you would probably take the chance and wait for another day.

    Of course, overgeneralisation is an unforgiveable sin of logic. There are individuals in the rank and file and even at the leadership cadre of the old PDP who have suffered the pang of conscience silently and waited patiently over the years for a change in the direction of the party. And there comes a time when suffering and waiting is no longer an option. For some of the new PDP members, that time appears to have arrived. At least, that is my reading of their decision to escape from a sinking ship.It cannot be long before the veracity of my reading of the implosion of PDP is determined. And we just have to see.

    Meanwhile that implosion has spawned an explosion in the advance of APC. The leadership of this new party has not concealed its intentions and has in fact made it a foremost task to attract the G-7 Governors and the New PDP into its fold. Its hard work and persistence has finally paid off. There is something to be said for the strategic genius of its leadership and the feat it has accomplished in the last six months. First, it was the fight over registration, which was not going to be, precisely because of the fear in some quarters regarding what has just occurred. Then there comes this exponential increase in numbers. And if politics is in the final analysis a craft that relies on numbers, there’s good reason for excitement.

    It is also true, however, that prior to a final analysis, there is an intermediate one, and a preliminary one as well. While numbers matter in the final analysis, there are factors without which numbers don’t really count and may be counter-productive. First, there is the harmony of ideological orientation, especially among the leadership. One expects that this would have been at the top of the preliminary discussions and negotiations. For without a common agreement on the ideological focus of the party, there is no guarantee that the addition of the new numbers to the old will make a positive difference.

    Second, APC has its agenda based on its consultations with the rank and file of its members cutting across the original political parties and the various regional and local constituencies. This progressive agenda is based on certain fundament values and principles shared by all Nigerians: that all Nigerians are creatures of a good God who endows them with inherent dignity and respect; that progressive principles and practices are essential to good governance and the protection and promotion of the dignity and respect of Nigerians; and that congresses and communities of peoples with diverse backgrounds can and will embrace a common unity of purpose for the promotion of their common interests if and when an appropriate and desirable structure is put in place for the pursuit of those interests.

    Third, fidelity to those fundamental principles determines the method of approach of the party to governance, the evidence of which abounds in those states where APC has had the opportunity to govern. Education, employment and security are vital to the promotion of dignity and respect and APC governments at state level have made these three the centerpiece of their undertaking. It is the expectation of those who look up to the party that these will be its focus at the federal level.

    Fourth, it is true, however, that a true federal arrangement that devolves power adequately to the constituent units is key to good governance and prompt and excellent delivery of services to Nigerians. An APC central government must pursue with vigor and deliver a true federal structural arrangement through constitutional provisions.

    Finally, infrastructural development, including road, power generation and distribution, is an indispensable tool for the unleashing of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Nigerians in all areas of the economy. APC must tackle with the concerted energy of all willing Nigerians the challenges of infrastructure that appear to have overwhelmed the present administration and those before it. Nigerians are resourceful people and their talents must be put to good use and they will once again command the respect of the world.

    It is hoped that these ideas and ideals are shared by the leadership and members, including the new arrivals into the fold. If so, it is time to get to work.

  • PDP’s implosion

    At the just concluded PDP Special National Convention of August 30, to re(sel)elect national officers into vacant positions declared void for irregularities in the procedures preceding their emergence, a formidable splinter group emerged comprising seven PDP governors including Rivers’ Governor Chibuike Amaechi under the leadership of former acting National Chairman of the PDP, Abubakar Kawu Baraje with other major protagonists like Atiku Abubakar and Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

    The present implosion in PDP has always been a certainty long-predicted, awaiting the convolution of other conditions to crystalise. The immediate precursor of the present disintegration can be gleaned from the orchestrated crises within the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, where the smoldering presidential ambitions of some principal participants of that powerful club coincided with the greater agenda of the ruling party which is to foster some “cohesion” around the hold on raw power for the perpetration of the existing status quo. It was a fiercely contested situation that drew blood amongst members but whose utility did not exceed the parochial fixations of 2015 general elections. Opposition was, however, quick in deepening the cleavages of that crack and as minority beneficiaries of that cabal they dug deeper and fanned the embers of the present disintegration by their own opportunistic antics. In sheer desperation, a new prince of the “convoluted coven” in the person of Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom was crowned as the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, which for me, remained a clearly desperate miscalculation that did not take into account the already diluted essence of the forum that was, then, polarized along ethno- religious and geo political divides manifesting in the forms of Northern Governors’ Forum, South-south and South-east Governors Forum and I learnt of the latest ‘Progressive Governors’ Forum in the South-west under the leadership of my friend, Governor of Ekiti State Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

    The narrative on this score will remain naive and inchoate if I fail to look in the direction of another possibility that supports the view that the Akpabio’s emergence was not a mistake after all, but a carefully designed strategy to demobilize the Governors’ Forum since it could no longer sustain its relevance namely to maintain and secure the variables that guarantee the power base in favour of the status quo. At the least, you can be sure that neither the Jonah Jang faction nor that of Amaechi ever meets and whenever they do, it is to countermand what the other does. The fall out of this divide was the consolidation of the culture of impunity which graduated from the supremacy of 16 governors over their 19 colleagues in the botched Governors’ Forum election to the brazen temerity with which five members of the Rivers State House of Assembly allegedly removed their Speaker and positioned themselves to impeach the governor.

    Prior to the implosion of August 31, you would recall that the major power bloc in the PDP which is the PDM went directly for the party’s jugular and engaged the soul of the floundering party by seeking and obtaining registration at the INEC. For a less arrogant and nihilistic political party, that alone would have narrowed the option available to the leadership of the party and drew their attention to the red lines. But lo, none of that happened because, in their undisputed estimation, the issues and concerns have not and cannot change. I had the privilege of reading the tirades of one of their oldest warhorses and chairman of the BOT, Chief Anthony Anenih who rather than face the reality and possibility of change in politics continued, as he unwittingly did in the volcanic uprising of Edo State, to discountenance the direct implications of Atiku’s moves. But by far more devastating to the imprudent assessment of the situation and to the total detriment of the political fortunes of President Goodluck Jonathan is the failure of PDP’s leadership to recognise that the Atiku/PDM’s most cancerous strategy of disengagement aimed at maximum destabilisation of the party was to remain right in PDP, and shop for supporters.

    Two supervening developments immediately after the Saturday event would convince anyone in doubt about the far-reaching degree and impact of the activities of the splinter group. The next day, Sunday September 1, the President, in spite of the initial grand-standing and posturing of leadership of the PDP, quickly extended hands of fellowship through an open invitation to the leadership of the splinter group which was meant, at the least, to create and sustain a window of communication with this critical dissident group. To be sure, this may not pose any serious challenge to actualise because, to a large extent, what has just happened must, also be interpreted from the prism of its opportunistic essence where capons of the same buccaneering group raised the bar of the game through effective threats and blackmail with the clear objective of returning to the same ship if and when the “price” becomes right. Otherwise why did their name not change fundamentally beyond “New PDP”? Did you also bother to consider their grievances and observe how very little the real challenges of the Nigerian state and the fortunes of her people featured? As at the time of going to press, four out of the seven governors have already attended the first reconciliation meeting at the presidential villa with the prospect of an expanded attendance the next day.

    You would also notice that former President Olusegun Obasanjo immediately flew into Aso Rock in the pretext of attending an inter-denominational church service with the President but ended up spending over three hours in closed-door meeting with President Jonathan in recognition of the clear need to immediately arrest the present trend which has an inherent danger of completely disintegrating the party.

    Whereas I have argued in a manner suggestive of the implosion in the ruling PDP, I believe, as am bound to, that it is cosmetic, ephemeral and will not educe for two obvious reason. First, the character and pedigree of the protagonists of the splinter group is such that they could not have possibly conceived a radical departure from the status quo and in fact, cannot afford such extreme position because they have no alternative abode or shore to anchor thereafter. Secondly, the reasons offered, thus far, for their present resentments have very little to tell about the woeful experiences of Nigerians under the rulership of PDP in the past 14 sordid years where all that mattered was the control of raw power for power sake.

    In the circumstance, the crucial question must be raised and addressed namely; what is in it for the ordinary Nigerians who are the short-changed victims of this high powered political maneuvering? I am inclined to believe that the lot of the Nigerian people is not yet within the consideration of these politicians who have not shown any clear cut difference except when the balance of power tilts against them. For a party that cannot do more than oscillate around Anenih, Bamanga Tukur, Obasanjo, Ahmadu Ali, Olabode George etc in search for leadership, such a party offers the people a wonderful opportunity to exit this stereotype in realization of their dreams. The time is therefore now for the suffering people of this country to reject the old brigade and align forces with credible progressive formations that are determined to contest power with disintegrating PDP.

    • Ugwummadu is a Lagos based legal practitioner.