By Emeka Alex Duru
There is always this temptation to sketch an analogy between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the South East, on one hand and the lead character in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, Okonkwo and his houseboy, Ikemefuna, on the other hand. The attempt looks wry and fatalistic. But the urge to do so gets stronger as the race for 2023 presidency draws closer.
Ikemefuna, the ill-fated lad, grew up in Okonkwo’s household, seeing him as a father. Along the line, somehow, the gods in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s village, demanded a human being for sacrifice to purify the land. The lot fell on Ikemefuna. Okonkwo’s friend, Obierika, who knew how close the young man had been to Okonkwo, pleaded with him, not to have a hand in his death.
When Ikemefuna was rattled on the path to where he was to be sacrificed, he naturally looked up to Okonkwo for protection. Unfortunately, it was his ‘father’ that drew the sword that killed him. Okonkwo never recovered from the impacts of that misadventure.
Between the relationship of the South East with the PDP and that of Ikemefuna and Okonkwo, the underlining thread is loyalty. For Okonkwo, Ikemefuna went the extra mile in rendering service. For the PDP, the South East has given it all and has been bearing the brunt for its fidelity to the party.
Politics, it is said, is a game of numbers. There is no doubt on that. Political parties, go for their best and those that will win votes for them in elections. This is also true. And whether we admit it or not, politics in this part of the world, is breezy and lacks some basic defining principles. If you call it a zero-sum game or winner-takes-all engagement, you may not be entirely wrong. One thing however remains certain – every politics is local. No political party ignores its catchment area without paying a price.
Since the commencement of the present political dispensation in 1999, South East has shown faith to the PDP. From the formative stage of the party when the former Vice President, late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, was easily the face of the party, the zone has adopted the PDP in a manner of a family affair. The affinity to the party was so glaring, till lately, that any politician belonging to any other party in the area, was regarded as a fringe player.
To prove its solidarity, in all the elections conducted so far, the zone has returned bloc votes for the party at times, approximating nearly 100 percent, especially at presidential polls.
For a region that has demonstrated such unprecedented level of fidelity, there is supposed to be a reward. Even in the normal master-apprentice relationship, there is a time for settlement of the latter.
When President Muhammadu Buhari, in faraway London, shortly after his election in 2015, sniggered that he should not be expected to extend same treatment to a people that merely gave him, less than five percent votes with those that gave him 93 percent support, he was referring to the South East. And he has not looked back in treating the people as strangers to the commonwealth.
2023, therefore, presents an opportunity for the PDP to show gratitude to the South East. When a student answers a question correctly in class and the teacher asks other pupils to clap for him, it is to encourage him and motivate others to emulate him and be up and doing. In education, it is called positive reinforcement.
The party should pick its presidential candidate from the zone as a way of giving it a sense of belonging. There are many reasons why PDP needs to do so.
In 1999, PDP gave the West a shot at the presidency through Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2007, it conceded the slot to the North through the late Umar Yar’Adua. The South-South had its turn through Goodluck Jonathan. The South East remains the outsider in the game.
Beyond party level, other zones in the country had had their moments at the presidency, either at the military or civilian eras.
The North had produced Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the first and second republics, respectively. In the days of the military, the North had – Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammad, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar – and the West had Obasanjo. The West also enjoyed the interregnum of Ernest Shonekan. Except the breezy six-month era of General Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, the East has not had any taste of the presidency.
Added to crushing defeat at the 1967-1970 civil war and the poor management of the attendant reconciliation programme, the zone has been at the receiving end of the unfair political system in the country. This is even when the people from the area have exhibited greater commitment in the unity of the country through their expansive interactions and investments in all the geo-political units. The cry of marginalisation, is thus, obvious and resounding.
It behooves the PDP to show the South East that it matters in the scheme of things. If the current managers of the PDP can take a look at the principles guiding the party at is formation on July 29, 1998, they will see reasons to do so. The founding fathers had dreamed of a party that would put the Nigerian nation on a new phase of political engineering.
The long time vision was to ensure a just and equitable distribution of power, resources, wealth and opportunities to conform with the principles of power shift and power sharing, rotation of key political offices and equitable devolution of powers to zones, states and local governments so as to create socio-political conditions conducive to national unity and to defend the sanctity of electoral democracy.
PDP leadership cannot shy away from this encompassing philosophy or pretend that it does not matter. Good enough, the insinuation of lethargy previously held against the political elite from the South East, is being shown to be non-existent.
The people are now coming up, forcefully to make demands from the party. Anyim Pius Anyim, former president of the Senate, has made commendable moves in presenting himself for the race. Industrialist and accomplished pharmacist, Sam Ohuabunwa, has followed suit. There are also whispers that former Anambra governor and the party’s vice presidential candidate in 2019, Peter Obi, will soon throw his hat in the ring. Others may show up.
No matter what their critics may say, these are men who have proven their mettle in their chosen fields and previous engagements in public offices. They deserve attention.
With the South East, PDP, as they say, can go to bed and snore, assured that it has a reliable ally. But that should not be taken for granted this time around. Any attempt to shortchange the zone in 2023, may have telling effects on the party, same way Okonkwo never recovered from killing Ikemefuna.
*DURU is the Editor of TheNiche Newspapers, Lagos (08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)