By Nwachukwu Ugochukwu
I apologize to my people who needed to task me on fulfilling my promise. I did not write the epistle on the day promised and I will not write an epistle, rather I will summarize and abbreviate it in a few paragraphs.
I have been very active in politics since 1999. During the Banbangida/Abiola era, I was a young man but still followed all the politics of those days at a tender age. I was one of the few guys that first predicted that Ihedioha will loose the 2015 elections to Okorocha. My writeup on that is in Igboville today.
I initially decided not to disclose what I am about to disclose because those with political foresight should be consulted and compensated for it, but I have decided to throw out everything I know to whoever wants to listen and use it for the growth of Nigeria in general. I caved in to write this because of the repeated push by my fans especially Mr. Charles Ikemredia and others who have asked on several occasions for me to fulfill my promise of writing the epistle.
Well, everything I want to write is on how PDP can transform itself into a better political party and win both the 2019 general elections and all states in SS, SE, half of SW and middlebelt or more.
1. PDP needs to merge itself with one or two parties.
Fortunately, everyone agrees with this and hence I don't need to explain anything here.
2. PDP and the new merger should adopt a new name.
I have said it severally that a new name will help retain sympathizers currently in PDP while throwing away the bad name. I have never been a member of PDP but joined the fight because of Goodluck Jonathan. The major reason I joined Goodluck Jonathan was because of the pictures of burnt and slaughtered Nigerians I keep seeing everyday online. At a point, I decided that I must join this man and fight for justice. I know how much and what I lost in that fight.
PDP has a bad name in Nigeria. After the handover this week, most reasonable people will refuse to mingle with or deal with PDP as the dust begin to settle. Once GEJ is totally out of the picture, my Igbo governors and PDP members will gradually start joining APC. It will be a gradual process but it will be a complete process. This is not the first time it has happened and will never be the last. Almost all the governors of the SE will join APC. The injuries we suffered during the civil war has never allowed us to play opposition politics and I support my people for that. We must gain the little we can from the Federal government, being that we are hated by the right and the left. We have to survive and rebuild our area first and we have been surviving that way until today.
When the Igbos leave, the South South will join, and PDP will totally collapse. It will be the rescue party for the Yorubas (who will definitely fall out with Buhari) to use in fighting Buhari when the time comes.
To prevent this, the PDP needs to redefine PDP and they need to do that very fast. They need do this today and tomorrow. Dont wait till when people are fleeing the PDP camp before you do that. Do that today being Monday. Do that before Friday. Do that now. You have nothing to gain by keeping that name PDP. Change the name. The people who coined that name have all left: Obasanjo, Gemade, Atiku, and all the great corrupt people we all know. Now, only new comers are left in PDP. Why would you want to carry the burden and sins of the old criminals?
Change the name and expel one of two saboteurs from the party and see SE and SS clap for you. Draw a new manifesto and institute a workshop. Decide on programs you want to pursue and demands you want fulfilled from the new government. Call it a name.
Let me suggest some manifesto points for you.
A. Resource control
B. Lower Nigeria economic block to include sea ports, interlinking expressways and health system.
C. Southwest economic block with new ports in Ondo etc.
The people you have in your base are the most sophisticated and most educated people in the country. You have the SS, the SE, the SW, and the middle-belt. Honestly if you reform and re-brand the party, send just one or two people parking, draft a mouth watering agenda to move forward (and they see that it caters to their innermost needs), they will lay down their lives in supporting you. They don't need your money or any other thing from you.
3. I have recently disagreed with some folks who suggested that PDP should field a northerner come 2019.
I spent lots of money in Business School acquiring a Masters of Business Administration. I was taught that when you have a customer base, you do not leave them and go hunting for new customers. You treat them well and then others will see how you treat them and come join you.
Political parties are like businesses. They are in the business of grabbing power. You have a base which is SS, SE, and some SW, and Middlebelt. These are your customers. To ensure that your base remain intact, begin from next week to send rumors and gossip to the media that your preferred 2019 candidate will come from SE and middlebelt with SS vice or SW vice. Begin today. Dont wait for tomorrow. This will keep your base intact. Your job now is to keep your base intact. If you dont, your base will scatter and you will begin to scramble to get them back but you will never see them again.
4. Some have argued that if PDP does not go after the north and bow down and beg them and then ask one of them to become their candidate, PDP will be buried. Then I ask them, why didnt APC present a Niger Deltan against GEJ?
I have played politics enough to know that if you pair two oranges together, on election day, nobody will come out. However, if you want the whole of Nigeria to come out for and against, pair an Igbo man against Buhari come 2019 and the whole of Nigeria will come out either to vote for or against the Igbo man. You will retain all your SE, SS, Middlebelt, and SW states, gain a few more, and then give APC a good fight.
If APC had presented a Niger Deltan against GEJ, most of us would not have even registered to vote. Always give people something new, something different, to get them motivated.
5. Last but not the least. Elections in Nigeria are not won by how much you have performed but by how well you make your calculations.
If PDP begins from today to shout "resource control" and "regional government", they would capture the whole of SE and SS. No governor from there will think of leaving the party because they will termed a traitor. They will also capture the activist Yorubas. So this ensures that PDP have their base covered.
Then here comes how elections elections are won. In 2019, each APC senator/reps/governor in the north will have a PDP challenger in those states APC readily won in this election. The PDP challenger normally will educate his people to vote PDP just for him and vote whosoever they want for other positions. However, lack of proper assmilation will make some vote all positions for PDP. The little votes PDP will get from those misinformed voters (who will vote PDP top-down) will all add up all over the north and some middle-belt states. PDP will add those to their strong base in the South and win the election. Its not a 100% feat but its the best route to win the election and I believe it will work.
My people have a saying "anu gi gbalaha gi, gi egbubiri ya odu".This simply means that if you miss to cut off the head of your hunted animal, at least you can boast of cutting of its tail.
PDP can retain all they have now and have a good shot at the presidency in 2019. It all lies in their hands.
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