If APC Fails Nigeria…. - Angel Mark

Angel Mark

It won’t be a mistake to state that we are in an era of “change” but there has been no change at all.

Nigerians were excited upon the emergence of the APC as a new political party in the country. Yea, Nigerians were happy, for once in history, there was going to be some form of competition in the governance of the nation and this would make the then incumbent political party more serious in their political activities.

Truly, there was an opposition and we knew only of the two major political parties in the nation. Nigerians really yearned for this change. They were tired of the “colonialism” under which they were brought as a result of the unchanging policies of the then incumbent leadership which is now past.

Nigerians felt a ray of hope under this would-emerge government and so happily voted for the change; they voted in President Mohammadu Buhari.
The emergence of Buhari as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was good news to many Nigerians. The platform was new; therefore, it was supposed that it would be a new era too. Most importantly, here was a “new” set of people, a fresh alliance, a new group of people who would come together to make a “change”, just as promised and subsequently anticipated.

Nigerians, however, seemingly did not notice the transition from the kind of change which they expected to the kind of change they now have. It is noteworthy that there has been remarkable positive change in the state of the nation right now, however, the bigger and most notable change is not what Nigerians bargained for. This is the change from APC to a re-branded PDP. In other words, Nigerians exist in neocolonialism.

The challenge with the progress of Nigeria is not with parties and this is what Nigerians should be aware of. Just like there are good and bad people in every nation, so are there good and bad people in every political party. Therefore, party faithfulness is not all that is needed to run a country like Nigeria. The party which led preceding the leadership of the present leading party did a great job in condemning the leadership pattern of the preceding party and government in general. 

Therefore, this made Nigerians anticipate something new and different. But in a dwindling and seemingly ludicrous manner, APC has become what used to be PDP. A large chunk of the people who led in the said PDP administration has successfully defected to the new PDP (APC). The brains behind the former PDP are now “thinking” for APC. With time, almost all the former members of the former PDP are now singing the change song; well, this is not the change Nigerians asked for. We asked for a positive change in governance (even though we did not emphasize that we needed positivity), and not a change in political pattern.

There ought to be a change in governance; a change in the economy of the nation. There should be a change in the administration of governance in Nigeria and in the arraignment and subsequent execution of corrupt officials. Not a change in nomenclature of political parties. The Naira has not yet appreciated; this is one of Nigeria’s most anticipated change. The jobs we were promised are yet to be seen. The economy isn’t getting easier for the average Nigerian.

The manner in which the change mantra overtook Nigeria, it was as though once the new president assumed office, the switch from pain to gain, story to glory and/or failure to success would be instantaneous, and APC’s promises sounded that way too. Just the way rainfall interrupts dry season, so did Nigerians anticipate their change.

 It would be needless to advocate for only patriotic support as against party loyalty right now because this government was borne out of party loyalty. It was not only borne out of the personality of the incumbent president but as against the then leading party. So, if this party has taken over, APC shouldn’t become neo PDP. They shouldn’t become the PDP they fought against. They shouldn’t agitate for change based on individual strengths and efforts of Nigerians. We need the change they promised. As the Chinese proverb goes, don’t complain about a broken fence if you cannot fix it.