There Are No Little Or Small Problems In Politics
The Oasis Reporters
July 8, 2018
The reason conflict resolution mechanisms are provided for in virtually all organizations is self explanatory. It is normal for some form of problems to occur in an organization which is why procedures for resolving such are provided for, but whether such laid down procedures are deployed when problems rear their heads is the issue.
In politics, more often than not, problems usually come up. It is to be expected that the conflict resolution mechanisms are deployed to sort out the areas or issues in contention. Since the political space is a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly, it is normal for problems to come up occasionally. When the aggrieved parties are given a fair hearing, the problems could very quickly be resolved. It must be understood that individuals or indeed groups became members of a political party in the pursuit of certain interests and any action designed to frustrate or undermine such interests could become the precursor to problems.
As earlier mentioned, there are no small or little problems in politics. The earlier what may otherwise be described as small or little problems are identified, immediate steps must be taken to resolve them otherwise they soon graduate to bigger problems.
Many a political party have been caught on the back foot for not dealing expeditiously with small or little problems in the Party. Without having to go a long way along memory lane to further elucidate this truth, the undoing of the PDP which held sway in this nation’s political history is classic enough. When during its hay days, her occupants boasted that their political party would hold power for at least 60 years. The PDP however did manage to hold on to power for only 16 of the 60 it had boasted about. Its greatest undoing being a mix of arrogance and complacency which eventually became responsible for lack of internal democracy. Some efforts to rescue the PDP from the brink failed as those who advocated that internal democracy be strengthened were instead called names and castigated, the rest is now history.
Nature, we are told abhors a vacuum, therefore a some political forces mainly from the opposition parties and those estranged from the PDP fused together to form the All Progressive Congress and went on to wrestle power at the center and in many of the States preaching the sermon of CHANGE.
In spite of the fact that things were already looking gloomy for the nation,our people held on to the belief that the necessary repair works would be put into effect to restore confidence and stability but it has been easier said than done. From my personal point of view, I was an advocate of the position that given the obvious fact the APC inherited a bad situation economically time was needed to stabilize the situation. Adding insults to injury, there was a crash in the oil market further putting more strain on the economy. Transiting from the PDP years of plenty to the APC years of austerity meant that trouble was around the corner. Perhaps if there was inclusiveness in the style of governance at the center and particularly in Kaduna State it is possible that the current rumblings in the APC would have been avoided all together. Many of the political players who invested their quality time and resources to wrestle political power from the PDP were left stranded in no man’s land or if you prefer “a political wilderness”.
I recall back in the days of the struggle just before the gubernatorial elections in Kaduna state seeing two very prominent retired senior military officers who provided a fulcrum on which much of the planning before the election day hung play very active roles to have occasioned the victory in the State. I never saw one of them again until just a few months back and after greeting him, I politely enquired if he had been out of the State and probably the country. His response was short. Immediately after the victory, they were done away with.
This is exactly what played out in Kaduna for many who keyed into making victory in Kaduna State possible. Kaduna has gone on to slide into dictatorship most unprecedented in its history. Not even during the dark days of military rule could any governor/administrator have contemplated such dictatorial policies as during the governorship of Mallam Nasiru El Rufai. Kaduna State as things currently stand, is only but an empty shell of her former self. The governor and his administration are so self vaunting that nobody can venture an advice as the El Rufai team is all knowing and infallible. Name calling, blackmail, intimidation and physical assault on perceived opponents of the gang in Sir Kashim Ibrahim House became the modus operandi of the government.
So much pains have been inflicted on our people that they are only looking up to the heavens from whence they hope their salvation may come. While we wait for our cries to get up there, we should be preparing for 2019 when we shall be presented with yet another opportunity to cast our votes. We are on standby come 2019 to see what alchemy will be performed as to cause our mourning population into voting for a government that has impoverished, humiliated and insulted them the way the El Rufai dictatorship has. I need not say that it will be payback time in 2019 make no mistake about that.
Potholes, even gaping gullies which dot our highways do not suddenly develop in just one day no matter the amount of rainfall. They start with just a little crack and if not immediately mended or repaired will over time keep widening and deepening until they become death traps and there are many of these on our roads and highways. And so it is on the political turf. The conflict resolution mechanisms should always be put into action the moment there is a complaint, disagreement or indeed petition without minding how trivial they may appear. Neglecting these or sweeping them under the carpet is a recipe for bigger problems to develop. Such was the kind of approach the defunct Odigie Oyegun leadership cartel of the APC deployed.
From the Kaduna State Chapter of the APC, many petitions were sent and delivered to the Chief Oyegun leadership of the Party and to the Presidency with regard to the leadership style of the El Rufai dictatorship but nothing came forth from any. The Oyegun leadership of the APC was compromised in so many ways. Essentially, it was focused on maintaining the status quo and the interest of those in power which is why it failed woefully to reconcile the feuding parties. The Oyegun leadership was very much like an item for sale to the highest bidder on a cash and carry basis. For us in Kaduna State, there was nothing you could say about the El Rufai regime that will interest the Chief Odigie Oyegun leadership.
For instance, consider the flagrant flouting of the electoral rules and procedures during the non elective three-man delegate elections, the Party Congresses as well as the dubious, highly contentious and inconclusive local Council polls. The President of the Republic belatedly appointed the Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu reconciliation committee but Oyegun made sure this Committee did not take off let alone attempt reconciling any of the feuding parties. The fact remains that had the father of the APC in President Muhammadu Buhari not been negligent of playing the fatherly responsibility Chief Oyegun and his gang would not have succeeded in undermining APC from within. Now, he is gone leaving the APC in a precarious situation. Mr Adams Oshiomole is now occupying the ruined house and while his ascendancy amounts to TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE to save the Party, he himself is not helping the deteriorating situation by his combative rhetoric and name calling.
Similarly in Kaduna State, we have passed the point of no return in our relationship with the Mallam. The battle lines are clearly drawn such that not even a Henry Kissinger can negotiate or broker any return from the brink.
I conclude this post by bringing to the fore, just in case some have forgotten that both those who end up as the occupants of the homes built by votes of the electorate are all important.
Written by Col. Dauda Gora (rtd).
He is the Chairman of the Reformed-APC and has been a regular contributor to The Oasis Reporters before his new appointment.
