2023 Election: South East and the parable of the bandwagon

BY  BILLY NWOYE

A certain group of people owned a farm X. These group of persons have invested in building the farm and every time they take their products to the market place, they always outsell other groups.

One day, one member of the group decided to leave. Without informing and discussing with the other owners and workers in the farm, he joined another group of persons that owned farm Y. Now there are three market days.

The first market day, each farm sold tomato. The second market day, rice and the third market day, Yam. Members and workers of Farm X who because of sentiments and emotions decide to move around the town telling the villagers to buy Pepper from Farm Y but on other days, they should buy rice and yam from Farm X.

They kept on marketing Farm Y aggressively and in no time, the villagers became convinced that Farm Y is a better brand than Farm X. On the market days, the villagers bought Pepper from Farm Y. The next market day, carrying over that habit, they bought rice from Farm Y and on the third market day, they bought Yam from Farm Y. At the end, Farm X lost all their market share to Farm Y that became the new darling of the villagers.

Members and workers of Farm X invested their resources and efforts in promoting Farm Y for a particular product and ended up losing every product to Farm Y. They never knew that they were building Farm Y at the expense of their own Farm and by the time they realized that all their customers have shifted to Farm Y, it was too late.

The PDP family in the South East is Farm X and the Labour Party is Farm Y.

Politics is a serious business as former governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani rightly observed. It is a business of branding where you work tirelessly to sell your brand name, logo and capabilities so that the people can easily identify with during elections. You cannot be advertising and working your brand here and then de-marketing and sabotaging your brand there. In the end, a rival brand will be the winner and you, the loser.

Since 1999, the south east has been a critical part of the PDP. In the south east, people have invested, toiled, given their blood and sweat for the growth of the party and the actualization of various interests. It is true that the party is yet to be a vehicle for people of the east to ascend the highest office in the country yet, through the party, several interests have been achieved and several interests are being pursued. Igbos in the PDP are not just looking at the Presidency, there are Igbos in the PDP vying for governorship, Senate, house of representatives, state house of assembly, councillors and local government chairmen. There are Igbos hoping to head one or two Government ministry, agency and department through the vehicle of the PDP. The interest of the igbos in the PDP is more than just the office of the President. South East PDP family must note this. In an attempt to protest losing the Presidency in the party, they may end up losing other positions of interests. From local to national level.

Peter Obi is a true son of the South East but Peter Obi is not the only true son of the South East. There are other sons and daughters of the South East hoping to actualize their dreams in the PDP and this we must not forget. Should we leave our brothers in the party and support another our brother in another new party ? Are we willing to watch out brothers lose to others in another party because we followed a bandwagon to build and market another party ?

The laughable and inexperienced response is the one advising the South East PDP to work for another party at the federal level and then return to work for the party at the state and local level. Any attempt to proceed with this will only end up in the Farm X and Farm Y analogy.

Let’s take a look at history. The AD tried this same thing in 2003 and lost all their states to the PDP. In Anambra, despite the APGA having the strongest party structure, they always lose out in the general elections as the PDP win more house of assembly seats, Senate seats and house of reps seats than the APGA. This is simply because during general elections, the APGA usually decide to align and work with another party forgetting that they also have party members contesting for different positions. The Gubernatorial elections is different for them because it is usually done in a different year, far from the general elections so they are focused and committed on that. After that, what happens to other seats in the general election when APGA decides to endorse PDP for President ? Do they not lose in the Senate, house of reps and state assemblies whose elections take place in the same window as the Presidential ? In 2015, PDP governors in the North decided to work for APC at the federal level and PDP at the state level. What happened ? Most of them lost their state offices to the APC. APC took over the entire state in the process.

This is what will happen to South East PDP when they eventually decide to work for labour party at the Presidential. They will unconsciously build labour party and end up being the losers when the chicken come home to roost.

The Presidential, Senate, Governorship, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly elections all happen in the same period, within a close space of 3 weeks. People in the villages who you enlightened to vote for labour party in the presidential election will go ahead to cast their vote for the same labour party in the Senate, house of representatives, Governorship and state house of assembly. How do you undo and separate their minds from voting A here and voting B there ? Will the labour party who have candidates in different offices agree to do the same favor you intend to do for them at the Presidential election in the election for different offices ? Can’t you see that the moment you give in to this bandwagon mentality, you risk losing your slots to the Labour party ? Again, Farm X and Farm Y analogy.

As the campaign draws near, you are either here or there. You cannot be one leg here and one leg there. You will fall terribly. You cannot be PDP and Labour party at the same time. Choose your hustle.

Remember, on the election day, there will be no Tinubu or Atiku or Obi on the ballot. There will be no Igbo or Yoruba or fulani on the ballot. There will only be umbrellas and brooms and people and all that. There will only be party. You are working for the party and not an individual, party will always be supreme.

Before his defection from the PDP family, Peter Obi ought to have consulted with the many Igbo stakeholders in the party who are also vying for other positions and pursuing their own personal and group interests in the party. This is how it is done. But he unilaterally left to a new party and expects the south east PDP to abandon their own Farm and build his ? This does not make political sense.

Sticking with the PDP is the best chance of the South East PDP to make it to the presidency. As the PDP is the only party with the national structure to wrestle power from the ruling APC.

Chimaroke has spoken. Separate the emotions and sentiments and face the real business. It is either PDP from top to bottom or nothing in the end. Do not let the South East PDP family be another example in history. Like the AD, like the APGA and like the PDP in the North in 2015.

This doesn’t mean we harbour any hatred for our brothers in the labour party or other parties. Business is business. Politics is politics. After the elections, we will all sit together around one table as umunnem and umunna. But for now, FOCUS. It is PDP from top to bottom. Again I say, Focus. Fall back in line and FOCUS

Hon. William “Billy” Nwoye
Former Adviser to 2 Governor’s in California USA, and First elected Nigerian in USA,