TOM MEYASHI, Kaduna State governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the 2011 election, and currently a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), talks to BENJAMIN JIBRIN on the crisis rocking some chapters of the party, Buhari/Tinubu presidential ticket and APC agenda for 2015…
Tom Meyashi
Crisis in APC, particularly Kaduna chapter
I think it is important to underscore that the political evolution of every country and Nigeria as a third world country, specifically, has always been on issue of challenges. A lot of these challenges have to do primarily with the nature and character of the country and the type of political culture that is built. If we use PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) as the mirror, from 1999 when it took over power, it won majority of the elections across the country because it had more local governments, controlled majority of the states and controlled the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Houses of Assembly. One would have expected that this level of victory could have made the PDP sufficiently comfortable to be able to develop a development agenda that would get Nigeria out of the woods, particularly having come out of the military interregnum.
Due to the military interregnum, which was as long as over 13 years of that particular segment, a lot of lessons, which we were supposed to learn as a people in our political process, were lost at that period. The PDP had a unique opportunity to build a political culture that all other parties and democratic institutions in the country would have to imbibe and use it as the baseline. Unfortunately, that has not happened 15 years down the line. The culture that has been built is the politics of money, politics of regionalism, politics of religion and all other vices. Worse still, our youths who formed the majority of the voting population have never experienced democracy in its real sense except in this dispensation. Now, they are caught up in this type of culture where they are being recruited as hooligans, as vanguards to destroy political opponents, whereas the political elite, who are the echelons of the leadership are busy stealing public funds and using the same public funds to corrupt the process. This is what has given birth to APC. We must understand the background. Those who have been in the opposition and those who lately have realised that that type of culture is destructive and leading Nigeria down the line came together to form the APC.
Now, to be able to manage the luggage that has been brought with all the merging parties is definitely a very big problem. There is no doubt that among the merging parties’ constituents, there are some that have acquired a fighting spirit over time that can contend with this recklessness that we are facing. But we must accept the fact that all the merging constituents have not acquired the same level of discipline, the same level of visioning, the same level of standing against the vices we are fighting against to make Nigeria truly a nation.
We still have the problem of raising a patriotic political class. This is the battle we must face.
But there is the other side of it. Now, most ordinary Nigerians have realised that this culture is leading Nigeria into destruction because it is affecting their own lives and they see it in terms of the reality; the objective conditions of their lives is deteriorating, they cannot feed, they cannot pay the school fees of their children, they cannot meet their medical bills. Everything is destroyed. Even those of them that are engaged in primary production such as farming cannot access farm input that will enable them produce even that which they will eat and feed their own families. These realities have opened the eyes of most ordinary Nigerians that the way we are going, we are heading for destruction and so they are prepared to resist.
Resolving Kaduna APC crisis
We are going to get out of it because, ultimately, the will of the people must prevail. The national headquarters of the party is already conversant with what is happening in Kaduna. Majority of the party members in Kaduna understand what is happening, and they are prepared to fight to ensure that these people who are resilient and forcing people to vote for leaders they do not want are going to be defeated.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s role in the crisis
Truly, General Buhari is a leader. As a former head of state, former presidential candidate and somebody who commands the respect of millions of Nigerians across board, definitely he is extremely significant. He is not working in isolation; he is working within the parameter of the structure of the party with his other colleagues. All our leaders are not happy with what is happening. Nobody will endorse a situation whereby election results are concluded and somebody will go and change the results from what the people have voted. Nobody could be happy with that, not to talk of leaders who have credibility like Buhari.
APC taking over in 2015
Don’t also forget that those that APC is fighting have also been in power for over a decade and they are still in power. Nobody will just sit back, having been in power for 15 years, and see power slipping off his hands. It will be most unnatural if PDP sits back and sees power slipping off its hands. Remember that within this period, they have been in control of the resources of this country; they have determined the direction and fate of this country. With the level of corruption in PDP government at the federal, state and local government levels, they see an opposition party that is coming to take over power as a threat – to investigate them and see where the public resources have gone. With this feeling and fear, PDP is not going to take it lightly; they are going to fight it like wounded lions. But will APC be able to wrest power off the PDP? I will tell you, yes.
This PDP empire is definitely going to crumble because it is not built on the principles of justice, equity and fair play.
Imposition of candidates in APC
Who knows whether some of these people are agents or machineries of PDP? But when you crush the master, the agents would be crushed along. PDP people you know are jittery and so they are trying to behave, seeing the strength of the opposition. But this is cosmetic. This is therefore an indication to you that they are aware that something is in the offing, and it is going to be the battle of the century.
PDP defectors as mercenaries
You cannot make that type of blanket statement that everybody that crosses from PDP is a mercenary. Even within the PDP, there are decent people. It is just that their decencies have been overshadowed. But these are dynamics for the struggle for emancipation that you must come to terms with and realise. If you are unable to discern these factors in the struggle for emancipation such as the one we are facing in Nigeria today, you will misread the graph and go wrong. If you talk to any average Nigerian, he will tell you that his life is deteriorating. This reality is what will galvanise and create the synergy that will push the current unequal and exploitative social orders out of place. There are many people who are not in PDP or any party at all and they are suffering. Together they are all part of this vanguard. So, it is not just the vanguard of APC; it is a vanguard of every Nigerian that seeks better life for himself, his children and for the future of Nigeria.
APC stance on zoning
PDP started this zoning thing. It is like politics of sharing. For example, this is a cake; you take this part, and you take this part. That in itself negates the fact that Nigerians know what quality is. How far has zoning taken Nigeria after 15 years? We have reneged on what quality is under this zoning. APC must produce quality leadership right from councillorship to chairman of local government and legislators up the ladder to governor and the president. So anybody who just thinks that this leadership thing is ‘you come and take your own share’ is missing the link. You cannot bring about fundamental change like that. There must be criteria for the emergence of quality leadership. We have seen how PDP zoning ran into problem. We must be careful. The issue is that we must be able to develop a matrix – are there challenges that Nigeria is facing; who and who can solve the problem? By the end of the day, you would have arrived at those people who really can take Nigeria to the promised land. We will not just sit down here and say ‘take your own share’. You must use the challenges that Nigeria is facing as the measuring mirror to determine who can face those challenges and be able to conquer them.
Zoning presidency between the North and South
Nigeria is not a cake that you will just share. It is reducing the psyche and the understanding of Nigerians to just something pedestrian. APC must ensure that within its party mechanism, the best leaders are produced and fielded at all levels of election.
Buhari and Tinubu Muslim/Muslim ticket
Some people must have been interested in creating that controversy and they know why they are flying that type of kite. The best thing is to allow APC to do what it wants to do, so that people can be certain that this is the direction it is going. Who made those who are speaking the spokespersons of APC? In any case, this is what democracy is all about. People have right to air their views. But no matter what views you hold and no matter how strong your views are, those views must be tested within the paradigm of democracy, and the people will have the final say.
Didn’t PDP say they are going to rule for 60 years? We hope that we will be alive, and even if we die, there are other Nigerians that have heard it and who will still be around, and let us see how they will be able to hit 60 years in power. APC will take its decision at the right time and Nigerians will see that decision and judge APC from that decision.
Not yet decided on presidential candidate
We are far away from there. I think there are people who are already jittery and they think that if they fly that type of kite, they can destabilise and change the mindset of people. I know that Nigerians want quality leadership and that is what APC is going to produce.
Winning Kaduna in 2015
I wish PDP goodluck. Let them go and sleep and think that nobody can push them out because Nigeria was created for them, and so they can put it in their pocket or put it on the table and shift its position as they like. As they have said, they are going to be here for 60 years.
Disappointment over APC crisis
People should see this as a realistic evolution of a mass movement. There is no way you can have a mass movement that does not face challenges, particularly where you have a galvanisation of different perspectives and understandings of what this process is all about. This would be sorted out. We must all fight back and make sure that we construct a platform that is strong and virile to be able to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian people. It is a shifting period and process. If you don’t go through this type of crisis, you will never be able to identify who are the real people that can do something.
