There are several areas of grave concerns from which the Atiku Campaign team can draw motivations while pursuing issues-oriented campaign initiatives

Chris Nonyelum

Before now, there was palpable tension and misgivings in the polity concerning the ability of the leaders of the PDP to conduct credible, free and fair party primaries in which the choices of the delegates would not be subverted or shortchanged or unduly manipulated to favour a particular candidate. After the attempt at presenting a consensus candidate failed, there were fears that those with powerful, subterranean agenda, not entirely in the best interest of the country might hijack the Presidential Primaries and engender in the process, discontent, protests and feelings of alienation from disgruntled candidates and their supporters. There were indeed good reasons for nursing such fears.

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We had in the past been inundated with rancour and bitterness that often trailed Party Primaries in which attempts were made either to subvert the will of the delegates or foist unpopular candidates on the electorate. So, there were genuine suspicions that the PDP might not be able to present a common, formidable, united and virile opposition capable of constructively engaging and challenging the failures of the incumbent administration.

A disjointed, disorganized opposition, burdened by divisive factional infighting without cohesion would naturally clear the coast for the incumbent administration to cruise to victory even in the midst of glaring non performance and inability to chart a new course of economic prosperity for the country. It was however, a pleasant surprise seeing how the PDP leaders allayed our fears by conducting a transparent; hitch free, credible Presidential Primary election, without rancour, bitterness and disgruntlement from contestants who lost out. The good news is not just about the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the Party’s Presidential flag bearer, it is also about the ability of the Party leaders to allow for a level playing ground in which it was possible for the delegates to pick the most viable candidate with the greatest appeal across the borders and enclaves of the various contending interests in the Presidential Primaries. There was indeed a common belief within political circles that Atiku Abubakar, ‘seems the most strategically positioned to wrench power from the incumbent President’

The emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential flag bearer of the PDP in the recently concluded Presidential Primaries was therefore, a reaffirmation of the confidence already reposed in him by most political pundits and also explicit approval by the Party delegates of the thinking of majority of Nigeria’s grassroots politicians. There is general discontent and a feeling of disillusion and frustration with the way the APC government has so far handled the affairs of government in the country. There are several areas of grave concerns from which the Atiku Abubakar’s Campaign team can draw inspirations and motivations while pursuing issues-oriented campaign initiatives devoid of the usual unnecessary campaigns of rancour, calumny and undue character assassination. The thematic content of Atiku’s campaign initiatives can be approached in a threefold manner. First, the failures of the present administration must be well articulated in critical ways that will appeal positively to the sensibilities of the Nigerian electorates. Second, Atiku’s potentialities, willingness, eagerness and ability to harness his God-given natural endowments to move the country forward must be given priority.

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Some of the major hallmarks of the Atiku persona hitherto unknown to the common masses of this country must be brought to national limelight. He seems to have the Midas touch, a knack for business and good investments, an attribute lacking in most Nigerian leaders. He will most likely attract international investors from which the country would reap tremendously economic gains. This is the time for the directors of the Atiku campaign to unveil him to the Nigerian public; especially the grassroots folks who do not actually know well enough the true stuff he is made of. The APC did this perfectly well in 2015. Even though the average Nigerian men and women knew Buhari was once the military head of state, greater impetus was given to his character as a man of unassailable integrity.

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The third area of focus is the articulation of a fool-proof economic blueprint that would address key development imperatives of Atiku’s administration. Such blueprint should target primarily at improving the economic lot of the less privileged and the sustenance of a virile middle class. There is endemic poverty in the land, a lingering sense of despair and frustration and lack of trust in the government’s ability to address the issues of pervading hopelessness and unemployment among the youths. Stringent economic measures must be taken to address the perennial issues of the gaping inequalities between the rich and the poor.

The quest to win the 2019 presidential election should be collective in approach with the leaders of the opposition PDP convincing Nigerians that they have indeed turned a new leaf and are prepared and conscientiously willing to lead the country to a new era of economic prosperity and wellbeing. The campaign should not focus on familiar promises of improving the lot of the people just in the usual theoretical and often rhetorical speech deliveries and mere display of grandiloquent oratorical expertise. The practicability of the economic measures the government intends to pursue vigorously in the next four years should be articulated with copious examples of where and how such development models have impacted positively on the well being of the poor in other countries of the world.

The APC style of leadership is a threat to the survival of democracy in Nigeria. This is a matter of grave concern and should be one of the major campaign thrust of the opposition. Instances of gross violation of people’s rights and subversions of the democratic tenets are too many and are already instilling fears down the spines of Nigerians. The most challenging hurdle the opposition must tackle and find ways of checkmating is election rigging.

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Nonyelum writes from Onitsha, Anambra State