POLITICAL FOLLOWERSHIP: THE APGA, ABIA EXPERIENCE AND THE BITTER TRUTH
Posted by FN Editor | 5 years ago | 1,639 times
According to Winston Churchill "Truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."
Drawing our reference from this quotation, this paper therefore, shall try to exray and analyze the theory of politics and political followership with reference to APGA in Abia State and some of the age longed illusions surrounding the ownership of APGA Abia State by one man.
In politics, there are two types of followers. The first group is the dedicated party members and faithfuls who joined the party because they believe in the party and will always do everything to support the party.
This group of followers believe in the party and will always abide by the rules, laws, guidelines and conventions governing the party bearing in mind that party is supreme and therefore above any individual member of the party no matter how highly placed.
The second group of followers are those who follow candidates of political parties running for elections. For this group of followers, their interests are the candidates they are following. Their interests are not in the political party, thus their ''memberhip'' of the party is anchored on the fact that their preferred political candidates are running election on the platform of the party. This group of political followers don't believe in the party but only believe in their candidates running for elections and for them, everything about party discipline and loyalty is rhetorics and senseless grammar.
This group lacks respect for the party and it's leadership, but exalt their political party candidates from whom they eat and feed their bellies. When you talk of party and supremacy of the party before this group, they feel like strangulating you. When you tell them that their candidates are under the party, they will ignite fire and brimstone and ask you why you are disparaging their ''political god''. The reason being that ''ebe onye Neri ka ona awachi''.
The ''political Candidates" oriented party followers are so politically myopic with senseless political sentiments which have beclouded their sense of reasoning and judgment to the extent that they refuse to Know and appreciate that the foundation/platform upon where their so called political candidates are standing is the party that have given them ticket and that outside the party as the foundation of their candidature, the candidacy of such persons will automatically collapse.
This is the situation APGA, Abia State found her self in the last 8 years where the party was faced with serious problems and infiltrations of''political Candidates" and their followers who came to hijack the party, thereby forcing and subjecting the party and her teaming members to a one man business where the "central overlord" will sit on his comfortable abode and control everything about the party and where party officers and faithfuls are subjected to the coercive orders of his imperial magesty "as his Magesty pleases"
Thank God for the prompt resilience and doggedness of our party officers in the state with the genuine and unflinching support of our great party leaders in Abia, coupled with the positive direction of the National Leadership of our great party in fighting to redeem the image of our great party in Abia State.The truth must be told no matter whose ox is gored. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on it's shoes.
A lot of lies have been peddled and transmitted against APGA in Abia State by some political sycophants who are not APGA party faithfuls but only political followers of APGA political party candidate. It therefore becomes necessary and expedient to put the records straight so as to unfold and expose the enemies and detractors of APGA in the state who are not party faithfuls, but only selfish drummers who are paid by their politcal pay masters to beat the drum mainly to satisfy and assuage the personal and self aggrandizement of their perceived "demi god' who have decided to challenge the foundation on which he draws political relevance.
In juxtaposing these two groups of political followers, I have come to an irresistible conclusion that candidates come and go but the party remains. Thus, a genuine and acclaimed politician should be more interested in fighting for the integrity and growth of his party, believing in party supremacy rather than playing politics of follow follow where individual candidates see themselves as lords over the party.
Politics is not sentiment and sentiment is not politics. With this in mind, we all who believe in APGA and in it's supremacy over it's individual members should start operating beyond the current distractions and illusions coming from paid political jobbers and sycophants who believed that APGA belongs to one man in Abia State.
Candidates come and go with their political followers who are not party faithfuls but who only joined the party because of their candidates.
This group of followers cannot be dedicated party faithfuls because everything about the supremacy of the party make no sense to them
Let us therefore be more focused in rebuilding APGA for 2023 if indeed you are a core APGA faithful. Let us pay less attention to those who believe that APGA cannot succeed without them.
APGA is bigger than any individual no matter how highly placed. Remember, sycophancy is not good politics. Politics of eye service and sycophancy will ruin anyone that wants to go far in genuine political service to his people.
I will end this paper with the saying of Senator Dino Melaye who said ''Is only in Nigeria that if you say the truth, you will die, if you do not say the truth, you Will still die. So it's better to say the truth and die.''
But I will modify this quotation by Dino by saying that we must always say the truth, especially in APGA, because it is only the truth that can set us free. APGA is not for sale and cannot be left in the hands of those who do not have genuine intentions for the success of the party.
APGA in Abia State remains resolute and focused, and will always support the Noble and lofty dreams of the national leadership of our great party led by Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye in taking the party to the next level. Therefore, we cannot allow never do well politicians in Abia State to truncate the good intentions of Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye led National Working Committee of our great party.
APGA must move forward in Abia State and Nigeria. Long live Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye, our indefatigable National Chairman. Long live APGA, Abia State.
Barr. Chukwuemeka Nwokoro
APGA STATE LEGAL ADVISER, ABIA STATE.
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