Permit me to bore you with a little story. Once upon a time, a man wanted to buy a house and so, he contacted his estate agent who took him to a ramshackle old house. The man, offended, sacked his agent and recruited another. The new agent began to take the man around again and brought him to that same house, formerly ramshackle but now, more presentable with a new lick of paint. The man was more interested and went in. End of story. Yes, craze dey worry me but, be patient, you will understand my story soon.
Late last evening, I got an alert on my phone, from a friend who wanted to notify me of the latest ‘breaking news’ in our political circles. According to the reports, one of the PDP Stalwarts was alleged to have jumped ship and crossed over to the APC. For her, a strong APC goon, this was good news. For me, it meant something totally different.Firstly, I had to confirm and re-confirm this story because I do not want to be accused of misinforming my readers. Abi? I nor fit let all of una come here, bite my head say I dey spread rumour, or that I misled you guys. Do you remember the Winners Voltrons from yesterday?I nor want their palaver. I realise now that people will very easily jump over that tiny, yet so important word – ‘alleged’ – and rush to their conclusions with blazing swords. Just like voltron, they will activate interlock and do dynotherms connected, on top small matter. Anyway, sixteen years of PDP education in this country can do that to anyone, so I totally understand.Secondly, I also wondered why this stalwart would opt to choose APC again. After all, there are other political parties in the country? Why APC? What makes APC so attractive to these cross over people? Some of the other parties we have include the Kowa Party, Hope Party, National Conscience Party amongst others. I wonder if these PDP crossover guys are even aware of the variety they have to choose from or if they just want to hang out with their old cronies in this ‘new improved’ APC. In fact, it seems I’m going too far sef. How many of us know all the political parties and the presidential candidates wey dey sef? Why this attraction for the APC? Is it possible that the PDP crossovers only need new allies that would safeguard them from the forthcoming yawa that could gas for corrupt people or perhaps there is an oath that is silently sworn in APC, upon your crossover? Something that could go like this: I, ….. (fill in your name) do solemnly swear that old things are passed away and I shall not be tiffing Nigeria’s money again. So help me God.Thirdly, the struggle between ‘Looking for my Johnny’ and ‘Change your parade’ has gone a little stale. I really would not have minded something that could ginger the scene up a little bit. Therefore, this alleged ship jumper, who is well within his rights to jump if he so desired, could do us a favour and head over to one of those other parties. Abi e get wetin APC dey give them chop ni?At the end of the day, this our ‘two main party’ system might not be the best thing to have happened to this country. One has to consider the possibility that a more qualified candidate could exist somewhere in the mix of the 160 million Nigerians and could be in one of the other political parties. Although to be fair to us all, these other parties haven’t really pulled their weight, have they? I wonder why the other parties have done so little thus far. Abi na profit them wan make from this game ni?After all, the government gives some money when you run for Presidency.Most importantly, I began to fear that this ‘Change Campaign’ had begun to get diluted. If this alleged person really came on board, then it would further confuse me of the actual possibility of change. At the end of the day, it looks like the old and new wife could begin to have too many traits in common.After tortuously making several calls, it did not seem as though the gist was true but a huge question mark had formed in my mind. The question formed because irrespective of whether this stalwart defects or not, the APC is really full of ex – PDP politicians. I therefore attempted to count the number of crossover cases and in truth, they are too many to mention. Some that readily come to mind are Rotimi Amaechi, Timipre Sylva, Bukola Saraki oh, how can I forget my main man Atiku?One wonders therefore that if this Buhari led APC Government would therefore be able to embark on the crusade many have long hoped for? How would he be able to fight corruption when his new cronies are the ones who were part of a PDP that institutionalised it? How will APC now be able to bring about the change that so many long for?Agreed, General Buhari has a track record for being a no nonsense man of high integrity but how will he fare in a democratic environment where he has to work within the ambit of laid down laws? When I raised this issue with my hard core Buharist friends, they opined that he would still successfully fight corruption. He could do a round about turn after he has been installed in office and begin to tackle corruption in a very robust manner – it would not matter what political party you come from, nobody would be above the law.My initial thought about this was yimu, it can never work in Nigeria, However, a Nigeria where all men are equal is indeed very alluring. Who knows it could work? There could be something that I might be missing. I would like to know the ‘hows’ and ‘whens’. APC needs to give us those answers because they have begun to look like that old house that has only gotten a new lick of paint. After all, no matter the amount of revamping done on an old house, the foundations would remain the same. Abi nor be so?Therefore, one wonders if this wind of change would be permitted to blow when the whole area is seemingly contaminated with the same putrid smell we have long been used to. What are your thoughts? Do yo think the APC can bring about the change that we desire?Over to you, the verdict is yours…
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