For the second time in three years, an emergent name on the Nigerian political scene reminded me of a cutting from an American newspaper that Dr. Haruna Sanusi gave me in Sokoto in the 1980s. Reverend Jerry Falwell’s right-wing, televangelical Moral Majority movement was making waves in the US at the time.Years before its eventual collapse in 1989, the author of the article wrote with the headline, “Moral Majority is Neither.”
I am thinking of the All Democratic Alliance [ADA], the new political associationfounded by opposition chieftains in this country, which applied to INEC for registration late last week. Media reports described ADA as “a coalition comprising politicians from multiple parties and ideological backgrounds.” Did the coalition describe itself as such, or did reporters make this up? In this world, a political party formed by people of different ideological convictions is a recipe for chaos. Maybe a national liberation front could be made as such, but not a political party, which seeks to acquire power around a certain program, which in turn is rooted in ideology.
The acronym ADA is cleverly designed to place the party near the top of the ballot paper.Starting your name with an “A” is clever; alphabetically, AD is ahead of APC. This is important because in Nigeria, the ballot paper is often very long and some voters are not patient enough to go searching for a party’s name and symbol close to the bottom.
ADA’s name did not ring an instant bell, though it appears to be an amalgam of bits and pieces of successful names in the Nigerian terrain. Some political parties in this Republic borrowed names directly from previous parties, such as SDP and PRP, while one party, APGA, slightly amended the name UPGA from a First Republic AG/NCNC political alliance. ADA’s name is however an amalgamation of name elements in this Republic. “All” featured in the name of All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP], which at one time ruled nine states. When it melted into APC, it took the “All” along with it. On the other hand, “Democratic” featured prominently in the name of PDP, which ruled at the federal level for sixteen years and at one time ruled in 25 states. “Alliance” features in the name of All Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA], under whose banner Peter Obi ruled Anambra State for eight years. ADA leaders also tout their coming together as an alliance to drive out APC after 12 years in power at the federal level by 2027.
ADA’s biggest aspiration,far as I can seefrom the name, is to be “democratic.” Too many Nigerian political parties claimed to be democratic, only to degenerate into autocracies or even one-man shows. Some parties had their registration certificates cornered by one person, who claims to own the party. “Democratic” parties in Nigeria often dispense with regular meetings, strip party organs of their key functions, trample on the party’s constitution and rules, adopt a top-to-bottom approach to policy making, anoint rather than elect officials, and party organs “endorse” some people as “sole candidates” years before primary elections.
In Nigeria, the first [and quite often, the last] thing people ask for when they hear about a new political party is, “who are its leaders?” Political names, rather than symbols, manifestoes or programs are the most important success factors for Nigerian political parties. This game was played adroitly by the political parties of the Second Republic.Upon itsfounding in September 1978, Unity Party of Nigeria [UPN] gained instant traction in some parts of the country soon as it was revealed that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was its leader. Peoples Redemption Party [PRP] gained instant traction in some states when Malam Aminu Kano took the podium in Kaduna and announced its formation [some of its leaders later said the earlier agreed name was People’s Revolutionary Party, but that Malam Aminu unilaterally changed it to Redemption as he climbed the podium].
Nigeria Peoples Party [NPP, before it split into NPP and GNPP] was struggling at the time to gain traction by revealing its leaders as Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, Chief Solomon Lar and Paul Unongo. This was in NPP’s early days; soon afterwards, old First Republic NCNC men flooded in and invited the titanic Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe to come in and take over its leadership.
National Party of Nigeria [NPN] then arrived with a very big bang.It unveiled as its leaders a long list of nearly one hundred persons, from all over the country, including First Republic and military-era ministers, prominent technocrats, diplomats and academics as well as recently retired soldiers and policemen. Such as, former Federal Commissioner of Education Dr. Ahmadu Ali, Gowon-era Police Inspector General Kam Salem, former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Clement Isong, not to forget Chief Jerome Udoji, then an adored household name in Nigeria due to the juicy Udoji salary award of 1974.
ADA played the same game at the weekend. Among its promoters are such high-profile politicians as Atiku Abubakar, the close runner-up in the 2023 presidential election, and Mr. Peter Obi, a close third-place finisher in the same elections. Also listed as ADA’s promoters are former Senate President David Mark, former Rivers State governor and Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, former Osun State governor and Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, former Edo State governor and APC National Chairman John Odigie Oyegun, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Sokoto State governor and House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawan, former PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus, and former Minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka. When all these men depart to ADA, PDP and LP will soon be hollow, and their remaining governors and MPs must decide what to do.
It is an impressive list, but politically speaking, it falls short of the All Progressives Congress’ [APC] political gunfire of 2013. Whereas ADA’s grand entry now relies on the stature in politics of its individual leaders, APC brought together three full-fledged political parties [ACN, ANPP and CPC] as well as a major faction of APGA led by then Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha. In total it had 13 sitting governors; ADA so far has none. APC subsequently got a powerful boost when a faction of the ruling PDP, called nPDP, defected to it with five sitting governors. Quite likely, major factions of PDP and LP will defect to ADA when it is registered. Inthe next year or two,disgruntled APC elements could also defect toADA, especially after next year’s primaries.
ADA leaders must have thought carefully about the party’s symbol, which is very important in Nigerian politics. PDP having cornered the umbrella, APC cornered the broom while Labour Party cornered the wheel logo, ADA leaders amalgamated some items, the most curious being the corn. They described it as a commitment to food security. In the Second Republic, corn was a central item in NPN’s “house and maize” symbol, which the party tried to actualise through the Green Revolution program, with limited success.
ADA described itself in documents submitted to INEC last week as “a transformational political force with a clear moral compass, inspired by the enduring symbolism of a corn – food security and national prosperity. Our emblem – flanked by the Red, Blue and Green – encapsulates our mission – i.e. to sow the spirit of sacrifice, energy and bold leadership to create public order and responsible leadership that would in turn enable self-reliance and prosperity on the basis of justice and national unity.” A clear moral compass is certainly needed in Nigeria, but it does not comecheap. Such a claim must be buttressed by the force of personal example and personal history. General Muhammadu Buhari had this record when he first waded into politics in 2002. By the time he served two terms as president, it was in tatters.
ADA’s Vision Statement said it is out “to establish a united, just, fair and progressive Nigerian state founded on democratic ideals, social equity, economic self-reliance and scientific progress.” This word “progressive,” which forms the core of APC’s name, is suspect in Nigeria these days. In a situation where “progressives” became more ardent free-marketers than conservatives, ended all state subsidies, engaged in wholesale currency deregulationand showed autocratic tendencies, “progressive” has lost its lustre in Nigerian politics.
A promise to be fair and just also sounds suspect to anyone who has been around in Nigeria for a while and has seen many governments come and go. In the 1970s when I was growing up in Sokoto, a story made the rounds that when a new Military Governor arrived in the state, he visited Sultan Abubakar III and said he was here to correct all the wrongs. The aging Sultan, very secure after four decades on the throne, reportedly said, “Even the other one said the same thing when he first came.”
ADA’s red, blue and green is an odd combination of colours, though each one is meant to represent something. Probably, there was a struggle within the Alliance program drafting committee, headed by David Mark, before this amalgam of colours was adopted. Internationally, red colour symbolises left-wing politics, socialism, communism and revolution.None of the ADA leaders is known to be left-wing, including Peter Obi, who drops Chinese figures at the drop of a coin. Green, which also features prominently in Nigeria’s national flag, is probably meant to indicate a devotion to agriculture. Internationally, blue colour denotes peace, and is the United Nations’ choice colour. UN’s peace keepers in the world’s trouble spots always spot blue helmets. ADA leaders are however out to cause disruption, rather than peace, on the Nigerian political terrain.
Party slogan is very important in Nigerian politics. When party leaders mount the rostrum during rallies, they repeatedly shout the party’s name while supporters respond with the slogan. ADA’s adopted slogan is “Justice for All.” We all want justice, surely, but they will do better to shorten the slogan to one word or two for ease of sloganeering by party thugs.It looks like ADA has met the legal and political mark to earn registration, so INEC should please hurry up and register it. Only then will we know whether it is “All,” “Democratic” or even an “Alliance.”
Credit:This Day