SOME SUGGESTIONS ON THE WAY FORWARD ON BUILDING A STRONG PDP. By Akyala Ishaku Based on the preceding analysis, the PDP may want to take a cue from the strategies of party building employed by some of the relevant mass parties examined. But in doing so, the PDP has to address the issues raised in Section 8 of this paper (i.e. – it must address the Internal Contradictions that pose challenges to the party’s strength). In particular, we suggest the following steps: Restoring the Party to the Values of the Founding Fathers: It is wise to start any attempt at political re-engineering within the PDP by returning the party to respect and practically uphold the values of its founding fathers. Values of internal democracy guide the way. The party should, as of deliberate policy, insist on internal elections as against appointments to positions and fielding of candidates for elective offices. Complimentary elements of internal democracy that should be encouraged include: tolerance of internal dissention so long as these do not jeopardise the collective good, accommodation, party unity, rule of lawand supremacy of the party. Doing these will practically rekindle hope among the party members and wield them together into one big, unbreakable, impenetrable family covered by the umbrella. Mass Political Education:The PDP may want to borrow a leaf from the NEPU/PRP type of political education, of course with obvious modifications required by the changing times. Party forums provide easy and no-cost platforms to educate members on a range of issues about the party, politics in general, history and the workings of governments – Local, State and Federal. It will also serve a great deal of good to bring back public lecture series and mass meetings. The party may, from time to time, organize public lectures for party activists on specific party or PDP Government policy issues. Eloquent speakers are invited to speak and interactive engagements encouraged between the lecturer and the participants. At this time when the PDP is taking a bashing from an even much weaker opposition, the experience and knowledge of some of our leaders need to be challenged through public lectures and mass meetings. This may be done at the national level and replicated at the lower levels of the party’s organizational structure up to the Wards. Similarly, In addition to reach-out techniques through mass media outlets, production and distribution of party literature on various issues, the active use of Information, Communications Technology (ICT) is highly desirable as a strategy of building the party and raising the consciousness of its members. The party may have to establish its own effective portals (which must be functional 24/7). This is critical in order to allow maximum interface between the party and its members, supporters, sympathisers and even critics round the clock on the web’s social networks. These will help in building the confidence and sense of belonging of PDP members and also facilitate the building of strong chapters with the resilience required by the challenges of deepening democracy in Nigeria. Active Party Organs: The project of building strong party chapters will be assisted by addressing the issues raised in Sections 10.1 and 10.2 above. For this to be achieved, the party’s organs at the grassroots have to be revitalized by making engaging them through series of activities.The party comes alive and strong only if its organs are active and functioning. Indicators of such engagements may be seen in how often they hold regular meetings - weekly, monthly, etc. The meetings provide the party with the platform to conduct its mass political education programme to raise the political consciousness of PDP faithful. In-House Training of Party Cadres: PDP may wish to take up the challenge of poor capacity of its local officials by organizing in-house capacity building sessions for them. Luckily the party has its own institute – the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) which, if properly funded can work wonders and even generate substantial income for the party. There are also many Non-Governmental Organisations, domestic and international, who are willing to support building the capacity of the party’s officialsto be better managers of the PDP. These if properly and meticulously explored, will help build strong chapters and raise quality leaders for the party and governments. Capacity building of both the party’s officials and its bureaucrats is a clear licence for ensuring continuity, stability, recruitment of quality leaders into leadership positions as well as building of strong institutions that can survive challenges. Active Engagement of Women and Youth:Building strong institutions including party chapters may have to be predicated on two very critical segments of the Nigerian population that are politically active: women and youths. The youths are the most physically and mentally agile and active elements in Nigeria’s political system. They are often the foot-soldiers of all successful mass-based political parties in recent history. Their energies need to be deliberately challenged in the positive direction. This is as security assurance as it is a catalyst for building strong party rooted in the future before tomorrow comes. In alliance with the youths, women are central to any social engineering andsocialisation project. As a distinct social category in modern society, women are very powerful in both influence and number, and numbers matter in any democracy. The PDP’s project of building strong chapters and raising the political consciousness of party members necessarily calls for deliberate partnership between women and youths.Such a partnership works better if it is centred on concrete issuesthat affect the lives of elements of both categories. CONCLUSION The PDP faces a big challenge of holding on to the massive confidence that Nigerians have reposed in it. The party will continue to win the support and confidence of Nigerians if it manages its electoral victories well by not taking anything for granted. Not doing so, may transform the high expectations into low expectations, negative image and further weakness of the party. The party needs to also pay more than lip-service attention to the values of internal democracy and all its elementsif it is to build strong institutions and give Nigerians the quality leadership they expect it will give them. It is common wisdom that, one cannot give what s/he does not possess; we have to be ourselves democratic if we are to give Nigerians the democracy they fought hard to gain from the military. It is also, a historical inevitability that, the growth of any institution that chooses to remain static or survives on false consciousness rested on all ‘motion without movement’ will, at a point freeze and give way to something else. If positive changes along the lines discussed are not initiated and vigorously pursued, the PDP stands the risk of self-liquidation; after all, it is becoming self-evident that, the only serious opposition to PDP is PDP itself. In this project of panel-beating and renewal, the party must search for that big idea that stands it out from the crowd. Institutions survive the dynamics of constantly evolving forces of time and space, only if they are clearly identifiable by what they truly stand for. So, PDP’s strength is guaranteed if only it is organized around the defined ‘big idea’ that gives it unique and distinctive identity. The mark of such a ‘big idea’ is the political praxis that is unique to it. Without this, whatever strength is injected into the party will only be artificial and temporal.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 18:59:04 +0000