My dear Asiwaju, I must first apologize for using this open medium to reach you. I had no choice especially as I know that it may be difficult to reach you personally at Bourdillon. I only have to hold on to a thread of hope, believing strongly that this piece will come to your attention, maybe from one of the numerous ACN online activists.
Recent even...ts in Ondo State in particular and the SouthWest in general have triggered off this letter. Before I continue, I also wish to engage in full disclosure. I am an ACN sympathizer. I voted for ACN at all times except for the Presidency when my vote went to Buhari. I still believe that ACN remains the most virile platform to provide our people with superior service. I can therefore humbly state that this message is borne out of patriotic zeal and is also in recognition of your noble efforts to establish the footholds of the party all over Nigeria.
Now to the crux of the matter. It is pertinent that there should be a holistic review of the recent elections in Ondo State and why ACN turned up so badly that it came third- after LP and even PDP. It has never been this bad for our great party. What went wrong? How come ACN couldn't even win in 3 Local Governments out of about 18? How could PDP finished better than ACN? Is it that the populace are beginning to have a re-think? How come the output was so poor in spite of the massive propaganda and rallies attended by our leaders such as your good self, ACN governors, Chief Bisi Akande and others? What will make ACN lose Ikoyi of all places to Obanikoro of PDP?How did ACN get to this sorry pass?
Please permit me to share a honest analysis of what I believe you should critically consider if our great party is not to suffer even greater losses in the nearest future-God forbid. Please take note that it takes courage to stand and speak up like I am doing but I also believe it will take courage on your part to also sit down and listen.
1. INTERNAL DEMOCRACY- Sir, there is no internal democracy in ACN. Aketi is certainly a good candidate and most likely the best of the lot. However, the method for choosing him caused rancour and the process was less than transparent. You have been accused severally of 'selective' democracy. You have often handpicked Governors, Senators and House of Rep members. I still remember the ruckus in Ekiti between Babafemi Ojudu, Dele Alake and others. Who knows what happened to Senator Bode Ola, the man who spent just about a year and was not allowed to go back to the Senate? I have heard that you said ACN has a special way of choosing your party reps. With all respect, Sir, ACN cannot continue to operate like a cult in the 21st Century. Even UPN, the Party your ACN is modeled around, had better internal democracy or else Bola Ige would never have contested against Emmanuel Alayande, his erstwhile school principal. Please let there be transparent internal democracy. Let people compete as much as possible so that whoever loses does so in a very clear manner. In retrospect, had the process for picking ACN's candidate been more transparent, it may have been easier to retain people like Olu Agunloye in the party. Maybe the outcome of the election would have been different. But that is now history.
2. REGIONAL INTEGRATION- It is my opinion that we can achieve Regional Integration even if all the states belong to different parties. It is the people, the system and the states that are to be integrated and not the parties. I therefore do not subscribe to the fact that it is only when Ondo State is under ACN that integration can be completed. But more importantly, this much touted regional integration has now become more of a mantra as there is almost nothing to show for it among the existing Governors. Dear Sir, time is going.
3. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL LEADER?- Sir, please do not get me wrong. I believe the role of the National Leader is very important but you seem to be all in all in the Party. May I ask, why is there no Board of Trustees? Even PDP in all it's colorless and amorphous system has a BOT. In the Party, no one can challenge you, yet you are called the Opposition Leader in Nigeria. Isn't that a contradiction of sorts? The party seems to be built around you and that is why our detractors call the party Asiwaju Congress of Nigeria. Is it right to build an institution around a single person? Can you always be right? Do you have monopoly of wisdom? Unfortunately, most of your hangers-on will not tell you the truth- some out of fear and cowardice, others out of greed and avarice. I am even surprised that respected men of letters like Sam Omatseye and Professor Adebayo Williams are unable to confront you with the issues under discourse. Rather, I see a lot of praise singers who take out adverts in the papers and praise you in very colorful language to the highest heavens. Please sir, beware. You should be most afraid of people in whose sight you can never do any wrong.
4. THE PERFORMANCE OF ACN GOVERNORS- Sir, I believe the issue of performance of current ACN Governors should be a major agenda to you. There must be a party mechanism for monitoring performance. During the Awolowo era, we were told of how UPN Governors will often come to the party to defend their performance. During that process, many of them were told the home truth. Truth be told, most of the achievements of our current flock of Governors, except for a few, cannot pass the litmus test of superior performance. From the much touted OYES to YES-O, it has been cogent evidence of a flawed thought process. How can that qualify for job creation? When Aketi spoke about 30,000 jobs in 100 days, was he also thinking of this model? It can qualify for some sort of social security but definitely not job creation. Why will Governors advertise freebies such as free train ride during holidays as achievements? How does jogging or walking long distances with civil servants or the populace become of paramount importance that so much media attention is focused on it? I remember we criticized former Governor Akala for distributing Chinese cars but our Governors are distributing Keke Napep! Yes, there are roads being constructed in certain areas and there are some general infrastructural facelifts but the same thing is happening in some other PDP controlled states such as Rivers and Akwa Ibom. So how are ACN Governors different? Some of them have even embarked on meaningless projects. Or how do you explain the setting up of Technical University, Oyo State when existing institutions are not even well funded. Except for Lagos and Edo State Governors, all the rest are under-performers. Truth be told, most of those States don't come near Ondo State in terms of achievements and performance. This is a major issue which demands urgent attention.
5. THE ALIENATION OF CERTAIN SOUTHWEST STAKEHOLDERS- Sir, I read some newspaper reports where either you, Chief Bisi Akande or some other ACN goon spoke derisively of people like Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Olu Falae, late Chief Gani Dawodu and others. It is not part of our culture for elders to throw banters in public. I think you should be magnanimous to draw closer to these Yoruba leading lights as a house divided against itself can never stand. I sometimes wonder what is happening to someone like Jimi Agbaje? There is an uneasy calm in the house of the progressives and our enemies can take advantage of this present state of disorder. Please reach out to aggrieved brothers and let us reach an accord. This is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength. You need to learn how to stoop to conquer, sir.
6. THE YOUTH- Sir, the only way ACN can properly propagate its policies and replicate acceptable standards of engagement is by raising up the youth in the party. How virile is the Youth Wing of the party? I recall that at a time, Bola Ige was the Youth Leader of UPN and see how brilliantly he turned out. Our party is filled with yesterday's men or children of political warlords and godfathers. There must be a special development effort targeted at the youth especially in the mould of the Youth Wing of the African National Congress of South Africa. I am sure you know, Sir, that Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma were leaders of the Youth Wing and they earned their rise through the ranks. Please look for brilliant youths and mentor them. Intersperse them among the current crop of leaders. That is the way to ensure that the party lives after you.
In conclusion, Your Excellency, Sir, I see danger lurking around the corner by 2015 if the issues above are not addressed in a timely manner. The clouds are gathering and the vultures are circling. I do not claim to possess powers of clairvoyance but I believe all I have highlighted above show the general pulse of the people. You have a golden chance of galvanizing the SouthWest. You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Please don't throw it away. Thank you for reading my piece and be assured of my loyalty.
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