Looking beyond political parties, the critical step to Abia redemption and development.
By Uche Aguoru
For anyone in Abia and beyond who pretends not to have seen or felt the rot that the PDP leadership represents across the 17 local governments, the three senatorial zones, eight federal constituencies down to the wards simply because of political party affiliation or clannish sentimentality is living in self-denial.
A greater percentage of Abia electorates have shown resentment towards the emergence of other political parties without actually considering the political benefits of plurality of political forces in climes such as ours, where the political will of the people has been weakened to the point of total submission.
The truth remains that in Nigeria our political parties are not planted on ideology but on individualism, and the only meeting point is interest, what should be uppermost in the minds of the average Abian is who will stand in the gap for the ordinary Abian who has been impoverished and made to eat out of the dustbin of the political elites and subjected to even bow down to say thank you for such privilege.
Hunger does not belong to any political party, corruption and greed is not the making of the PDP, neither is insecurity a member of the APGA, unemployment and economic instability is not the fault of the APC, all these societal inadequacies are the making of the individuals we elect into sensitive offices to control our collective destiny.
In as much it is difficult to compare circumstances, but Abia of today is ranking in ‘’clear language’’ the least, interms of infrastructural, social and economic development, because we are stuck in a leadership that lacks focus, strong will, direction and vision to control a state as diverse as ours, richly blessed with abundance of natural and human resources, but today we cannot pay salaries despite huge financial inflows from the federal government.
The question now, is which POLITICAL PARTY, will rescue Abia from this dangerous ride into the cesspit of destruction that the PDP and our political leadership has steered us into? And my honest answer is NONE.
What then is the solution to this destruction that awaits the future of all of us if we sit down and do nothing? The solution is to look beyond political party affiliation and source for a leader within, not minding the party’s flag he/she intends to fly to achieve this all important ambition of each and every one of us, we need a leadership that will produce Economic Development? We need a disciplined, intelligent, humane, courageous, and trustworthy leader, we need a leader who has an idea on how to improve the economic, political, and social well-being of Abians.
If the primary focus of leadership should be the Welfare of the Citizenry and about provisioning affordable Health Care delivery, Education, Security, infrastructure, job creation and physical projects while ensuring the wellbeing of the aged, the weak, vulnerable and the poor. if development is not about focusing on phoney white elephant projects like the Osisoma 3D flyover when civil servants are being owed 5-11 months salaries and our existing roads are impassable, then we need to look beyond political parties and source for that Abian who has the pedigree to deliver, who has that economic creativity, contact and reach to turn the fortunes of our dear state around, we have to look for that individual who will not only enjoy our collective trust and confidence but will reciprocate same through infrastructural, social and economic development of Abia state.
If Abia must get it right by 2019 then we all should focus on the man Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah OON. to give us the leadership that will change the narrative.
Aguoru Writes from Umuahia
