It was hard knocks for Nigeria’s opposition political parties by a Professor of Strategic Management and Human Capital Development, Okey Ikechukwu, who took a swipe at them for continuing to whine about how the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) is subverting them, declaring that the party is doing what it ought to do as only a foolish government would allow the opposition run it out of town.
Ikechukwu, Executive Director, Development Specs Academy and public speaker, challenged the opposition to check out the person they want to take out with their strategy and demonstrate their capacity to contest and win, adding, the questions that should be of concern to them are why they lost the last time, and what they needed to do to ensure they would not lose again.
Analysing the state of the nation and the role of the opposition in an interview on Friday night on Channels Television Programme, Politics Today, Ikechukwu observed that “things are not looking good right now”, but lamented that Nigerians are not getting narratives from the opposition that suggests what they would do differently other than their “advertised aspiration” to replace the APC.
According to him, “The opposition has to come up with solutions, I think already, there’s something to the advantage of the opposition. It is a fairly widely acknowledged fact that the government the took the second step first rather than the first in the matter of the subsidy. The palliatives came a little late. There are missteps.
“But quite frankly, when I look at the opposition, and I’ve said this on this your programme before, I don’t know what the opposition represents. I don’t know what argument they are putting forward, that they are going to put forward. What is clear to me and to you and to a lot of people is that people are suffering.
“Yes, there are macroeconomic indicators showing gains in savings, showing increased investments coming into the country. All of that, nobody can deny it, but in the end, all of us are from villages, not from towns. All of us have cousins, have brothers, have sisters.
“Ninety percent of them are not in the cities. How are those people faring? That’s the question to ask. How much of these gains are trickling down to them? Now, the position of the government is that it will trickle down over time. I haven’t heard anybody say convincingly why it will not trickle down over time. So, on both sides of the argument, we’ll wait and see.
“But one thing we must admit. At the risk of even sounding mischievous is that things are not looking good right now. To move from there to say that things will not be looking good tomorrow, that will be pushing speculation a little too far.
“So, my position is, the reality is what we are looking at now; let’s see the change. And we’re not getting narratives from the opposition that suggests that there’s a change we can see other than the claim and advertised aspiration to replace the APC. With what, I haven’t seen.
“With the characters on the table, we have their history, all of them; I don’t know what to choose between them and even the APC. So, again, I say, we watch to see what flows above the water”.
On the allegation that the APC had been giving the two opposition presidential candidates, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party candidate, close marking, Prof. Ikechukwu said the ball is in the court of the duo to ensure the party does not succeed in its game plan.
“Let’s look at it this way. Yes, if we are playing a game of football; my business is to prevent you from scoring against my team. It is only a foolish government that will allow the opposition to run it out of town. It’s also only a foolish opposition that will expect that the government in power will carry it on it’s back for it to overthrow it.
“So, if they are complaining that they are doing close marking on Peter Obi, on Atiku, really, that’s what they ought to do. If they can do anything to prevent Peter from contesting, they’ll do it. If they can do anything to prevent Atiku from contesting, they will do that. So, it’s for both Atiku and Peter, and whoever else is aspiring to ensure that doesn’t happen.
“I understand that Rotimi Amaechi is also contesting. That’s an astonishing candidacy. They must have a reason why they think he’s a viable candidate… They are saying that they are being subverted by the APC. Do they expect to be facilitated by the APC?
“That’s the question they should ask themselves. They should ask themselves, why did we lose the last time, and what is it we need to do to ensure we don’t lose again. That should be their concern. If they are hoping to draw sympathy from the public by crying and rolling on the ground, sorry, they will buy detergent to clean their clothes.
“There’s no element of pity in this matter. Design and adopt the right strategy. Apply it. Check out the person you want to take out with your strategy. This is not about violence or crooked means, but demonstrate the capacity to contest and win. That’s what is needed at the moment.
“The whining has lasted for too long, and they should stop. At some point, the claim was that, oh, you know, the APC has been subverting the parties by giving people 50 million naira within the party. 50 million? That’s enough to subvert your party and you say it’s a political party? Get real”.