Jim Pressman, Gender Reporter, Abuja.
The more open it seems, the darker it turns out when you get closer. This was why I prayed God to hold back the electric power and not allow unbundled PHCN to tamper with my close watch from a safe distance, of the PDP National Convention 2012.
Poor Dr. Haliru Bello, veterinary doctor and ex-Customs boss turned politician, one of the luckiest in his generation from Kebbi state, Northwestern Nigeria. As for Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Nigeria’s pioneer Minister of Culture and Tourism who has become well – groomed in the PDP abracadabra culture, I have no comments. I have a special class of 5 friends in the world and he tops that list, so like Pastor Enoch Adeboye and former President Obasanjo, we should not trade pieces of advice in the public arena. I note in passing however how hard he and puppy-breeder Haliru tried to push the transparency card, Tehee!
If you must hire a crowd, you can at least higher a quality team. But I guess the purpose sometimes makes it hard for you to find the expected quality of TV faces you need to fool the people. I guess this is part of what happened at the Eagle Square in Abuja this afternoon, under the watchful eyes of the chief executioner himself, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo…
You should have seen Ebino Topsy himself expressing why he was withdrawing “to nobody in particular” (sic). He had gone to Eagle Square ready to be the one to cast the only vote he would have got by himself… Ezenwa of the … was right, Ebino Topsy made a statement in protest, said ‘I am going home, not stepping down for anyone in particular but for the party.’
Even ordinarily, elegantly eloquent Professor Taoheed Adedoja who also had his eye on the National Secretary position diplomatically and a little awkwardly (grudgingly?) stood down his right to contest for ex-military man and former Governor Oyinlola, whose name one had heard in the grapevine for days before Saturday March 24 as the “consensus’ candidate for whom the likes of new-breed Dimeji Fabiyi who had told this reporter in magazine interview he was set to regenerate and transform the ‘over-organized’[Ezenwa’s word] PDP.
Youth Leaders are extremely over-aged in Nigeria’s ruling party and nobody is complaining except non –conformists such as Ezenwa who no longer buys the excuses we have heard over and over. Could somebody please remind us what the United Nations definition is again of a youth: aged between 18 and 35 at the most?
The whole thing to quote Ezenwa again
Poor Dr. Mrs. Chukwukere, who had to announce that all of them from Imo state had chosen (been directed, mandated, advised, etc… most undemocratic words which negate the spirit of healthy competition) to step down for her Excellency former political ambassador, two-time minister Dr. Kema Chikwe.
This entire show as Ezenwa pointed out on a live TV show as the drama unfolded, makes a complete mockery of ‘consensus.’ Who were this ‘delegates’ without voices of their own? Like remote – controlled marionettes by some behind the scenes hand pulling the electric wire and pressing the buttons? Only Onyeka Onwenu and one or two others were bold enough to tell the party live on television what they have been speaking up about in many meetings, some of which us reporters have attended as observers.
Where are those moving, inspiring even sometimes entertaining speeches? What has happened to the expected successors of our great thinkers and speakers such as Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Kingsley Mbadiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and even more recently, late Abubakar Rimi?
Generally, in the PDP as in most political parties in Nigeria, women who recently have become more vocal on this issue, thank God, have been kept on the fringes in terms of elective as well as appointive positions.
Open Letter to Kema Chikwe:
Madam I am neither a politician nor even a political but I just wish to remind you that on behalf of Nigerian Women to strategize with them as you promised and effect this gender balance and affirmative action, beyond the kind tokenism of an Obasanjo Presidency which President Jonathan, thanks to his wife’s unrelenting advocacy, has been trying to better without much success.
You shall prove to the women who in the majority, as you may well know did not really approve of you as the best candidate, never mind the consensus-thing PDP-style.
