Michael Orodare: The Labour Party’s Orange Revolution (Y! Politico)

by Michael Orodare

There is a LP spirit in all of us, and that is the spirit that inspires us not to settle for less, but move forward to break new ground, that spirit which triggers us to set new records…

By May 29th 2013, all things being equal, Nigeria will be celebrating 14 years of uninterrupted democratic government.

In the 14years of democratic rule in Nigeria, we’ve never had the opportunity of change of baton of power at the Central level of government, the self-acclaimed largest party in Africa, PDP, seems to have ‘colonised’

the seat at the central, but at different regions, we have tested different government from different political parties and all we could see is chip off the old block, it has now dawned on us that neither the PDP at the central nor those professing ‘progressivism’ at the regional levels have the tendency and credibility to lead us to the anticipated promised land.

Over this period, we have seen, we have tested, now we can differentiate between leaders with caring hearts and those who don’t practise what they preach.  We have endured, and we can no longer continue to endure the ‘hardship’ some of the chameleon politicians have placed on us.

From the North to the South and across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, there seems to be a consensus among the people, and the consensus is the clamour for the emergence of a new political force, a new platform with a breath of fresh air, a platform which will truly live by what it preaches, the people want a political Moses to lead them out of the present Egypt we presently found ourselves as a result of leadership failure.

Presently, the party controls just one of the 36 states in Nigeria; it had four elected members at the Senate, but has reduced to three, due to a wrong political step by a Professor who could be likened to the biblical prodigal son, who jumped ship to join the ACN at the heat of the Ondo governorship election.

Many might still be doubting its capacity to wrest power from other political parties in the nation, I keep reminding them, how the people in the Southwest opted for ACN, not because the broom was better than the umbrella, but because they wanted to test something different, but their trust has also been betrayed for the umpteenth time by those in whom they reposed a great deal of confidence in.

The matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty, Mama H.I.D Awolowo during Mimiko’s visit recently, recalled one of the songs with which Awoists were recognised intoning “we are the scions of Awolowo, Ostrich is the avian king, lion is the king of the jungle. Hitherto had they pretended to be Awo followers. Mimiko is a real Awoist.”

The Labour Party, with just one state it presently hold sway has redefined leadership in just four years, through its people-oriented programmes and purpose-driven projects in Ondo state, the party has proven that Africans can truly be their own leaders.

The tested and successful LP government in Ondo state, cannot afford to limit its developmental strides to Ondo state alone, talk of the Abiye (Safe Motherhood) programme, which has been rated by the World Bank as a benchmark for Africa in reducing infant and maternal mortality in the continent, a programme which has won both international and local awards and accolades.

Is it the aggressive effort of the government vested into urban renewal which has also won the governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the UN-Habitat Award – the second recipient in Nigeria? Is it the continued efforts geared towards revamping the education sector, with the building of 42 Caring Heart Mega Primary Schools across the state to meet the UNESCO standard of 36 pupils per class, the schools are also equipped with modern scientific and technological facilities.

The LP is set to spread its developmental tentacles to the Southwest first with the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections in 2014 and then to other parts of the country in the next general elections.

There is a LP spirit in all of us, and that is the spirit that inspires us not to settle for less, but move forward to break new ground, that spirit which triggers us to set new records, the spirit of being the first in all aspirations, as exemplified in the LP-led government in Ondo.

This is a caveat to all, that the orange revolution is set to move round and substitute government built upon falsehood at the expense of the people’s mandate, Nigerians deserve better than what they are presently getting.

Come 2014 when the people of Anambra, Ekiti and Osun will be going to the polls, and by 2015 general elections, the Labour Party, is a force to reckon with, as it is battle ready to wrest power from some of the tested and failed political parties in Nigeria.

Ed Royce, a United States Congressman once said “If Nigeria succeeds at democratic governance it will be an anchor for all of West Africa. Africa needs a strong Nigeria.” Just as Africa needs a strong Nigeria, so also Nigeria needs the Labour Party in government, with a “forward ever, backward never” mindset.

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Michael Olanrewaju Orodare has worked in the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Ondo State Governor as a Media Assistant. He has garnered experience writing in the The Nation Newspaper working with the paper’s Sunday Desk. He blogs at www.michaelorodare.blogspot.com and tweets from @MichaelOrodare

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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