That move has earned the APC eternal points. Will it be enough to unseat the ruling party in 2015, that’s not so clear yet, but, make no mistake about it; it’s a great start. In the north, word of mouth carried the story of those 10 brave generals from every Rukaiya to all Audus

In a season where the team has fluctuated between sublime performances and downright ridiculous ones within eye blinks, it was not particularly surprising that my darling Arsenal FC walked away from the White Hart Lane as losers in Sunday’s North London derby. As fans that have seen the giddy height of the Invincibles and are now well and truly suffering the painful lows of the current mediocre team, we knew beforehand there was a chance we would lose. When Gareth Bale slotted in that first goal, we could see it from a mile off. Maybe we had already planned for the pain of a very likely defeat, so when the inevitable sting came, it didn’t hurt so much.

The People’s Democratic Party, led by the Bowler-Hat-In-Charge however, were unprepared for the stinging shots that hit them last week. They were caught flat footed by the 10-man attack force that crept in their backyard, stole their spoils and made away with the totem. They were still punch-drunk and staggering when the APC Elite Squad completed “Operation Storm Maiduguri” and took to the skies. I am, of course, talking about the day the ten governors of the newly formed All Peoples Congress entered and exited the Borno State capital in some style.

Sitting at my desk that Thursday and watching the tweets flying onto my TL (part of my job, mind you), I thought it was a crazy lie that APC governors had converged in Maiduguri. “Na lie, abeg!” I said to myself. Only two days before, Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State was dedicating a seven-kilometre traffic light project from Jibowu to Maryland. “Are these people saying BRF is in that scary place with nine other governors when even the President has never been there?!” I asked myself.

Soon enough, the confirmation came through and I began to see photos of their triumphant walk within the Monday Market and read snippets of the speech by the ever-articulate Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, a mighty smile broke over my face. “What a coup!” I thought. “What a masterstroke! This is gonna hurt the PDP real bad.” In fact, I awarded the political football match a 4-0 score in favour of the opposition.

Following the event, many commentators have taken it upon themselves to debate whether the move was brilliant or needlessly dangerous and stupid. Some said the governors were reckless and are probably as cavalier with the leadership and the resources the people have entrusted on them. Others praised them for their gallantry and thanked them for showing the kinder side of governance. I choose to look at things from a deeper angle, even if I’m inclined to agree with the latter group. Below are the four unreplied goals the APC scored against the PDP with that singular visit.

I run the risk of over boring you each time I write with my roots but they are mine and I’m mighty proud of them. I was brought up in the north and, to a certain degree, I understand the prevailing psychology in that part of the country. The Northerner is grateful to a fault and a good deed could earn you his eternal gratitude. That is the way of the average Northerner and one of the things I love about those people. I can assure you that the bravery and generosity showed in Borno will never be forgotten. That 10 important personalities came and shook hands with Talakawas in the middle of a crisis is one thing those people will never forget.

Secondly, their visit was masterly orchestrated and equally beautiful in execution. They were in and out before anyone could do a thing. That 10 governors could storm a red zone without much fuss tells you two things: these APC guys are united while the PDP-led government is everything but. That they did this is a sign of their collective strong resolve.

Third, this will unite the APC Governors even more. Nothing brings a gang of different individuals closer than executing a risky move together. They planned this together and succeeded together. Like the Three Musketeers, that was a “One-For-All, All-For-One” moment. I can only imagine how much hugging and back-slapping must have taken place on the flight out once the pilot told them it was safe.  The union of the APC governors is clearly growing stronger while the cracks within the PDP grow ever deeper and more obvious. When you see a character like Governor Godswill Akpabio hovering around GEJ like a bodyguard, you should know whatever is up is not good. That lot is losing it.

Lastly, although it is yet to register, the APC has begun to give the PDP serious homework. It is yet to be formally recognised as an entity but, already, the group is forcing the hand of the President. So befuddled is the ruling party that one of the President’s aides, Gulak Ahmed, had to ask the most rhetoric question of the decade, “Who is afraid to go to Borno?” If he had paused for a second, I would have quickly interjected, “Sir, the man who is afraid is the same man who lied on CNN that electricity in Nigeria was better. The same man that said his wife was not in any discomfort but still went ahead to spend a reported N500million on a thanksgiving ceremony after she was ‘Lazarurated.’ Same man who promised for his party he was only in for a single term but is now doing the sit-tight macabre dance that was initiated by IBB, improved on by Abacha and almost perfected by Obasanjo. Yes, that man! (I would probably have broken into my adaptation of Nigerian China’s popular song, ‘If I say G, you say E, if come say J, omo na you sabi!’)

So, for those who think that APC move was silly, I say you are only showing your politics naivety, which is fine, as it was a most savvy move. That move has earned the APC eternal points. Will it be enough to unseat the ruling party in 2015, that’s not so clear yet, but, make no mistake about it; it’s a great start. In the north, word of mouth carried the story of those 10 brave generals from every Rukaiya to all Audus, just as the story took over the social media space like wild fire.

The “football match” between the two major political parties has only begun but the 4 goals scored by the Opposition in the first few minutes is not too shabby at all. PDP, your move.

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Gbenga Olorunpomi is a senior digital marketing strategist. He has over 5 years in the marketing communications business and has designed social media strategies for major brands like Coca-Cola and The Economist.  He is experienced in the media, having worked for two years at one of the country’s biggest public relations firms as Media Relations and Content Manager. Gbenga is a Principal Consultant with Cyborg Nigeria. He is affiliated to the ACN. He tweets from @gbengagold

 

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