Another Hope Betrayed, Another Opportunity wasted.

What is wrong with politicians that they do not trust one another? It is so bad that the people do not trust them and even amongst them, suspicion is the watchword.

Please read the two articles below:

Why ACN/CPC Merger Talks Collapsed - Akande

Gen. Buhari will recall our conversations and efforts to merge our two parties as far back as 2005. As proof of our willingness and sincerity, we even decided to adopt his party’s name and logo. This was when he was in the ANPP. This dream never materialised. Thereafter, we continued to hope that circumstance and national necessity would make for reconsideration. Over a year ago, the circumstance, precisely the urgent need to salvage the country from the cruel hands of the PDP, gave birth to the National Democratic Movement. This was hailed by the teeming, if beleaguered, population of this country. We, on our part, pursued it with enthusiasm, dedication and great hope.

Alas! When we were about to consummate the common platform we had all agreed to, Atiku Abubakar suddenly withdrew and returned to the PDP. Rather disappointingly, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari also left to start building the CPC from scratch.

The letter the CPC wrote the NDM remains an evidence of an insult to the spirit of the whole project and the total absence of the political will to work together in the first place.

Thus, we were left dumbfounded, stranded, and seriously embarrassed with an overwhelming number of our members feeling we had enough of the stand-ups. Those feelings are still very strong, leading in some circumstances, to deep resentment and disinterest in further talks.

This situation, notwithstanding, we have continued to explore avenues of cooperation with strong faith in a merger while your party appears to favour an alliance of some sort, hoping to convince our followership of the national need for the emergent of a virile opposition party to dislodge the PDP.

We have reached a crescendo in this unending symphony. It is absolutely clear to us in the leadership of our party that the vast majority of our members whose views we must respect, no longer sees a merger as possible before the 2011 elections.

There are too many technical hurdles in our ways. As for alliance, it has never been an attractive option and its workability is undoubtedly problematic because of the low level of literacy of the majority of our voters, among others."

The sum total of all these is that:

.The ACN no longer considers a merger feasible.
. The CPC has not demonstrated sufficient seriousness and political will to forge a workable electoral cooperation.
.The ACN therefore considers electoral alliance no longer feasible. We may, however, consider other forms of electoral cooperation that will pool resources and ensure credible election in the forthcoming general elections.

Finally, we shall continue to hope that there will be opportunities after the general elections to explore further cooperation with a view to strengthening democracy and good governance.

We are glad to note that our presidential candidate is in the image of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. We have reasons to believe; therefore,
the room for cooperation will continue to exist between our parties even after the general elections.

We leave these matters for your deep consideration aware that this is a season of extra-ordinary pressure on you and us all. Remain assured of our highest regards."
http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5164%3Awhy-acncpc-merger-talks-collapsed-akande&catid=47%3Apolitics&Itemid=65






Another Hope Betrayed, Another Opportunity wasted...Congratulations President Goodluck Jonathan - Daniel Elombah

What is wrong with politicians that they do not trust one another? It is so bad that the people do not trust them and even amongst them, suspicion is the watchword. Today, there is no gainsaying the fact. that the Peoples Democratic Party - a party that started with so much promise and respect has turned out to be seen as the party of thugs and looters, a party that has no respect for votes and rule of law, has fallen out of favour with Nigerians. Yet, the PDP is poised to regain power in this year’s election. Yet again in this year, 2011, the opposition by their failure to work together, has again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

For those who do not know, just as it was in the 1960’s – when the failure of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo to work together allowed Alhaji Tafawa Balewa to form the first indigenous government - it was the inability Chief Bola Ige and Dr Alex Ekwueme to work together that allowed the retired Generals to hijack the party and hand over power to one of their own.

LET me go down memory lane.

When the G-34, led by former Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme, transformed into the PDP in 1998, shortly after the death of late dictator General Sani Abacha, there was a feeling that a great party had been born.

The G-34 members were mainly men of repute like Alex Ekwueme, Bola Ige, Solomon Lar, Abubakar Rimi, Adamu Ciroma. This group had not kept quiet during the reign of terror of Abacha; neither did they join his government to trample on the rights of Nigerians like so many of their contemporaries did.

Secondly, although members of the G-34 were not saints, they were not viewed as corrupt or purposeless leaders during the periods they held political offices.

Chief Bola Ige was the chairman of the constitution drafting committee of what became the PDP. We also had the chairman of the G-34, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, who was respected tremendously and there were many who were looking up to him to assume the Presidency.

At a point, Bola Ige led other politicians from the South West to pull out of the formation. They first went and formed the All Peoples Party, APP. Then they broke away again and formed the Alliance for Democracy, AD.

The primaries of PDP, which had former military leader, General Olusegun Obasanjo, and former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, as the main contenders, produced Obasanjo as the winner. Ironically, Obasanjo was not a member of the G-34 or a founding member of the PDP. Rather, he was drafted into the party because Northern kingmakers that joined the party decided that if power would shift from the North to the South, their fellow General is their man.

But what made it possible for these Joiners to hijack the PDP?

Listen to Dr Iyorchia Ayu, one of the founding members: If Bola Ige and co had not pulled out “those key actors, I mean of that our party at that stage, if someone like Bola Ige was with us, I doubt very much if Obasanjo would have emerged as the candidate of the party”.

Iyorchia continued: As of that time, Obasanjo was still in prison, he was not part of the formation of the PDP. We were 37 and he (Obasanjo) was certainly not one of us.
Along the line, as we kept consulting, two tendencies emerged. One was made up of those who were in support of Dr. Ekwueme. Ultimately, there were those who were looking at Obasanjo who was in prison, released, pardoned and was funded principally by Ibrahim Babangida and T Y Danjuma“ they raised money from their friends or from wherever for Obasanjo I don’t know and in any case I had no money“ decided to support Obasanjo. His financiers were all from the North and the rest is history.

Today, history has repeated itself: The failure of Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change, and Bola Tinubu, of Action Congress of Nigeria to make the needed sacrifices necessary to acquire power at the centre, have again ensured four more years of PDP government.

Is it any surprise that as the opposition struggled to meet INEC deadline for the submission of their candidates list, pick last-minute running mates and kick-start their campaign, President Goodluck Jonathan Friday travelled to Ethiopia for the 16th Ordinary AU Summit and from there to Turkey on Tuesday to begin a two-day state visit to that country. The state visit, the first of its kind by President Jonathan to any country...what confidence!

What Nigerians are saying:

Sitting in some of these "coalition meetings", I could not help come to the conclusion that there are "people who the gods have cracked their palm kernels for"! Jonathan must be high in the list. Not just "gods" but his political opponents are cracking kernels on his behalf. - JOE

The Opposition parties are not serious people. They are not interested in power at the center, as they are not willing to make the sacrifices it requires. They would all rather be big fishes in small ponds - cYBER

I am afraid that the only opportunity to remove PDP from power is being sacrificed on the altar of greed, selfishness and ego! "The only hope for dislodging PDP from power this year lies in the major opposition parties including Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and CPC forming a coalition. CPC and ACN by going their separate ways would only be regional parties, unable to capture power at the centre".

A lot of us were disappointed on the inability of the CPC and ACN to work together -

http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5152%3Aanother-hope-betrayed-another-opportunity-wasted-congratulations-president-goodluck-jonathan&catid=52%3Adaniel-elombah&Itemid=73