If crowd pulling activities organised by political parties are enough yardstick to judge how the parties will perform during an election, then the Labour Party [LP] would be given pass mark as a party that will definitely sway voting pattern significantly to be reckoned with in the 2023 elections.
Unfortunately, crowds do not produce or translate into votes and a group of raucous youths cannot therefore be used to decide the likely outcome of any election. There is however something curious that is both unique and intriguing about the Labour Party [LP] and its Presidential flag-bearer, Dr. Peter Obi that should give dispassionate observers food for thought.
Disappointed by the older political parties and politicians, the youths now see hope and better direction for improved future for themselves and the nation in the Labour Party and its presidential candidate. This longing for a better Nigeria among the youths has created a large followership in the social media, in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory and the 36 states of the federation for the party that may sway the votes in 2023.
When members of the support groups gathered recently at the International Conference Center, Abuja for a summit, under the banner of Labour Party and the Coalition for Peter Obi [CPO] Leadership, the event took the mood of a carnival as hundreds of participants in different coloured uniforms filled the main conference hall of the center beyond its capacity and spilled outside with drums and various musical display.
The group’s representatives [chairmen and secretaries] were allegedly summoned to Abuja by the Peter Obi Campaign Organisation headed by Dr. Doyin Okupe as Director General for proper documentation and necessary strategy mapping processes. The gathering was obviously arranged in a hurry judging by the poor crowd control, the organisers’ programme coordination deficiencies and the late commencement of the event which was slated for 10am but could not start until 2pm.
The event, which was planned to coincide with the 2022 International Youth Day celebration, presented the Labour Party with the opportunity to meet its youth supporters for the first time face-to-face and it turned out to be the largest gathering of young people, who trooped into Abuja from Monday despite the heavy morning rain for the Thursday, August 11, 2022 meeting.
Speakers at the event, including the Labour Party Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator Yusuf Datti-Baba Ahmed and the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Julius Abure, condemned critics of the party who are deriding the Obi-dient Movement and those taking it for granted or describing it as mere social media noise making.
According to Abure, it is better for one’s enemies to take one for granted because by doing so, the enemy under-estimates the capacity of the rival to deliver the victory punches. However, he urged the critics to sheath their swords and wait for the general elections.
Abure directly attacked the critics and was specific when he stated that such skeptics are in for rude shock in 2023 while also appreciating the support groups for assembling from different parts of the country on their own without waiting to be mobilised financially, stating that such patriotism gives hope for the future of Nigeria.
He said that the Labour Party has taken up the responsibility of rescuing Nigeria from misrule, a phenomenon, which he stated has plunged the nation into disarray for several years and left the people in abject poverty even in the face of other herculean challenges like insecurity and hyper-inflation, among others.
Dr. Okupe, who spoke on the theme: “Youths, governance and a new Nigeria,” echoed the words of the party chairman about the surprise that awaits critics of the Obi-dient Movement but boasted that no party in Nigeria has the capacity to mobilise the number of youths attracted by the Labour Party.
Okupe spoke extensively on the need for the youth support groups to remain motivated, united and focused on the goal of winning the 2023 election by mobilising others and converting more youths into the party.
The Presidential Candidate of the party, Peter Obi, came to the venue very late, but he held the crowd spellbound by reeling out figures of the debt profile of the nation, the level of corruption in the system, the vast untapped natural resources available in the country and how the Labour Party hopes to revamp the economy and make Nigeria work properly again.
Specifically, Obi said Nigeria has no reason to owe more than $30 billion [USD] while thousands of hectares of arable land lay waste throughout the federation and about 73% of the nation’s entire youth population remain unemployed and out of school. This assertion drew a loud ovation when Obi urged doubting Thomases and those who adopt the position of denial to “go and verify.”
Obi became emboldened in his oratory urged on by the cheering crowd and while decrying the massive collapse of infrastructure and services in the country, the presidential candidate described the Sambisa Forest as an asset that was grossly underutilised. He stated that the Labour Party will transform the area into a viable tourism hub to earn foreign exchange for the nation.
Peter Obi said the faith of the youths must be rekindled in the capacity of the nation to provide for them and give them a better future because Nigeria has the most talented and energetic youth population in the world.
The outcome of the Labour Party gathering was very clear and specific. It showed that Nigerian youths are becoming more politically conscious and they are beginning to awaken to the fact that the future of this country rests squarely in their hands.
No matter the level of political and ideological propaganda employed by politicians, who often distract the youth and use them for selfish purposes, 2023 election will show that young people are no longer content with acting as political thugs of political parties and politicians and cannot therefore be taken for granted again.
Just like Doyin Okupe said during his address, the time has come for the youth to be united and move out of the social media circles by taking their campaign for a new Nigeria to the remote communities, the nooks and crannies of isolated villages, to enlighten and convert the people to vote wisely and refrain from selling their votes for peanuts. This way, those who take the unity, the numerical strength and vigorous growing interest of the youth in politics and governance for granted will be doing so at their own peril.
Many political analysts believe that the time has come for the emergence of a third political force or a youth-dominated credible alternative grouping different from the ruling All Progressive Congress [APC] and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] to move this country and its people progressively forward to the Promised Land.
The APC and the PDP have been tried and tested. The two parties have woefully failed the nation and its people. The APC and the PDP are the same in outlook and in their programmes. The two giant political parties can be compared to the different sides of the same coin which when tossed back or front remains the same in character. The parties are birds of the same feathers and the nation will remain doomed when the people choose either of the two. It is like choosing between the devil and the deep black sea when we opt for the APC or the PDP because the two parties are completely lacking in integrity, the ideology and the credibility required to deliver development to the nation and free the over-burdened Nigerian populace from the grip of poverty, oppression, hunger and death from marauding armed terrorist groups holding the nation hostage since 2019.
Whatever impact the Obi-dient Movement and its youthful members and followers can hope to make in the 2023 general elections will depend on their ability to properly organise themselves, obtain voters cards and use the cards properly. It will be a great tragedy indeed if during the elections; many of those who are loudest on the social media noise making platforms cannot cast their votes because they do not have the PVCs to do so or are reluctant to come out and participate in the elections due to diminished interest.
