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The National Reconciliation Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came to Osun State, recently, in a long-overdue effort to reconcile aggrieved members of the ruling party in the State.<\/p>\n
Going by words on the streets, media records and all that, the expectation of Nigerians was that aggrieved members would be open to truce in the objective interest of the ruling party and government. It\u2019s also hoped that the openness would enable the Committee to midwife genuine reconciliation among members of the same political family.<\/p>\n
Under the Concept of Negotiation and Reconciliation, where two parties feel cheated is a win-win. How do I mean? If two parties feel cheated, it is better to reconcile on that premise so that the \u2018cheating\u2019 issue will become mutual. However, if it is only one side that feels cheated, chances are that the other side \u2018that does not feel cheated\u2019 will be swollen-headed, thus leading the opposing camp to feel alienated. What happens next is that the \u2018cheated\u2019 party may either seek succour elsewhere, or work from within to undermine (the) existing structure; and that will be antithetical to the ideals of democracy and principles of development. Impliedly, the idea of a zero-sum game is not only unworkable in a search for true and ideal reconciliation, it is also \u2013 and, usually, too – an illusion!<\/p>\n
Reconciliation helps in removing resentment and dehumanization. It also facilitates \u2018the re-humanization of the \u2018other\u2019 and transforms harmful attitudes.\u2019 Simply put, it is like going to the market to carry out business transactions at a most reasonable price for the best of qualities. Even the one with fake wares will also want to display his stuffs with a view to getting \u2018a good buyer\u2019 – obviously, to his advantage, and the loss of the buyer. In this instance, there is a side that needs to be civil enough to admit that a \u2018winner-takes-all\u2019 politics is a dangerous concept even as the other side must also know that it must let go of certain things so that the lost sheep can be brought back home. So, one expects the Abdullahi Adamu-led efforts to go beyond the ceremonial handshake. Instead, the fundamental issue should be the reconciliation of interests, which is paramount.<\/p>\n
A political party is as strong as its membership base. In other words, much as politics is a game of power, it\u2019s also a game of numbers. To that extent, membership base goes a long way in determining the electoral success or otherwise of a party. With these in mind, if the feuding factions, or fractions within Osun APC cannot resolve their differences at a roundtable; if they cannot dance around personal issues with a view to reaching amicable solutions, the overriding imperative is like a hermaphrodite, which has the capacity to metamorphose into something else, totally unknown! It is like the crew of a boat, rowing together, but in opposing direction. What worsens the situation in Osun is that the impasse has been left for too long to fester. So, if members don\u2019t grow up quickly and rise above their differences; or, if there are no leaders and\/or elders that can call the gladiators to a roundtable, it may end up as nothing but bad business for politics.<\/p>\n
A time it was in the old Oyo State when the now-rested Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) went into an avoidable ruination because its handlers did not do enough or simply looked the other way. Instead of calling the faithful to order with a view to striking the middle course, the leaders simply relied on the strength of votes from \u2018stones\u2019 as a way of sealing the party\u2019s coasting home to victory. Unfortunately, it is either the \u2018stones\u2019 refused to cast their vote or certain forces mightier than the \u2018stones\u2019 did not make their votes count. I was a student at Ijebu-Jesa Grammar School at the time. So, I can confirm that we all paid dearly for it!<\/p>\n
The implosion in the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) also started with the trouble between the National Chairman of the party and, especially, the presidential aspirants. The initial impression was that the late Adisa Akinloye was about to compromise, particularly, on the issue of the zoning arrangement through which the presidency would remain in the North; and Akinloye, a Southerner, would remain as the Party Chairman, unperturbed. Interestingly, the social status ascribed to whosoever became the chairman of the party at that time was way above what presently obtains.<\/p>\n
Dateline: December 14, 1991! The inability of the political gladiators to agree on the way forward during the 3rd Republic gave Michael Otedola the Lagos State governorship on a platter of gold. Have we also forgotten that the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) government in Osun would most likely have been victorious, had the party not succumbed to the whims of the internal wrangling which troubled its Israel on its way to the April 19, 2003 gubernatorial election? Typical of fate and its wiles, Akande had long left office before he was nicknamed \u2018Baba Omo Kekeke\u2019, in recognition of his performance in office.<\/p>\n
If the aforementioned experiences have sought succour in the \u2018archives of the archaeologists\u2019, then, the loss of the senatorial bye-election by the Osun APC in 2017 readily comes to mind. Since failure is always an orphan, July 8, 2017 happened to APC and loads of excuses accompanied the loss of the opportunity of a lifetime. But then, the party in power forgot, or overlooked the essence of certain people whose duty, as it were, was to tailor the minds of the people to the ideals and norms of the society, especially, in a country where the gain of public service has taken flight. God and Caesar met at the table and \u2026 the rest is history!<\/p>\n
Speaking for posterity, how much of the energy being dissipated, currently, against opposing members of the same party is being dispensed into convincing some already-confused voters at \u2018Okada\u2019 and \u2018Korope\u2019 terminuses that the APC-led government in Osun State means well for the people; and that it will do more, if Governor Gboyega Oyetola is re-elected, come July 16, 2022? How much of confidence and assurance is being given to the mass of the people that this epitome of wellness, stateliness and unshaken hope, if given another opportunity, will leave no stone unturned at ensuring that dividends of democracy are equitably distributed among the good people of Osun? Instead of showing off with attractive-yet-needless conflicts, what stops loyalists on both sides from showing forth through winning souls for the party? In the interest of democracy, what stops the gladiators from removing issues that are personal from the objective interests of the party? What stops the \u2018Us vs. Us\u2019 adherents from allowing institutional interests to outweigh personal and individual interests?<\/p>\n
May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,\u00a0grant us peace in Osun\u00a0State!<\/p>\n
KOMOLAFE wrote in from\u00a0Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Reconciliation Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came to Osun State, recently, in a long-overdue effort to reconcile aggrieved members of the ruling party in the State. Going by words on the streets, media records and all that, the expectation of Nigerians was that aggrieved members would be open to truce in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n