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Tuesday 24 May 2016

Okorocha's Warning Shot At APC (OPINION)

 



BY UCHENNA EZEILO



Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha said last week that his political party, All Progressive Congress, APC is not managing very well the victory it recorded at the 2015 presidential election.

Many believed  that Okorocha was misquoted by some overzealous news reporters but the silence from his media team in Government House, Owerri over that statement reinforce the authenticity of his comments.

Coming from the Chairman of the APC Governors forum, Okorocha’s jibe seem to represent the views of many stakeholders in the APC who strenuously defended the policies of the government in public only to groan and murmur in their quiet moments.
  The Imo governor was not economical with the truth. Infact he hit the nail on the head. He spoke on behalf of those APC members in the hinterlands who toiled day and night to ensure victory for the party only to be confined  in the lurch, in limbo, one year after the election that catapulted the party to power.

He deserves applause for looking straight into the eyes of his colleagues to say his party is not turning its victory to a recipe for Nigerians to savour.  Okorocha captured the feelings of millions of APC members who are now at cross roads wondering how the party which was the darling of Nigerians a year ago is gradually becoming an object of scorn and ridicule since it came into power.

Irrespective of the measures taken by the APC led Federal government to take the nation on the path  of progress after 16 years the PDP battered Nigeria, the slow pace of the present administration tend to send conflicting signals to Nigerians if the party is only mouthing over its numerous  plans  to make Nigeria better.

 The bitter bill APC leaders must swallow is that Nigerians are becoming impatient. And one wonders when all the goodies the APC promised will begin to come their way. Nigerians deserve to see the change they opted for in preference for the tattered umbrella. And because things are falling apart on the economy making cost of living unbearable and hardship mesmerizing their lives, the APC has a herculean task to compel Nigerians not regret voting it into power a year ago.

When discontent overtakes a people and a nation, it becomes irredeemable for such discontent of the people to be saturated no matter how they are tried to be pacified.   The time for President Muhammadu Buhari to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians is now. If Nigerians can accept the fact that the past one year of the present administration was to learn the ropes and lay the foundation to effect the desired change, the second year in the life of this government should be time to fulfill promises made by his political party during electioneering. Gone are the days of sweet talks.  This is time for real business. This is the time to deliver the goods.

Governor Okorocha has just given his party-men reasons to pause and ponder. He has just given them a single warning shot.  Though he expressed optimism that Buhari will not disappoint, the APC should know that the time to present its report card to Nigerians is barely three years away.  And much as we know that one year is not enough to fulfill all promises, it is sufficient time for Nigerians to know if they made the right choice in 2015 or not.  Nigerians, the APC should know, do have alternatives.



EZEILO WRITES FROM ENUGU

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