PDP and its “state of the states” publicity tour

By Sufuyan Ojeifo


National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa
Metuh, announced on Sunday plans by the Party to immediately undertake a
nationwide tour to enable a team from the Publicity Directorate of the
Party visit all projects executed by the Governments of the Party at the
Federal, State and Local levels since 1999.
He rationalized the tour at a press conference in Abuja during which he
harped on the imperativeness of adequately publicizing to the entire world
key achievements that the PDP Government has recorded in its 15 years of
being in the saddled.  Since the ultimate objective of the tour is to
showcase the achievements of the PDP Government, the enterprise should be
seen as a welcome development by party members who are concerned about the
under-reporting of the Party, its Government and achievements.
Against the backdrop of the popular axiom that “if one does not blow ones
trumpet, nobody will do it for one,” the PDP Publicity Directorate Tour,
which has already begun, as of the time of penning this article, should
have taken place long before now.  But like it is said, “it is better late
than never.”
For those who may not quite understand the shape of the tour and how it is
different from the Good Governance Tour embarked upon by a team led by the
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, in earlier part of this
administration, the PDP Publicist said: “While the Good Governance Tour
focused on the projects executed by the Federal Government under the
current dispensation, the PDP Publicity Tour focuses on all projects
executed by PDP elected or appointed officials at the federal, state,
local government and ward levels since 1999.”
This, no doubt, is an ambitious enterprise.  It is a huge task in which
the Publicity Directorate Tour Team must invest quality time and sharp
focus.  It must muster the capacity to articulate, in lucid language and
strategies through the various media, what the concrete achievements are,
what the development situation is in the different sectors and States and
what the situation was before the PDP Government stepped in the saddle.
The ability of the Team to paint a composite representation of the
governance and development narratives across the state as well as situate
the role and/or involvement of the PDP Government in the bigger
development and transformation picture will define the success and/or
otherwise of the Tour and/or the assessments derivable from it.
As the nation approaches another general election in 2015, the recurring
question has always been: what has the PDP Government achieved?  Some even
introduce an element of mischief into it, aimed at eroding the political
footing of the PDP, by asking what the Party has done since 1999 to
deserve being in power beyond May 29, 2015.
They seem to give the impression that, beyond Metuh’s celebratory
declaration that the PDP has, for 15 years, continued to be the custodian
of the sacred mandate freely given by Nigerians, there are no ample
democracy dividends to match the number of years and the huge amount of
money that had been spent, through budgetary allocations, for capital
development.
But Metuh, at the press conference, dismissed their claims, describing
them as flawed.  He said that in 15 years, the PDP Government has
“strictly and vigorous applied itself to delivering on the mandate of not
only establishing a free and democratic society in which the powers and
actions of government are lawful; but also creating a dynamic economy
where the welfare and prosperity of the people are guaranteed through
sound policies and rapid infrastructure development in all the sectors of
the economy.”
He said the opposition parties had always played politics with the
performance of the ruling PDP.  Read him: “However, while millions of
Nigerians continue to enjoy the evident benefits of having the PDP in
power, and demonstrating their satisfaction through their votes in
successive elections, the opposition has mounted a negative campaign,
asking what the PDP has done in the last 15 years.”
The PDP Publicity Directorate Tour, according to Metuh, is a unique way of
responding to the shenanigans of the opposition parties.  According to
him, “In the next couple of months, the Publicity Directorate will embark
on a comprehensive nationwide PDP Performance Tour to visit and publicize
all projects executed by all PDP elected and appointed officials at the
federal, state and local government levels in all sectors of the economy
since 1999, including constituency projects and interventions using
special bodies such as NDDC, PTDF, SURE-P, etc.”
The rationale for this expansive scope of focus seems unassailable within
the context of this claim: “indeed, there is no state, local government or
ward in Nigeria that has not been positively affected by projects executed
by PDP governments at federal, state and local government levels.  Such
projects abound in non-PDP states and many Nigerians erroneously give
credit to the opposition, which they eagerly accept.”
It will certainly excite members of the PDP who have been worried about
the negative profiling of their Party by the opposition over the years to
know what the PDP Publicity Directorate Tour Team intends to “recover” the
projects executed by the PDP Government and return the credit to the
Party.  Interestingly, attention is being paid to such states as Edo,
Rivers, Nasarawa, Kano, Kwara and Sokoto, among others, where opposition
parties controlling the mechanics of government are now laying claims to
the projects executed by PDP Government.
The Tour Team will stretch itself to the limits by also keeping a tab on
constituency projects by federal and state lawmakers, which were mobilized
by the PDP-led Federal Government.  Overall, the tour is expected to
entail a comprehensive sector-by-sector appraisal of the performance of
the PDP Government in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and the
successes recorded in transforming the lives of citizens in the last 15
years of democracy.
Perhaps, what will be missing during the period of the tour are the
brickbats that have for a long time characterized relationship between the
PDP and the opposition.  The PDP Publicity Directorate, as understood,
would no longer focus on replying to the opposition diatribes and,
perhaps, propaganda.  How then does the PDP intend to rebut possible
falsehood against it by the opposition?  “Our answer to such is that we
meet at the polls,” Metuh said.  Well, it is difficult to place a bet on
Metuh’s words as far responding to the opposition is concerned.  What is
likely to happen is that he may find it necessarily at some point to put
the lie to the opposition’s claims.
Indeed, Nigerians, especially the opposition elements, are keeping their
fingers crossed as the PDP Tour Team embarks on the enterprise to, in
Metuh’s words, “catalogue our collective successes under the PDP-led
administration.”
As the PDP Tour Team begins to celebrate the key achievements of the PDP
Government nationwide, in spite of very serious security challenges facing
the Jonathan administration, especially the insurgency in the north, a
veritable platform to sell (not necessarily to campaign for 2015 election)
the ruling Party on the basis of its achievements in the last 15 years
would have been created.  How does this enterprise serve the electoral
interest of the ruling Party as against the opposition parties’ interest? 
Only time will tell.
Ojeifo, journalist/publisher, wrote from Abuja.