GOD HAS REMEMBERED THE PROGRESSIVES, LET THE PROGRESSIVES REMEMBER ONE ANOTHER.
I want to start this piece by Congratulating APC and indeed Nigeria on the outcome of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, PEPT; I urge the opposition to please calm and allow the President concentrate on the arduous task of Nation building, Tinubu will succeed by the grace of Almighty God and Nigerians will smile.
Congratulations Ondo State for the return of our Action Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, a man of great courage and candour, I pray Governor Akeredolu will not die but shall fulfill all his days in good health in the land of the living, ‘ogun to ti se, ko ni gberi mo’.
Congratulations to all our appointed leaders from Ondo so far, viz:
Hon. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, Mr. Ayo Olawande, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde (Abena), Hon. Otito Atikase and Mrs Yejide Ogundipe, these people have worked hard for the party and their appointments are well deserved, some of them have already hit the ground running and I am proud of them, I pray they will continue to justify the confidence reposed in them by the Party.
God has remembered the Progressives beginning with the Father of Progressive politics in Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, let the Progressives remember One another.
I am at this stage constrained to call for caution on the part of the Ruling party.
The Fair weather, Any Party in Power politicians know how to quickly take over, sometimes buying their ways through or using their espirit de corps bonds; having consistently remained in power, they have the money and the means and once anyone of them is able to find himself in front, he lines up his friends behind him and continues to empower them leaving the idealist founders who having wholeheartedly spent their resources are often left in penury and helplessness.
This is the position some of us found ourselves, many have remained like this for several years been outside the Ruling party.
I have always been all out for New Comers to APC and once anyone decamps to APC to contest for elections, I have always vigorously campaigned for them to WIN because of my love of my Party.
Recently we have seen New comers to APC performing ‘wonders’ and adding colour to our party, people like Wike and some others are a phenomenal and we are blessed to have them with us.
However, we have seen from experience that when any New Comer to the party is appointed or elected into office, he becomes the Leader and except by happenstance, it’s natural that he wants to work with the people he knows, his political father figures and trusted allies will still be his former associates from his former party and not diehard Progressives like us coming from SDP, AD, AC, ACN or even the old PDP into APC, this is why the original Progressive leaders should take a closer look at the plight of those who have truly suffered to build the Party and have remained steadfast, it’s not only politically wise, it’s also Godly (a labourer is worthy of his wages), I know of many who have lost their lives in the Progressive fights and today their families are suffering, Niyi Mogaji of Akunnu, Atiku Gafaru of Eshe, Ikare and many others. One of my desires is that our party should look at the plight of these families now that APC is finally in power.
Fortunately, it is in the character of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remember the past and honour gallant sacrifices.
Some people like myself who started Progressive politics from PRIMROSE in Alimosho Lagos before shifting our political base to Ondo State where we have used our resources for the party, fought silently and sometimes openly for several years now to sustain the Progressive ideals and have been threatened with death by the same opposition on the account of our support for BAT, can no longer remain silent but will shout for the recognition of the foot soldiers and the forgotten ones.
Except for Lagos State that has remained a Progressive State since 1999, Progressives in other States have found themselves in political dry lands for too long and it’s only fair to remember them now.
I had watched helplessly as the Coalition of APC Support Groups in Nigeria and other groups like Buhari Support Organization became sidelined in the last regime, this was one of the reasons the re-election of APC became an uphill task but for the Tinubu miracle!
In this dispensation, the APC Support Groups across the Nation should be duly recognised and compensated and not just the Opportunists, this is how to make the next election easier for us.
How in this world could someone who has recently openly rubished BAT while campaigning become one of the first people to be handsomely rewarded by APC with NDDC appointment and how could most of the names been put forward for appointments be those who recently decamped to the party, it’s sickening, it’s Political Hara Kiri, the opposition will make a mince meat of us when the time comes.
I urge the COS to probe deeper before acceding to the names of people submitted to him for appointments, I have the utmost respect for Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, a core Progressive who fought tooth and nail for the emergence of President BAT, sadly however, most Party leaders will most likely put forward the names of their hangers on for rewards, sometimes without enough due diligence. Fortunately in Akoko North East/North West, my own consituency, the likes of Apostle Babalola (Osugo), Dr. Segun Abraham, Chief Adebisi Abraham, Hon. Niyi Oseni, Hon. Simi Jegede, Hon. Austin Pelemo, Chief Asagunla, Comrade Folusho Aminu, Tito Babalola, Alhaji SK etc who have remained in the Progressives fold since the days of Alliance for Democracy (AD) or beyond, could be consulted for verifications.
We have leaders like these in all the Constituencies in Ondo State and indeed Nigeria, such consistent leaders who often are not Noise makers should be fished out to help in identifying those who have really worked for the party, who honestly shared the vision of the party and could be trusted to stand by the party at all times, these are the people to be compensated with party positions not those who swing like the pendulum, who will probably become moles and foot soldiers for their mother party whenever the need arises, We have seen this too often.
On the National level, I make bold to say that people like Chief James Faleke, H.E Simon Lalong and those who have been in the trenches like young Dr. Doyin Johnson, Abubakar Kuso, Chief Adebisi Abraham and some other PCC members, a representative from the Amalgamated and a representative from the original Coalition of APC Support Groups in Nigeria should have been included in the appointments Committee, this we should do, not just for immediate reasons but for the continuous stability of our Progressive Party,
It’s not too late to make amends.
NB
For the attention of our National Party Chairman, H.E Abdullahi Ganduje, all South West APC Leaders especially Baba Akande, Chief Akinyelure, Hon. D.I Kekemeke, Senator Ajayi Boroffice and Engineer Ade Adetimehin, the Ondo State Party Chairman.
Thank you
Signed
High Chief Adebisi Abraham
The Alaja of Ikare Akoko,
National Patron, Asiwaju Frontliners (since 2015).
Patron, Ikare Descendants Forum
Coordinator, Bola Tinubu Support Organization BTSO (Ondo State)
and member of the defunct Presidential Campaign Council PCC.
Watsapp: 09091400222
Email: highchiefalaja@gmail.com
