The National Chairman-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Senator Iyorchia Ayu, has said that Nigerians have been badly brutalized and that the PDP can no longer be a party that just reacts to what the All Progressives Congress (APC) government does.
Ayu made this known on Tuesday at the national retreat ongoing , for the newly elected national officers of the party at the Nigerian Air Force centre, Kado district, Abuja.
Senator Iyiochia Ayu said they assemble this way for deep thinking and exchange of ideas on the way forward for the party and the country, a country that has been badly brutalized, robbed and traumatized in the past six years plus.
Ayu said the country is in very deep trouble so they have a duty, and Nigerians expect them, to rescue and rebuild the country.
“It is to remind us of who and what we are as PDP and to inform those who do not know. It is to re-appraise and re-affirm our vision as a party and our mission in this political space called Nigeria: our various localities and the country as a whole. What do we really stand for? And what do we want to accomplish? Are we just a vehicle for fighting for and winning political power or a movement to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of oppressive and divisive forces and rebuild it for the greater good of all Nigerians? And where do we see our party’s and Nigeria’s role in Africa and the world.
Ayu said the retreat is to energize them and rededicate them to that vision and mission of the party.
“In this time of grave challenges for our country, this retreat is to recommit us to the sacrifices we need to make to rescue and rebuild the country. And talking about sacrifices, I acknowledge that, as PDP members, you have been making enormous sacrifices, especially those of you who have held firm to our principles in the last 6 years plus. But think about the bigger sacrifices made by our founders who, at great risk, challenged the military leadership and played a critical role in winning back civilian control over our government. Without their sacrifices we would not even have a platform and a voice today, talk less of gathering here for this stock-taking.
And talking about stock-taking, this retreat is an opportunity for us to also do that: take stock of where we are as a party, how we got there, what went well and what went wrong, and then collectively think of how we can do better for our party and, more importantly, for our country. You may agree with me that in the last two election cycles we allowed ourselves to be defined by the APC with its massive. propaganda machine. Are we going to allow that to happen again or would this retreat help to give us the tools and ideas to enable us define ourselves before an opponent does?
This retreat is the first in a series of retreats, round table dialogues and conferences to help sharpen our positions on different policy issues. It is my hope that this will set for us a clear road map and clarify our thinking on how best to help tackle the problems of our people and country.
In my view, we can no longer be a party that just reacts to what the APC government does. No, we can’t be that anymore. We must be a party that thoughtfully articulates and designs a clear programme of where we want to take Nigeria as well as how we hold the rudderless APC government to account. We must be more than a party that just issues the occasional press statement condemning the APC government. We must demonstrate to Nigerians that years in opposition have not….
We have to rebuild a Nigeria with roads, bridges, and railways that crisscross and connect different parts of this country to facilitate and promote the movement of people and goods to grow our economy. We have to rebuild a Nigeria that pays decent wages to workers so that we actually have a real economy driven by higher productivity and My driven by…
We have to rebuild Nigeria to become a fertile ground for our young people and other entrepreneurs to unleash their creativity and innovativeness consumer spending.
Let us rebuild Nigeria as a country that does not treat any of its peoples as second-class citizens.
We have to rebuild our party so we can rebuild Nigeria. We have to enthrone internal democracy in our party and get accustomed to it. Let us collectively rebuild PDP as a peoples’ democratic party, as our name says, a party that truly belongs to the grassroots.
Let us put behind us the quarrels of yesteryears.
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Let us not fight yesterday’s wars but instead recognize the APC as the real obstacle and danger to Nigeria’s progress as a developed, united and forward-looking country. Let us, therefore, direct our energies towards defeating that party and implementing a programme of rebirth, growth and opportunity for our country.
My friends, our task is not going to be easy but with commitment, dedication, laser-focus and your cooperation with the national leadership of our party and of the governments that we shall put in place at the federal level and across the country, we shall succeed.”
