You can’t do it alone, so you recruit hallelujah mob with lucre. They can’t say no because of the scorchness of pocket, belly and all. So, anon, they suspend their senses for ephemeral freebies. This has become a potent tool to command unmerited loyalty.
In life, we are told to be ambitious. But the ambition shouldn’t make one bay for blood. Ambition is in order when done within the precincts of decency and recourse to humanity.
But it baffles the mind when someone elects to be ambitious and he becomes, suddenly but unwarranted though, a target of dirty darts from every Tom, Dick and Harry. This however shouldn’t be so in a clime where civility and respect are held high. But here, nothing, nobody is sacred so long as the palm is greezed. The Rev. Patrick Edet is one example this year.
I refer to Senator Obong Bassey Albert (OBA for short), a member of the Red Chamber representing Uyo Senatorial District, who has exercised his fundamental human right of freedom of association.
Of all those seeking the landlordship of Hilltop Mansion post 2022, the senator has faced the most sustained yet largely uncoordinated and clumsy vitriol from a camp that isn’t at ease with his aspiration.
So, they have gone bananas. Not alone, but have clamped unsuspecting youths into a forum where the bad, the very bad and insipid meals as pieces as cooked for onward distribution and wide circulation, no matter how unsavoury it taste.
Maybe the thinking, or shall I say belief is that one must not leave PDP whether mud is splashed on one’s face or not. In the Nigerian political firmament, political parties suffer from poverty of ideology. So, we say they are mere platforms to achieve goals.
Some say a party represents a religion. This is wishful thinking, I must hasten to add. No party is a religion, anywhere. You can say a state is known to have always had a particular party in power, but never say it’s a canon.

What a lot of dyed-in-the-wool party people have yet to come to terms with is that, Nigerians are no longer beholden to political parties. Their choices are now determined by the quality of individuals political parties put forward.
Things have changed. People have grown in reasoning. The herd mentality of yore is gradually giving way to a new paradigm. People are hungrier for good governance. They now know that getting this done is not about party but individuals.
It is normal that the PDP in Akwa Ibom is startled by Senator OBA’s decision to leave the party. They’ll claim they knew long ago he’ll toe this line, but the truth is that, they know a key member of the party has moved on. In public, they won’t admit, but in their closets, they grieve.
Senator Bassey Albert is a nightmare to the PDP family and ruling government. This was clear from day one. It was his impressively massive Thanksgiving Service that led to the official anointment of Mr Umo Eno the next day.
I say so because I have not seen the fan base of Senator OBA deplete despite the arrows that have been directed his way. The vain attempts to tar him with bad brush have all fallen flat. The man has kept his eyes on the ball. Taking strategic and well calculated steps toward actualising his ambition of becoming governor.
By next year, there’ll be many options to choose from. Senator John James Akpanudoedehe is now of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP). We have Arc. Ezekiel Nya-Etok in African Democratic Congress (ADC), and others.
But you can’t blame them when they misfire, because their rogue mandate didn’t come from the people but a greedy cabal. That is the more reason candidates who emerge from the whims and caprices of a select few, whether elderstatesmen or false claim of celestial seal must be rejected. Let leaders emerge from the choice of the people so that such a leader can be held accountable when he strays.
For Senator OBA, this writer is of the view that he has taken a bold step, a leap of faith that many won’t. There are those not happy with goings-on in the PDP today, but can’t leave for fear of the unknown. But we can’t be doing the same thing always yet expect different results. Until you’re ready to do what is uncommon, history can’t be created.
The senator has left a party some think has the clout to dwarf any other party in the state. No problem with that. It was like this before the PDP crumbled in Abuja in 2015. There’s a first time to everything in life. To think he’ll lose is free.
Whichever party he decides to pitch his tent with, one sure thing is that his support base will remain intact. Even those flaunting the umbrella will ditch it on ballot day and vote for a man they believe will meet their needs and aspirations no matter the party.
The earlier one wakes to the emerging reality, the better. But you’re also free to drive in the motorcade of delusion.
Kenneth Jude writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.