Labour Party may end up like APGA – a failed experiment, By Fredrick Nwabufo

The Labor Party appears to be uninoculated against the APGA contagion. The party became rigidly ethnic. Ethnic irredentists have taken over the party, branding after themselves – recreating in their own image. Some of these irredentists who live on social media are quick to establish that they “own” the Labor Party, shutting down different interrogations.

It might just be a bubble. A delusion. Ignis fatuus. A castle in the quicksand. It may not be long before that house goes in. The Labor Party’s electoral spread was an interesting experiment; of political possibilities, change, but it seems that the party is destined to crumple under the weight of its own suffering and internal contradictions.

The Labor Party has won 40 National Assembly seats so far – according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) records. Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate, presented a notable performance in the presidential election, despite the controversy over the votes of the states he won, due to allegations that he was associated with him.

But is this fortune enough to keep the party going? I don’t think so. The party became ethnically zealous, rigid, and anti-intellectual. I believe the party may be like the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – a failed experiment and a poor attempt at building a people’s forum.

There is no guarantee that those swept into parliament by a wave of teenage anger will remain in the party. And even if one does, there is no certainty that the same wind will blow again in the next election.

In parliament, the beneficiaries of the “Obi phenomenon” will fight for survival, opportunities, and trade interests. There is a possibility that some people will cross over to other parties for whatever interests they hold.

So, if the Labor Party has 40 seats in parliament now it is not a guarantee of political sustenance or survival in the long term. It does not guarantee anything. The party remains a rustled vehicle without organic and deep roots. It has no intellectual bearing, and its supporters are empty, angry, and threatening. It is only held together, in the moment, by the anger of youth, but what happens when the anger tapers off?

The much lauded Obi phenomenon will be in full swing after the election is over, and the youths have another distraction they deserve. I don’t see Peter Obi maintaining the momentum for long after the election. They can go back to business and wait for something else to happen. That’s the reason I said it would be history if Obi extended the hand of relationship to the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, instead of chasing apparitions and chest thumping at that time.

APGA used to be a party. The third leg. It held several promises. The party came on stream when democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999. It won several elections. But over time, the party became regionally rigid. It is defiant to political evolution. When the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which was established much later in the 2000s, was able to build from the base to the center by attuning itself to the times and develop adequately, APGA was closed and straitjacketed.

APGA lost its oomph and quickly took the brand of the party part. The dream of respected Igbo leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu is to make the party a national brolly – a stamping ground for all Nigerians. To build from the base and levitate to the center. But the party failed to realize this dream. It was racked by internecine squabbles, greed, lack of foresight by subsequent managers, insularity, and sabotage.

The Labor Party appears to be uninoculated against the APGA contagion. The party became rigidly ethnic. Ethnic irredentists have taken over the party, branding after themselves – recreating in their own image. Some of these irredentists who live on social media are quick to establish that they “own” the Labor Party, shutting down different interrogations.

Even Aisha Yesufu, an important voice of Obi’s campaign, was not spared from the dangerous epithets by this sudden appropriator of the Labor Party. He warned, “you are not one of us” – despite the overwhelming support for his candidate.

These appropriators of the Labor Party should take pains to learn the ethos of the party. Usually the labor party. But I guess, anger and bigotry lead to anti-intellectualism. There is no room for bigotry in an intellectually drained mind.

I am of the opinion that this new mob is a latent threat to our democracy. Our conversations about politics are never contaminated. In fact, this problem goes beyond the Labor Party mob. But I would advise those who are willing to listen to stop spreading poison and free trade fanatics.

No harm but a curse for being so loud.

Fredrick Nwabufo aka Mr OneNigeria is a media executive.