Political Panorama Issue No 20
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| Some ADC faithful in Lagos |
The political climate in Nigeria has shifted - seismically. Since the formal adoption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the political platform for the Coalition movement, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has grown visibly unsettled. This isn’t mere political theatre; it is the consequence of a realignment of grassroots forces long disillusioned by the status quo, now converging under a single, credible platform determined to rescue Nigeria from the jaws of misrule, hunger, and hopelessness.
The
Coalition is no longer an idea whispered in backrooms or strategized over in
think tanks. It is a movement - vigorous, vibrant, and visible. It is a
rebellion of the governed. It is the spontaneous assembly of patriots who have
refused to be bystanders in the theater of their own suffering.
The
ruling APC is jittery because it knows that the ADC-led Coalition is not the
product of elite manipulation or political opportunism. It is not a haven for
recycled politicians. It is a mass-driven uprising of conscience. The APC
understands that what confronts it now is a political hurricane stirred by the
very people it has ignored for a decade. This is a movement powered by market
women, unemployed graduates, civil servants cheated of their dignity, youths
robbed of a future, and communities crushed by insecurity.
Let
it be said with clarity: the ADC is not just another political party. It is the
chosen vessel of a people who have grown weary of promises made and broken. The
ruling party, bloated with power and arrogance, cannot comprehend a politics
that is not orchestrated from state houses or bankrolled by looters. They fail
to realize that what is happening now across Nigeria is nothing short of a
civic resurrection.
Why the APC Is Running Scared
The
signs are everywhere. The ruling party’s propaganda machine is on overdrive.
Its attack dogs are barking louder than ever. Its surrogates - both known and
disguised have taken to the media with insults, fabrications, and desperate
damage control. Why? Because the ADC-led Coalition has upended their
calculations.
They
are jittery because the ADC is mobilizing Nigerians not on the basis of tribe,
religion, or regionalism, but on the basis of shared pain and collective hope.
They are unsettled because this movement is not waiting for 2027 to start
winning. It is already winning the hearts of Nigerians village by village, ward
by ward, street by street.
The
APC is afraid because it knows the terrain has changed. Its tactics of
vote-buying, ethno-religious polarization, fake empowerment schemes, and the
hopeless renewed hope mantra, are losing their grip. Nigerians have become
wiser. The hunger in their stomachs has birthed a clarity in their minds. The
deceit has been unmasked. The once-silent majority is now the organized democratic
majority.
The Truth About Coalition Leaders:
Patriots, Not Predators
One
of the most insidious narratives peddled by the APC and its agents is that the
Coalition is driven by old and disgruntled politicians with blemished pasts.
But this is a dishonest portrayal. The truth is that many of the key figures at
the driver’s seat of the Coalition have demonstrated more commitment to
Nigeria's development than many sitting public office holders today.
These
leaders, though not without human limitations but with feasible and physical
means of income, verifiable background identities have been employers of labour
in ways some state governments can only envy. They have run enterprises,
empowered youths, supported SMEs, and carried communities on their backs during
Nigeria’s darkest hours. They are patriotic nationalists who have invested their
lives, time, and personal wealth in building rather than plundering.
Their
decision to step out once again and lead this crusade for a better Nigeria is not out of ambition but out of conviction.
And it comes at great personal risk. Risk to their businesses. Risk to their
safety. Risk to their reputations in a toxic political environment. But they
chose to do so because they believe that Nigeria can no longer afford the
silence of good men.
They,
like late Chief MKO Abiola, are rich but pro-poor, deeply connected to the
suffering masses, and disenchanted with a system that benefits the few at the
expense of the many. Unlike the detached technocrats, political scammers, identity theft experts and insulated political contractors in power
today, these Coalition leaders walk the same streets as everyday Nigerians.
They feel the pulse of the people. And they have refused to stay aloof while
Nigeria burns.
A Word on APC’s Propaganda: A
Rebuttal to Bola Bolawole
It
is against this backdrop of awakening that we must confront the disguised smear
campaign recently advanced by Bola Bolawole in his column titled “APC, ADC:
Spot the Difference!” - a conversation deliberately laced with sarcasm, tragic
analogies, and subtle distortions designed to delegitimize the growing strength
of the ADC-led Coalition. While cloaked in nostalgia and intellectual banter,
the piece operates as a thinly veiled extension of the APC’s panic strategy - casting
doubt, spreading cynicism, and painting the ADC with brushes dipped in the
failures of others.
To
compare the ADC - an evolving political vehicle of reform - to aviation
disasters is not only tasteless and exploitative of national tragedy, but also
a desperate attempt to delegitimize a party rising by popular mandate. Such
comparison reflects superficial analysis, reductionist thinking, and analytical
complacency to reduce political assessment to wordplay and acronym semantics,
while ignoring the substance, vision, and grassroots legitimacy of a movement backed
by Nigerians from every walk of life. The truth remains that the ADC is not
an APC offshoot, nor is it a recycled version of old order politics. It is a
new alignment with a moral compass, made up of both battle-tested elders and
awakened young patriots determined to chart a new course. The Coalition stands
on verifiable character, capacity, and courage. No amount of sly innuendo can
erase that reality.
Why Nigerians Must Embrace the ADC
To
those still watching from the sidelines, the message is simple: now is the time
to choose courage over fear, hope over despair, and action over apathy. The
ADC, as the platform of the people’s Coalition, is not a mere alternative - it
is the better alternative. It is a platform that does not have the blood of
failed governance on its hands. It is a platform that has not been stained by
the sins of power without accountability.
The
ADC is not weighed down by baggage; it is propelled by vision. It is not a
platform for godfathers; it is a platform for nation-builders. It is the only
viable vehicle today that combines ideological clarity with organizational
readiness. The Coalition has put forward a welfarist agenda that prioritizes
food security, education, health, job creation, and security for all - not for
the few.
We
are building a Nigeria where no child will go to bed hungry, where hospitals
will treat before billing, where schools will educate and not decay, where roads
will be motorable and where insecurity will be tackled with both resolve and
empathy. That future begins with the ADC-led Coalition.
This
is not just about winning elections - it is about winning back Nigeria. It is
about ending the culture of impunity that has defined the APC’s rule. It is
about burying the politics of stomach infrastructure and birthing a politics of
social transformation. It is about restoring the dignity of every Nigerian.
Let
it be known: the ADC is not a third force. It is the people’s first force. The
youth who marched during EndSARS, the pensioners who cry for their unpaid
entitlements, the mothers who pray through the night for their children
abducted or unemployed - they have found their voice in this Coalition.
This
is our moment. The ruling party is afraid because they can no longer gaslight
us with their false narratives. They can not silence us with tokenism. They can
not distract us with circus-like politics. Nigerians are ready for leadership
that listens, leadership that cares, leadership that serves, and leadership
that works.
A Call to Action
To
every Nigerian, this is your call to conscience. This is your chance to rewrite
the future. Join the ADC. Be part of the Coalition. Become a foot soldier of
the new Nigeria we are building. Knock on doors. Mobilize your community.
Spread the message of responsible governance. Organize, don’t agonize.
Let
the ruling party tremble. Let the elite conspiracy unravel. Let the ADC-led
Coalition rise; and with it, let Nigeria rise.
History is being written. Don’t watch
it. Write it.
Until next week, this is Political Panorama with Ola Olateju - Voice of the Coalition. Voice of the People.
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