EDITORIAL: The Compelling Necessity For Caucuses In The Political Firmament

 

• A Caucus is not a faction
• Need to rebuild the progressive base under a committed leadership
• Imperative to  present fresh perspectives as a roadmap towards building a better society

SINCE men came out of caves and started clustering in groups eventually transiting into communities, they have eventually clustered into formations and groups.  This is an essential ingredient in the human composition.

Caucuses actually predated the formation of the formalisation of political parties we are used to today. Over time, the various caucuses representing various currents of thoughts eventually coalesced together to form structured political parties, however, they never ceased to exist.

It will be a contradiction in terms, if they went out of existence, for humans are not zombies! They cannot all face the same direction at the same time.

The notion that a caucus is a “faction” or a rebel faction must be emphatically dispelled.

Modern political parties over time have embraced and have eventually accepted and operated under the framework of “ Democratic Centralism”. Nevertheless, tendencies and caucuses are accepted and indeed encouraged as necessary invigorating ingredients in a democratic setting and participation. They are essential to checkmate authoritarian manipulation which will eventually lead to a dictatorship.

Part of the confusion is because of the structural deformities of what we know today as “political parties in Nigeria, essentially these formations are hurriedly cobbled up “Special purpose vehicles”.

A caucus is a current of thought needed to galvanised the grassroots, breathe fresh air into the party and presents an “alternative perspective” which could be turned into a game changer. A caucus is a reinvigorating mechanism and should not be considered as a threat.

From this perspective, the formation of the Omoluabi Caucus as a component of the APC in Osun State is very important and indeed much needed, it is a break through! At the moment, the party is dysfunctional and has lost its focus. Successive electoral debacle has seen the party sliding into irrelevance. The party must be saved from destruction. Many of the people posing as “leaders” are careerists who do not know the reason for the existence of the party in Osun State.

On the other hand, the Omoluabi Caucus represents the institutional memory of the struggles that led to daunting odds the attainment of state power and the installation of a very successful progressive government.  The preservation of the institutional memory is non-negotiable and it started with the launching of The Omoluabi Caucus last Tuesday in Ilesa.

With a fresh start, we will see the rebirth of people-oriented progressive politics in Osun State.

The strategic imperative is on ambiguous. Today, Nigeria in general and Osun State as a component of Nigeria, faces an excruciating cost of living crisis. Threatening to roll back great social advances stretching decades, the crisis is not the fault of the present Federal Government. It origins are centred on a considerable extent the managerial ineptitude and fiscal ineptitude of the suspended Governor of The Central Bank of Nigeria.

All of us as progressives have an obligation to help the Federal Government find a response. The APC in its manifesto made a pledge to build a “Social Market” economy; this a fundamental reinstatement of “Alternative Perspective Position” through which Rauf Aregbesola has a path breaking Governor of Osun rebooted the state.

Aregbesola’s thrust is based on the attainment of social cohesion in which life would be more meaningful and better for the overwhelming majority of the citizens and their families. This is in alignment with the position of the APC to create an economy based on the ethos of a social market. The social market model has been very successful in places like Germany, Japan and the Scandinavia countries, among others.

The rebuilding of the APC as the progressive voice of Osun State must be based on rekindling of Aregbesola’s programs and deepening for the purpose of today. The conventional wisdom amongst the populace of Osun State is that they are positively beneficial. The empirical evident is unambiguous as well as irrefutable. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Aregbesola’s programs have been adopted in many states of federation, at centre, and even beyond the shores of Nigeria. They present an admirable battering ram in the fight against poverty reminiscent of the “great society” anti-poverty crusade of United States President, Lydon Johnson, in the 1960s and more recently the program of Brazilian President, Ignacio Lula da Silva, who as President of Brazil lifted forty million people out of poverty. Their path must be followed by committed social democrats.

Supporting the launching of the OMOLUABI CAUCUS is the first step towards the reconstruction of the APC in Osun State as the voice of the people and a launching pad towards the attainment of power for the progressives at states level. It is a task that must be done, history will be unforgiving if this is not the case. Out there on the streets of Osun State, people were yearning for a renewed vigour in the reinstatement of progressive politics. This historic mission can only be carried out through the inputs of the committed progressives and not the flipflops of political opportunist bereft of a clear road map and an ideological trust.

The OMOLUABI CAUCUS presents the way forward encompassing the yarning and aspiration of the people for a renewed commitment to a better life for all and social justice. These legitimate aspirations must be fully supported through the OMOLUABI CAUCUS, the new tools for the attainment of social justice in Osun State.