It was the party the late Prof Eskor Toyo literary decreed for anyone who called him or herself a revolutionary in Nigeria in the Second Republic. It was the kind of magisterial ideological pronouncement only an Eskor could make. From hindsight, the late Professor of Economics must have a point. Nearly koboless, the PRP has refused to die. The National Party of Nigeria, (NPN) and even the Unity Party of Nigeria, (UPN), these being the rich, established and dominant parties in the Second Republic have all mutated severally. Prof Eskor is no longer alive to update his directive as it were but the speech below, published verbatim so as to capture the radical ethic that defines the (PRP), appears to do that for him. It is unusual for Intervention to run most stuff verbatim. Perhaps, the PRP has a catch! Read on. It is inviting!
By Falalu Bello
The author
Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa
I would want, on behalf the newly elected leadership of our great and cherished party, the Peoples Redemption Party, (PRP), to thank His Excellency, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, CON, under whose able leadership we have been put forward by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) for election as the successor leadership to his regime. We are, indeed, honoured and grateful for the privilege to lead what is today not only the oldest party in Nigeria but more importantly the most ideologically oriented party of the so many parties in the land, big and small. Our task, therefore, is not only to lead the party to greater height in the years ahead but lead it with the sole aim of redeeming the masses of Nigeria: North and South, from the shackles of poverty, ignorance and disease that they all suffer from. The common man on the periphery of the Sahara Desert suffers from the same deprivations, exploitation, poverty and disease as the common man in the Mangrove forest of the Niger Delta.
The late Mallam Aminu Kano who emerged as embodiment of the PRP ethic in Nigerian politics
PRP, historically, has grown out of the present Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, Bauchi States and the Jos Metropolis with a call by its founding leaders as enunciated in the SAWABA DECLARATION of 1950 for the ordinary citizens of this land called TALAKAWA in Hausa to organize themselves consciously and politically to get power so as to save themselves from oppression and exploitation. The governments of PRP that emerged in the old Kaduna and Kano States in 1978 attempted to do just that but since their demise, the Talaka in these areas and indeed the talaka in the whole of Nigeria has become further pauperized, abused and neglected. The recent Poverty Index Rating shows Zamfara State as the poorest in the country with 92% poverty rating followed by Jigawa, 88%, Bauchi 87% and Katsina 82% etc. What these figures show and tells us is that the purpose for which PRP was formed over 50 years ago – to eradicate poverty and remove exploitation – is yet to be attained.
The common man in the aforesaid states and, indeed, the whole country remains exploited and used by successive administrations, be they military or civilian and are collectively in need of deliverance from the leaderships of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which misruled the nation for 16 years and the Alliance for Progressive Congress(APC) which has not fared better in the last 3 years. Our task as the new leaders of the PRP is to, therefore, show to the Talaka that their deliverance is neither in PDP nor APC. We need to show the Talaka that their exploiters are no longer the Emirs and Chiefs (who are themselves being exploited today) but the governors, local government chairmen and their cronies who are further pauperizing them. We need to also show and explain to the Talaka the need for them to return home which in this case is the PRP, the party created to help them organize and fight for collective deliverance.
Both have brought more poverty instead of eradicating the phenomenon, says the PRP
In my humble opinion, above is our task put in a very simple language and we shall, God willing, from today start to meet to chart out a new course that will bring in the talaka in Kaduna State and his counterpart in Imo State and indeed all over Nigeria for them to join us along with members of the middle class who have conscience so as to build the PRP as a strong political party to wrestle power from these political blocks of PDP and APC that exist as instruments of power aggregation in the interest of just a few.
We would, as an opposition party at both national and state levels objectively engage the governments on behalf of the masses of the nation and tell them what they are doing is wrong, show them how to do it better and shout when we discover them stealing or even wasting our resources as neither the governments not the resources are theirs, their families or even their respective groups.
As we soldier on, we will need and hereby ask of your support as party members. We will also fall back on the experiences of the old NEC and the newly created Board of Trustees to guide and defend us where necessary. Thank you and God Bless PRP and Nigeria!
Alhaji Falalu Bello, OFR, FCIB, delivered this as acceptance speech September 1st, 2018 on his emergence as Chairman, Peoples Redemption Party
