The rising volume of the radical and/or socialist voice in Nigeria at last makes the Manifesto of the People’s Redemption Party, (PRP), for Local Council Elections, 2021 – 2023 a document worth critical reading. So far, the PRP remains the closest to the organisational signifier for movement politics in Nigeria. What is the manifesto as approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party saying and what’s great about what it can be read as saying? The document is signed by Babatunde F. Alli, the party’s National Secretary.
Introduction
This manifesto of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) is specifically meant for all local council elections contested by the PRP between 2021 to 2023 throughout Nigeria. It represents the social contract which the party pledges itself to enter into with the good people of Nigeria at this most grassroots level of social organisation in the country. The manifesto shall serve as the party’s blueprint for the management of the affairs of the local and municipal councils controlled by elected members of the Party. To do justice to differences in local conditions in a country as big and as
diverse as Nigeria, the provisions of this manifesto shall in practice be creatively interpreted and flexibly applied to meet the peculiarities of each local condition.
This is in strict compliance with the provisions of Article Three, Subsection (b) of the Party’s extant Constitution. The manifesto itself is founded on the five (5) fundamental principles of the PRP. These are:
(i). A belief in the human being as the most precious thing in the world, above all wealth and material objects.
(ii). A belief in, and commitment to, the inalienable rights of the people to fully and purposefully exercise their sovereign rights to decide how they are governed and to elect, hold to public account and remove those who govern them, and to actively participate in determining the direction and content of the political, economic and social policies and practices shaping their lives and destinies.
(iii) A belief in the superiority of a self-reliant national economy characterized by just social relations of production and exchange under which the democratic state shall play a leading role in constructing a new social order on the basis of the socialist tenet of from each according to his work and to each according to his needs.
(iv). A belief in Nigerian national unity based on justice and equal political, social and economic opportunities for all citizens within a genuinely federal system of government, and
(v). A belief in the imperative for the defence and promotion of Nigeria’s national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and the liberation of the country and the African Continent from the chains of old and new forms of imperialist domination, including those being imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Basic Philosophy on Local Administration
The basic philosophy which informs the PRP’s programme and policies on public management at the grassroots level revolves around the critical objective of empowering the working masses so that they themselves are enabled to take basic decisions on issues which affect their day-to-day lives.
In concrete terms this empowerment of the working people involves a shift of emphasis from the outdated and unsatisfactory conception of local governments as oasis of officialdom and bureaucratic overlordship within a given area to that of service and popular participation in developmental activities. It also means a shift of focus from the role of local government administrations as providers of services from above to that of enablers and facilitators of development at the grassroots.
Based on the foregoing principles and the above basic philosophy on local
administration, the PRP is committed to implementing the following programmes at the local government level.
Political
(i). The PRP shall create democratically elected Ward and District Development Councils in every Local Government and Municipal Council area throughout the country. These Development Councils shall be charged with the responsibility for initiating, coordinating and supervising activities relating to all issues reserved for the exclusive and concurrent control of the I.G.’s as provided in the relevant schedules of the Nigerian Constitution.
(ii). The Party shall establish Civil Defence and Security Liaison Committees at village, Ward and Development Area levels to ensure the security of life and property of the people at the grassroots level and to assist the Police and other security agencies of the State in the discharge of their responsibility.
(iii). The Party shall establish in each local government a Civil Liberties and Human Rights monitoring committee, whose responsibilities shall include mass and continuing education and enlightenment campaigns on civil liberties and political and legal rights of the citizens, as well as the defence of these liberties and rights through political and legal action.
iv). The PRP shall ensure that elected representatives of the people are represented on managements of all development and service institutions of the local, state and federal governments located in the local government to ensure full local participation in such institutions.
Economy
(i). The PRP shall vigorously promote the formation of viable producer and consumer cooperative societies at the village, ward and district levels in every local government and municipal council area of the country with a view to eliminating exploitative relations in the production of goods and provision of services.
(ii). The Party is committed to the introduction in every local and municipal council area of agricultural and petty-producer credit guarantee schemes which would enable farmers, herdsmen, craftsmen, mechanics, fishermen and other small-scale producers access to soft loans on favourable terms in order to enable them expand their production enterprises.
(iii). The PRP shall assist in the procurement and subsidizing of such farm inputs as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, etc, which are critical for profitable agricultural production while at the same time encouraging the return to the use of organic manure and other environmentally safe and ecologically sustainable farming practices.
(iv). The Party shall, in conjunction with local communities, construct and rehabilitate rural feeder roads in order to enhance the movement of goods and people within and between the local council areas of the country.
v). The PRP is committed to the promotion of different languages and cultures of Nigeria, no matter how small or big; and local governments controlled by the party shall initiate a bold scheme for the production of books and other literature in local languages and dialects with a view to preserving these for posterity.
(vi). The PRP is committed to ensuring the full representation and active participation of women at all levels of management of the local council.
Conclusion
The PRP believes that given the present level of massive corruption in the country, there is no party programme, no matter how well intended, that can end up being successfully implemented. For this to happen, drastic steps and measures have to be taken to check the gross lack of accountability that now bedevils public service. The party shall, therefore, leave no stone unturned in its efforts to restore service and accountability to the local government system in the country. The PRP is committed
to restoring discipline and selfless service to local administration. The local
government service under a PRP leadership shall set a clear, unambiguous example in probity, accountability and sacrifice.
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