JOHN DARA:
NIGERIA’S OBAMA?
The Peoples
Democratic Party, Nigeria’s ruling party, since the transition from military
dictatorship to civilian manipulation, which prides itself as the largest party
in Africa boasted on 1 October 2009, the 49th independence day anniversary,
that the party will rule Nigeria uninterrupted for the next 60 years. That
boast was three months ago. Since then, President Yar’adua has remained
invisible for approximately have of the time.
It is against
this background that the declaration John Dara on 1st January 2010 to run the
2011 presidential race came as a gust. The declaration came at a private
presentation of the new National Transformation Party which describes itself as
the preferred political vehicle for patriots who abhor corruption and
mediocrity. (The official launching of the party is schedule for 15 January
2010). It is “the beginning of a democratic revolution that Nigerians have been
yearning for” he declared. According to the party’s spokesman, Nigerians and
friends of Nigeria have been talking about the country’s potential. It is now
time to realise the potential, more so since October 2009 to October 2010
constitutes Nigeria’s Year of Jubilee (a Biblical parlance). Since there is all
the future to observe the party unfold, whereas we do not have all the future
to watch John Dara, this piece is an invitation to look at this man from the
onset.
Tongues are
wagging expectedly as to whether John Dara could be Nigeria’s Obama. Indeed,
there are some similarities between the two. First of all, he is little known
nationally let alone internationally. This is not to say that he is new to
politics. In fact, he has been a campaign manager for as many as six
gubernatorial and Presidential candidates in the past, was a member of the 2005
National Political Reform Conference, has been an adviser to Governor Otedola
of Lagos State, and the Minister of Defence 1999-2003, in addition to serving
in the leadership or organising capacity in many political associations.
He is 55, so
he is young - or old - depending on the angle from which one assesses 55; but
the Nigerian political class has no problem referring to him as ‘that young
man’. Compared to some of the other prospective contestants still in their
closets, he is young like Obama. He is a successful business man, and a
candidate for the Ph.D. degree in media arts at the University of Abuja.
He is a
Yoruba, from Kwara State, with a presence in Lagos. As a Yoruba, he is linguistically
and culturally from the Southwest. Politically, however, the colonial arbitrary
internal partitioning made him a northerner, but political realignment makes
him a son of the Middle Belt. In a situation where one comes from matters so
much, he does not stand a chance but he has declared that all those
considerations amount to irrelevance and indeed the locus of transformation if
Nigeria must move forward. So, he shares the notion of change with Obama.
Furthermore, Dara
is convinced that his greatest backers will arise from the grassroots, and that
their meager donations will build up exponentially for his race. The idea that
the power of organised commoners avails much is not new; however its practical
demonstration recently by Obama has fired hope in Dara that it is worth trying
for the emancipation of a failed state. Dara believes it is the route to
travel. Perhaps his greatest asset so far is the fact that the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are not after him and he does not look like
somebody expecting a visit from them or an invitation for a chat with them.
But there are
major differences between Dara and Obama. For example, Obama had a platform
from which to launch his campaign; Dara on the other hand has to invent a party
to begin with. The Presidential election is expected to hold April 2011 but
there are indications that the National Assembly where the PDP has a
controlling majority may move the date forward thereby making it all the more
difficult for new parties to organise properly before they compete. Secondly,
Obama had a literate electorate and by and large one language group to interact
with. On the other hand, Dara faces an electorate with a considerable regional
disparity when it comes to literacy and as many as 350 languages with
geographical identification to face; therefore there is a lot of translation to
accomplish with the complication of loss of fidelity of message in the process.
Dara however believes that he can “make it happen”. He is a man to watch in the
months to come.
Rev. Olufemi Oluniyi, Ph.D.,
Executive Director, Centre for Values
and Social Change,
Lagos, Nigeria.
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2010 TMS - TRANSCEND Media Service,
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