SENATOR UMAR TANKO ALMAKURA AND THE APC JOB.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is a novel project in Nigeria’s political history. The party was birthed on the heels of the compelling need for a change in the management of the country’s affairs after sixteen years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding sway. The PDP as a ruling party at the time was widely regarded as inefficient in the administration of the country. To every intent, therefore, APC can rightly be considered as a child of circumstance whose birth heralded a renewed faith and rejuvenated spirit in our fledgling democracy. It is common knowledge that the formation of the APC was hinged on the bargain struck by some major political parties in the country. The merger was indeed a masterstroke in the successful wrestle of power from the PDP. The principal parties in the merger were the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Splinter factions of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) also partook in the merger. A corollary was that Nigeria deserved better and the newly formed APC became the beacon of hope for the people. That hope was the harbinger for the party’s victory at the 2015 polls.
Pundits believe that the 2015 presidential election was a significant milestone in deepening the country’s democracy. The outcome of the election altered the long-held notion that in Africa, an incumbent’s victory is sacrosanct by hook or crook. That jinx was broken and the event has gone down on the continent as a watershed. Furthermore, the choice of General Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential flagbearer of the party was seen as the glue that sealed off that historic electoral contest in favor of the APC. President Buhari ran for the presidency on three consecutive occasions before Nigerians took a chance on him on the fourth.
He bagged twelve million votes on each of those attempts from a particular region of the country. Those votes became a sure bet for him, each time he threw his hat in the ring to vie for the country’s most coveted job. In 2010, he formed the CPC on whose platform he took his third shot at the presidency in 2011 and lost. However, the party was able to grind success from Nasarawa State governorship polls that year with Umaru Tanko Al-Makura as the man at whose behest that victory was made possible. He flew the party’s flag as the governorship candidate and emerged as the only CPC governor in the country. President Buhari’s incorruptible record, a pool of the over twelve million consistent votes in his kitty, and the triumph in Nasarawa State strengthened the position of the defunct CPC on the merger table that birthed the APC in 2013. As the only CPC Governor, His Excellency Tanko Al-Makura played a major role in the success of the merger. He is ostensibly one of the founding fathers of the APC with a firm grasp of the vision that fueled and propelled its formation. His commitment to the growth and stability of the party is unparalleled. Al-Makura was there from the beginning and his staying power and consistency cannot be taken for granted.
Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura was a member of the CPC Alliance/Merger Committee that represented the party in the Joint Merger Committee with other legacy parties that formed the APC. He drove the process seamlessly by providing the logistics and comfort needed for members of the Committee to perform their assignments and achieve the desired goal of fostering one big united progressive political family in the interest of the country. The distinguished Senator has remained focused, taking on the gauntlet of a leading light of the party with a firm belief in its ideals and philosophy. The APC was founded on the core doctrine of the social contract between the leaders and the people. For Senator Tanko Al-Makura, that means a public office holder is a trustee of the people.
The distinguished Senator has demonstrated this concept over time as a guiding principle in his leadership style. As he jostles to lead the party as its National Chairman, Al-Makura appreciates the enormity of the task ahead and he clearly understands that his job is already cut out for him. As the ruling party at the center with twenty-three out of thirty-six states in the country under its belt, the stakes are understandably high and this has engendered contentious interests across the board. However, the good news is that Al-Makura is coming well-prepared with hands-on experience as an adept master of conflict resolution and a rich political pedigree to take on the challenges. For him, it is familiar terrain and equally a new dawn of cohesive and inclusive politics in the APC. His capacity for conflict resolution has been tested and the distinguished Senator proved his mettle.
In 2018, Senator Tanko Al-Makura chaired the Reconciliation Committee of the party to the six Northeast states.
He exhibited uncommon problem-solving skills on that occasion, resolving all the knotty issues, and restoring harmony in the party in that region of the country. Yet again, in the said year, Al-Makura was saddled with the onerous responsibility of conducting the party’s governorship primaries in the Southwest State of Ekiti as chairman of the seven-man committee. He conducted one of the most peaceful governorship primaries in the history of the party with all the aspirants accepting the outcome without a single petition against the process.
Senator Tanko Al-Makura is armed with a blueprint that would serve as a roadmap to the successful administration of the party under his watch. He is already solution-focused to confront the challenges facing the party at this time and reposition it for a sustained electoral victory.
A synopsis of Al-Makura’s vision for the party is enunciated in his ten-point agenda as follows: 1. To enthrone internal democracy and create a level playing field for members to ventilate their aspirations, 2. To activate the statutory and major organs of the party such as the Board of Trustees, National Caucus, etc. for smooth running and ensure discipline at all levels. 3. To evolve a conflict resolution mechanism within the party and grant every member a fair hearing. Furthermore, 4. To engage in an out-of-court settlement of all pending litigations against the party at all levels, 5. To promote effective diaspora participation to widen the party’s frontiers, 6. To promote gender inclusiveness for women, widen the democratic space for youth participation, create greater room for the involvement of vulnerable people, particularly those with special needs and ethnic minorities, 7. Set up a continuous membership registration platform and develop a reliable database for the party with the use of modern technology to drive the process, 8. To promote the executive-legislative partnership to enhance good governance, 9. To fashion a reward system for loyal and dedicated members of the party. 10. To build a veritable team spirit among the members of the National Working Committee.
His Excellency, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura is not in the race for the national chairmanship of the APC for self-aggrandizement or the accolades and perks associated with the high office.
Rather, he is motivated by a deep sense of patriotism and the endless conviction to add the desired value, stabilize the ship of the party, and fulfill the dreams of the founding fathers. To that extent, the distinguished Senator considers his involvement in the race at this time as a call to duty to make the APC better. He is on a single-minded mission to secure the gains so far recorded and secure the future of a party he labored with others in the trenches to build.
Al-Makura is a man of addictive humility, performative power, and highly respected political Maestro who has taken the Nigerian democratic landscape by storm, making invaluable contributions on all fronts.
Senator Tanko Al-Makura is impulsively idealistic and relentlessly pragmatic in his approach to issues. There is no doubt that the APC’s project is at a knotty juncture at this transiting moment of President Buhari. The party would therefore require creative and inventive leadership to navigate it to a safe harbor and Umaru Tanko Al-Makura holds the compass to make that happen. Nigerians are watching and it is believed that at this auspicious time in its history, the APC will make the perfect choice by electing one of its incredibly brilliant and dedicated founding fathers – a man of immense capacity, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura to lead the pack as National Chairman.
Salihu Abdullahi Osuko
(Garkuwan Giza)
Media Aide To Distinguished People’s Senator Umar Tanko Almakura.
