Newsie Events:
— Simple ways Peter Obi and Labour party can build a winning structure that will defeat that of the APC and PDP.
It is very funny when people wake up and say Emmanuel Macron of France just woke up and won elections in France without having a Structure.
Seeing that every election in the world is determined by structures, I decided to do a little research on how Macron shocked french politics in 2017.
First and foremost, Macron was not a nobody like people are saying. Macron was a minister. A minister of economics in France. For him to be a minister, he was no small figure.
Secondly, Macron was not just an ordinary minister, he was the president’s boy. From my research, I found out that the then President was his mentor. The President took him as his protege and when the President was not seeking for reelection, there are indications that he would work for Macron his boy.
Again, leading parties in France like the socialist party were heavily divided and their members publicly welcomed Macron’s new party. Far from that, Macron’s new party “En Marche” attracted the public support of powerful political and business figures in France. For Instance, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (former minister),Jean-Pierre Raffarin (former Prime Minister) and Pierre Gattaz (Powerful French Business Executive) all publicly supported Macron’s party. Imagine, a former Prime minister, former minister and powerful businessman supporting a party. That’s huge.
Well, the big thing that happened to Macron’s party was when he was endorsed by Francois Bayrou. François Bayrou is a longstanding figure in French politics, the longstanding ‘third man’ of French politics, somebody who in the past has been portrayed as a kingmaker. He backed (French President) François Hollande in 2012,”. Bayrou himself was a three time presidential aspirant and head of a particular movement. His movement formed an ALLIANCE with Macron’s movement. Imagine a serial and powerful contender for the Presidency like Atiku Abubakar forming an alliance with Peter Obi. Or a king maker like Tinubu forming an alliance with Peter Obi or an Influential leader of a political movement like Kwañkwaso forming an alliance with Obi. Put these three together, Francois Bayrou was three of them in one. Remember, this same Francois Bayrou supported Macron. So Macron didn’t just win the support of the masses, he had some political heavyweights on his side.
Now in building a grassroot Structure, Macron’s party worked with a political firm that once worked with the Obama campaign in 2008. This firm mapped out a strategy in which they raised active volunteers in different districts in France. It’s like raising agents in different polling units and wards in the country. Former Political office holders and Influential members of the civil society in France joined Macron’s new party
Lastly, he had the support of the masses by creating the best impression on them. Peter Obi has successfully done this part.
When you put all these together, you would see that Emmanuel Macron was not a nobody and he did not win elections without structures. Infact, he went to that elections with the strongest structure among the different contestants.
By the time Emmanuel Macron’s Le Republique En Marche Party was going into that election, they had candidate for almost all constituencies in France who were active civil society members and former political office holders. This is what happened in the APC in 2014. After the merger of ANPP, CPC and ACN, the new party APC had strong men contesting for almost all offices in Nigeria and they had ward and polling unit agents present in virtually every ward and polling unit in Nigeria.
That you do not have the PDP or APC structure does not mean that you shouldn’t set up your own structure that will compete with the structure of the PDP and APC. Peter Obi and Labour Party need to set up a structure, perhaps a new kind of volunteer agents across the wards and polling units in the country at least.
For Peter Obi and the labour party to stand a better chance, they need to form alliance with one or two powerful politician here and there. They need to find a way to build an army of strong ward and polling unit agents in at least 95% of wards in Nigeria. There is no magic about this. Peter Obi is an accomplished business man. He can leverage on his network and connections with top level business magnates and CEOs both within and outside the country. This will add more strength to the movement.
Importantly, there is too many crisis in the PDP and APC just like there were in the socialist party and National Front party in France at that time. The labour party can cash in on that crisis by convincing aggrieved members of either of the two parties to join and work for the labour victory.
With the massive support he now enjoys from ordinary Nigerians, Peter Obi’s political team can convert that into a formidable structure by ensuring that from their massive support base, they raise a team of active and capable wards and polling unit agents across the country. More persons should register with the labour party and volunteer to serve as agents in the elections. This should be organized in such a way that in the 2023 elections, there would be labour party agents presence virtually everywhere and in every state to guide voters and also to watch the vote and prevent any magic that those in the PDP and APC Structure intend to do. This is how Obi and the Labour party can win.
I am glad Peter Obi understands that he needs this structure. That is why he is visiting some of these politicians. He has visited Obj, IBB, Wike, Ikpeazu and Ortom etc. I am also sure that the labour party and the team is working on this new structure. This is how the work will be done.
As for the teeming supporters of Peter Obi, don’t just sit back and relax. There is more work to be done. You can be a part of that structure by mobilizing new voters. This is what structures do. You can also be a part of Peter Obi’s Structure by registering with the labour party and deciding to become a party agent in your ward or polling unit. This one is very important. This is how the work will be done.
My name is Caleb Onyeabor
As you journey towards achieving your dreams, I will be here to always encourage you to keep your head up.
Follow my page here – web.facebook.com/calebdeecee
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