Since the day, Senator Dr Gabriel Suswam met with the Benue State executive of the Peoples Democratic Party to intimate it of his plan to contest for the position of chairman of the party, I have never stopped pondering over it.
I have always rushed to read whatever anybody writes about his aspiration whether good or bad.
But in most of the write-ups, a lot of people align with, and support his aspiration for the chairmanship of the arguably biggest political party in Africa. With different reasons, a great number of Nigerians across party divides have advanced their proposition about how a Suswam headship of the PDP would help to rejuvenate Nigeria by way of making the governing party sit up and deliver dividends of democracy to the citizenry.
They have argued that it is by strengthening an alternative party and enshrining disciplinary protocols that the shrinking and or comatose PDP with indifferential disposition would gird itself and reclaim the national position it deserves.
My piece at this moment is not about Sen. Suswam’s suitability in terms of how long he has stayed and refused to abandon his party, the Peoples Democratic Party since its inception in 1998, nor the past exalted leadership positions he has held before, but my writeup is about how he has sufficiently demonstrated uncommon diplomacy in handling public and personal crises situations.
Even though all the aforementioned credentials are prerequisite for the coveted position of a national chairman of a national party, the uncommon credential of comportment, as expressed in diplomacy stands out as the biggest of them all.
His Excellency, Senator Dr Gabriel Suswam CON is a middle-aged man; and by all standards, an elder-youth. But he has fought leadership battles with astonishing diplomatic acumen that has convincingly defined his personality in ways more than one. Even though he would disagree with some people or opinions, he would however, carry on in a way that would ensure seamless barriers for productivity and avoid clog in the system.
At this present time in the life of the Peoples Democratic Party, a leader of the style of Dr Suswam is needed who would use diplomacy in bringing all warring factions in the party together to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC ). A leader who would tolerate all shades of opinion, but be firm enough to drive home the right decision that would benefit the entire system.
Dr Suswam’s aspiration should therefore be a uniting forum for all the interests in the umbrella party.
Anybody who is contesting for the same position with Dr Suswam especially from Benue State should be considered as adding mere spice to the game to make it more interesting and ensure a memorable win, but not from the prism of destructive contest. This is because Dr Suswam’s aspiration has generated uncommon acceptability across the length and width of Nigeria in a way never before seen in the political space of our country.
The question therefore should be when Dr Gabriel Suswam becomes the national Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, but not if, because he is most likely to get the position after all.
Timothy Vihimga
is a PDP faithful in Makurdi.
