A former Director of Programs and Operations at the office of the vice president, Abdul Salam Mustapha has stated that the campaign of breaking the 8yrs jinx in the country’s political cycle by the ruling new patriotic party (NPP) is doable; but it would need deep thinkers and serious techniques and strategies
According to him it requires matured, experienced and selfless leadership to achieve it. “A third term means that more time to satisfy those we have not yet,” he stated.
The 2024 general elections seems very far, yet some section of NPP members are on social media campaigning for Dr. Bawumia’s candidature termed “breaking the 8 years.”
However Abdul Salam Mustapha who is aspiring for the national youth organizer position of the NPP, in a statement sighted by Diamond News, said to break the 8, there is the need for government to be more accessible to the grassroots. How government appointees will relate to the grassroots remains a very serious issue he stated.
“This is where leadership will need to step in and bridge the gap. No government appointee should ever dare say, ‘he’s not here to do politics’ but you like it that politics put you there,” he said.
He added that the party leadership should create opportunities for party people more especially the youth who are business minded. “For me, a healthy party is a wealthy party. For us to break the 8, leadership will have to be innovative in setting up its base to business,” he said.
Salam Mustapha also suggested that the party leadership should set up a monitoring system to ensure that party resources get to the bottom where it’s needed.
He said to succeed with the “breaking the 8,” it must be youth driven, adding the commitment the youth have shown in the past cannot be underestimated and therefore must be encouraged.
The former Director of programs and Operations at the office of the vice president, also expressed his commitment towards the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) agenda of breaking the 8 years rule in the country “I’m committed to this course with my body,” he assured.
Below is the full statement from Salam Mustapha:
Salam Mustapha Writes:
Dear Patriots,
BREAKING THE 8! IT WILL TAKE LEADERSHIP.
Leadership is everything and everything is leadership. To break the 8yr jinx in our political cycle, it will require something extraordinary. I’m particularly thrilled that this bold call is coming from the youth of the party. The young people in NPP started this movement which has become the talk of town. The 2020 elections result is a double edged sword which will cut either ways in 2024, our way or their way.
To succeed in breaking the 8, it must be youth driven. The commitment the youth have shown in this enterprise is astounding and must be encouraged. It will take a lot of leadership to stir our away to a third consecutive victory. Thus, we must parade the best of thinkers and strategists to lead us into this stormy way. A few of my opinion:
1. The government is a byproduct of the party. We won the 2016 elections as a party which in turn formed a government. Anytime the party loses an election, the government will be no more. In essence, the party remains the only way to remain in government. This should tell us to make sure that our party is necessarily strong, in terms of man power and resources to take care of its members.
2. Majority of the people in politics are the youth. There is no contest to this. Therefore, how do we harness the youth for continuous success of the party?
3. How do we satisfy our youth and by extension the base of our party, what we call now the grassroot? Are there enough opportunities for them? It’s obvious that this is the crux of the matter. Inability to satisfy our base will breed apathy and that will be dangerous to the breaking the 8 agenda. What our base want is jobs. Unemployment remains an a present danger and threat to our success. We must be sincere to ours that the formal sector cannot offer the needed opportunities for all of our people, the question is what next? This is where leadership will play a substantial role in thinking outside of the box to deal with the conundrum. I’ve a few ideas to share but not in public.
Aside jobs for those seeking it, how have we created opportunities for our people who are business minded? For me, a healthy party is a wealthy party. For us to break the 8, leadership will have to be innovative in setting up its base to business. Our Sub-Saharan politics is based on patronage, this is not a western political system where the best of orators and policies matter. Here, deep pockets matter. Therefore, the more resourceful people we have at the base, the less problems will come up to the top. We should create a business support scheme for the party where core members can draw support from for their business as funding for businesses is a big issue and especially young people are disadvantaged. But we should take care of our own.
Furtherance to this, more scholarships, contracts should be the way to go.
4. Let’s deal with the issue of greed if we are to break the 8 and leadership is required to do so. Will resources trickle down to all the way to the polling stations? Can we set up a monitoring system to ensure that party resources get to the bottom where it’s needed? And when resources are given, will it be used for the intended purpose or it will be sat on? Greed is a dangerous element in any set up and especially, a human driven enterprise like politics, Its consequential effect can be catastrophic.
5. Party-government relationship is key to the equation. I’ve already started that, the government is subservient to the party. So, the party will be in uproar if they feel that they don’t have any stake in the government. Once a disconnect is created, the party will not mind losing an election for the contemporaneous effect on the government. Deep thinking leadership is required to manage a delicate balance of interest between party and government. To break the 8, the government has to be more accessible to the base. How government appointees will relate to the base remains a very serious issue and this is where leadership will need to step in and bridge the gap. No government appointee should ever dare say, ‘he’s not here to do politics’ but you like it that politics put you there?
6. The base, the youth also have a responsibility to both government and party. Honestly, an unrestrained sense of entitlement is as dangerous as the greed i mentioned earlier. The lack of patience and solidarity in us towards the government is not healthy and progressive. The NPP is a political party, we join base on our free will and without coercion, it’s membership runs into millions all with expectations. Millions of people having different expectations only tells us that it will require some patience to satisfy everybody. We must have a leadership that can inspire confidence in our base that they’re not left behind. The behaviour of some of us is also a challenge. The lack of candor and dishonesty is not helpful. Some patriots want to take from everybody. Some also get assistance and pretend not and still attack the government and party for not being helpful.
7. Unity. How united are we? Ab initio, we cannot break the 8 without unity. It’s that simple. Can we eschew the fighting and bickering among us? There should be no room for animosity, deep seated angst, rather, how do we form a unanimity of purpose to move forward? This will be consequential to breaking the 8.
Fellow patriots, breaking the 8 is a duty call. It’s doable. It will require splendid leadership: matured, experienced and selfless. A third term means that more time to satisfy those we have not yet and also make our party, the NPP, more great and strong as it will be the only party to have achieved this feat. I’m committed to this course with my body, soul and spirit. What about you!
Kind regards,
Salam Mustapha
#SM
#ItsaYouthmovemnt
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu
