Ganduje vows to raise Nigeria’s crude politics, governance to high standards.

From Cyril Mbah, Abuja.
The  National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has vowed to use the newly established educational outfit of the party, known as The Progressive Institute, to effectively transform the nation’s crude politics and also raise Nigeria’s level of governance to meet acceptable international standards.
Dr. Ganduje said the transformation and improvement of the political and leadership landscape cannot be postponed indefinitely without dire consequences to the growth of democracy and good governance as well as the overall development of the nation and its citizens.
The APC national chairman, who made the remarks in Abuja on Saturday during a one-day public debate on the draft programmes of the institution, said the time has come for Nigerian politics and politicians to move up the ladder in the practice of politics and governance so that the nation can become a good reference point for other nations that are grappling with leadership issues to emulate.
He spoke enthusiastically about developing the APC into an ideologically inclined party to give direction to the party and create examples for other political parties in the country to follow, pointing out that some of the difficulties associated with the growth of democracy since its advent in Nigeria included the absence of ideologies in the nation’s political space.
In his speech before declaring the event open Ganduja said: “The gathering here marks the beginning of our resolve to improve the political space using the intellectual instrument and by setting worthy examples for other political parties.

“The APC will start laying the foundations to become an ideologically driven political party. The party must pursue a good ideology to have an identity as a progressive patty.”

Continuing, the chairman said “One of my major pronouncements immediately after my inauguration was the establishment of the Progressive Institute as a platform not only to enhance the intellectual foundation of the party, but also to strengthen the process of decision-making through the deployment of research-driven, empirical and accountable approaches in the APC’s operations.

“We are determined to leverage on science and technology to deepen internal democracy while also promoting democracy, good governance, inclusiveness and equity in the country. Our leadership is conscious of its historical responsibility to promote these ideals. 

“The Progressive Institute will play a dual role for the APC. It will function as a Think Tank as well as an intellectual Resource Centre. As a Think Tank it will undertake research either on its own or under the directives of the party, focusing on policies and programmes of governments under the APC platform. This will enhance the capacity to effectively play its role. It will also undertake capacity building activities for our members. 

“In both roles, the centre will carry out research on progressive ideals and their programmatic implications while also developing the curriculum for ideological training for members of the APC including those in government. It is important to emphasize the determination of our party to raise the quality of political discourse in the country through very well defined ideological prisms.

Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion, Professor Nuhu Yaqub, who was the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, commended the initiative and far-sightedness of the APC chairman in setting up the institution, which he hoped, will live up to expectations by remolding the intellectual capacity of Nigerian politicians and improving their practice of politics for greater nation building.

Prof. Yaqub suggested that the curriculum of the institute should be modelled in such a manner that there will be both theoretical and practical orientation of students on advanced governance system.

He also charged the institute to set worthy growth agenda for the ruling party to enable it focus properly on structural as well as human capital development that will benefit the nation.