How I bridged the communication gap
between the national and state chairmen of registered political parties in
Nigeria – Wole Adedoyin
Wole Adedoyin, is the governorship candidate
of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the forthcoming governorship election in Osun
state. A former Oyo State Secretary of Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC) and
the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP).In this interview with Ademola
Rilwan, Adedoyin talks about his WhatsApp platform which has been uniting and an avenue for sharing news and
information among the national and state chairmen of different registered
political parties in Nigeria.
Tell
us a little about yourself?
My
name is Wole Adegoke Joshua Adedoyin. I’m a blogger, literary activist,
computer analyst, writer and a freelance journalist. I am the current national
P.R.O (South) of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and the National
President of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW). Also a former Oyo
State Secretary of the Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC) and currently the
National Coordinator of the National Interparty Youth Alliance (NIYA).
Tell us about
National Focus and how you started?
The
idea behind the creation of National Focus and the IPAC Watchdog started after
I emerged as the pioneer secretary of IPAC in Oyo State. Before the advent of
IPAC, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) was the only
association of political parties in Nigeria. Chairmen of political parties
across the country then found it difficult to discuss, share news related to
their parties and INEC unless there were physical meetings summoned by INEC and
related stakeholders. Sometimes individual state chapters of CNPP do organize
workshops and seminars to sensitize and educate their members not only within
their states but also across their regions. The advent of IPAC actually changes
the face of registered political parties in the state. IPAC was established by INEC guided by a Code
of Conduct, which is also mandatory for any registered political party to join.
While CNPP is voluntary. IPAC has killed or incapacitated some state chapters
of CNPP in the country. After I emerged as the pioneer secretary of IPAC in Oyo
state, a positive idea came to me. An idea of building a strong and viable
platforms where election stakeholders like INEC, Police, Civil Defense, DSS,
Customs, Immigration, Prison Service, Political Parties, Election Observers and
Civil Society organizations can discuss political and national issues as well
as update members of the platform with useful news and information. This is
what NATIONAL FOCUS is all about. On
the WhatsApp Platform you will see top officers from INEC, Police, Civil
Defense, DSS, Customs, Immigration, Prison Service, Political Parties, Election
Observers and Civil Society organizations. National Focus was created on the 11th
of February, 2016 a year after the 2015 general elections.
What about IPAC
Watchdog?
IPAC
Watchdog is only meant for the national and state chairmen of registered
political parties in the country. The idea of creating this platform came to me
during the first annual IPAC conference held in Kaduna state. There were
representatives of different political parties across the country and few
national chairmen of different political parties at the event. It was from the
place I started collecting their phone contacts and emails. That was around
2014. With the few contacts I created IPAC Watchdog. The platform shares news
about INEC operations, latest news about different registered political
parties, updates on elections, press releases and communique from political
parties and group. Currently, there are representatives of over 45 different
political parties on the platform from over 25 states of the Federation. Also
information and news about IPAC, CNPP, including the latest coalitions in town
CUPP and CPPP are shared on the platform. I have also created other social
media platforms like Facebook and blog for the platform. News publicized on the
WhatsApp group are also shared on the Facebook page and group.
What inspired
setting up the two platforms?
For
sharing useful news and information as related to INEC and different political
parties. It is currently the only platform mainly focused on the activities of
INEC and registered political parties in the country. Bridging the
communication gap between the national and state chairmen of different
registered political parties in the country is the reason of setting up the
platform.
What challenges did
you face starting them and how did you overcome them?
The
first challenge I encountered was getting phone contacts of state party
chairmen across the country. Same thing applicable to the contact of the
national chairmen. But God eventually helped me. The second challenge is the
fierce action and reaction of some party national chairmen when they were
criticized or assessed. Many state chairmen of different political parties have
been sacked or suspended because of this.
How old are the
platforms now?
Three
years old
What were the
reactions of the National Chairmen when you created the platforms?
Many
of them commended me for the development while some criticized my actions. But
80% out of 100% praised the initiatives and gave them full support. Some of
them even sent me their state chairmen contacts to add them as members of the
platforms.
Is IPAC National
Chairman aware of this?
Fully
aware. Alhaji Muhammad Nalado, the current IPAC National Chairman is on the
platform. He has been contributing and publishing on the platform. He is also
one of the administrators of the platforms. He has been supporting the platform
since his emergence as the national chairman of IPAC. Former and current
National EXCOS of IPAC are members of the platforms.
Any other
innovations from your side apart from creating these two platforms?
Yes,
of recent I singlehandedly established a private organization known as the
Documentation Centre for Nigerian Political Parties (DCNPP) for documenting and
archiving documents and facts about and on the defunct, deregistered and the
current political parties in the Country. The Documentation Centre is situated
at Adeyipo African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Centre owned by Prof.
Bayo Adebowale. It currently stored all the constitutions and manifestoes as
well as news and releases from all the registered political parties in Nigeria.
We compile news almost every day. Of recent we published names of chairmen and
secretaries, phone numbers and addresses, Websites, Emails and Facebooks
accounts of all the registered political parties in the country.