By Divine Sam

Former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, has described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a defunct political party while reflecting on Nigeria’s political landscape and the need for stronger national unity.

Ganduje made the remark on Wednesday during the Annual Conference of the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria in Abuja, where he referred to former Delta State Governor and ex-PDP vice-presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his elder brother.

In his remarks, the former Kano State governor said, “My big brother, the former governor of Delta State and a former vice presidential candidate of the defunct party, PDP.”

Beyond his comment on the PDP, Ganduje spoke about Nigeria’s colonial history, arguing that the British colonial authorities brought the country’s different territories together primarily to serve their economic interests.

He maintained that the colonial administration was interested in obtaining raw materials from Nigeria to support industrial development in Britain rather than building a united and stronger Nigerian nation.

According to him, Nigerians must develop a stronger sense of patriotism and recognise the country’s diversity as a potential source of strength rather than division.

Ganduje expressed concern that Nigeria’s ethnic and cultural differences were increasingly becoming a source of difficulty, stressing the need for citizens to reconsider how they relate to one another.

He said: “On the issue of nation building, we have to believe in our nation, do we actually believe in our nation Nigeria? Do we actually believe that our diversity is an asset and not a liability? The way we are moving our diversity is becoming a liability.

“The colonial masters when they came to Nigeria through missionary and other routes, they found us and our old system of governance.

“And in order to promote protection in their own country, they decided to put us together so that we can work and produce raw materials for their own industrial development, that was their primary objective and not an objective that we should come together and become a stronger country.

“We need to thank our First Republic politicians who developed a sense of nationalism in order to get independence, form political parties, and they succeeded in getting our independence.

“We are so lucky that we didn’t carry arms like other nations to get independence.”

The former APC chairman also acknowledged the contributions of Nigeria’s First Republic political leaders, crediting their nationalist efforts with helping the country secure independence without a major armed struggle against British colonial rule.

His remarks combined criticism of the country’s colonial foundations with a call for Nigerians to embrace national unity and appreciate the efforts of the political leaders who fought for independence.