ADC must justify power through service - David Mark

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By Madu Obi

The national chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Senator David Mark has urged members of the party's policy and manifesto committee to be prepared, not just to win power, but to justify power through service.

Senator Mark spoke during the inauguration of 50-member Policy and Manifesto committee of the party in Abuja.

He explained that the exercise signals a major step in the party’s policy development and future electoral preparation.

He said: "The ADC must be known not for noise, but for seriousness; not for empty promises, but for performance; not for propaganda, but for reality.

Across the country, families are working harder and earning lesser and lesser, food prices rise faster than wages, salaries and incomes can't cope. Power supply remains epileptic even as tariffs increase astronomically.

Strangely, the APC government continues to aggravate the citizen’s tax burdens. Insecurity continues to disrupt the people's social and economic life.

Nigerians are suffering today perhaps more than any other time in our history. Poverty stares us in the face. Poverty and hardship have always existed but the hardship and poverty that Nigerians are experiencing under the APC administration has gotten worse.

This situation has been brought about and compounded by government needlessly vicious policies. What Nigerians are therefore desperately looking for are credible alternative ideas, actions and policies. They want policies that would improve their lives today and lay a solid foundation on which they can improve their future. They want policies that show compassion."

He added: "Nigerians are not looking for clever arguments. They want policies and actions that show that government understands what they are going through and is prepared to act with clarity, courage and most importantly with compassion. This is what the African Democratic Congress represents, a party that puts the people first.

Nigerians are not looking for who to blame for their suffering, they already know who is responsible for that. They are looking for who will ease the pains. They want real, practical solutions that address the challenges of today, not policies that expect them to continue to give and give and give."

According to Senator Mark, Nigeria does not suffer from shortage of ideas, adding that what the country is suffering from is a failure to connect ideas to reality.

"Too often, policy in this country has been an academic exercise detached from the very people it is meant to serve. Documents are produced, committees are set up, reports are written, white papers are produced, yet nothing changes in the lives of the people which is what matters most.

Policy is not about sounding intelligent. It is not about volume or complexity. You must resist the temptation to treat symptoms while ignoring causes.

You must go beneath the surface. You must think outside of the box. You must ask hard questions about why things are not working in this country. This is the burden before you", he charged the committee members.

He emphasized that the committee will engage stakeholders, review national policies, and provide practical governance solutions that address Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.

Among those inaugurated were Oseloka Obaze, former Secretary to the Government of Anambra State and Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu, the ADC deputy governorship candidate in the last Anambra election.