By
Ola Olateju
The political climate in Nigeria has shifted – seismically. Since the formal adoption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the political platform for the Coalition movement, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has grown visibly unsettled. This isn’t mere political theatre; it is the consequence of a realignment of grassroots forces long disillusioned by the status quo, now converging under a single, credible platform determined to rescue Nigeria from the jaws of misrule, hunger, and hopelessness.
The Coalition is no longer an idea whispered in backrooms or strategized over in think tanks. It is a movement – vigorous, vibrant, and visible. It is a rebellion of the governed. It is the spontaneous assembly of patriots who have refused to be bystanders in the theater of their own suffering.
The ruling APC is jittery because it knows that the ADC-led Coalition is not the product of elite manipulation or political opportunism. It is not a haven for recycled politicians. It is a mass-driven uprising of conscience. The APC understands that what confronts it now is a political hurricane stirred by the very people it has ignored for a decade. This is a movement powered by market women, unemployed graduates, civil servants cheated of their dignity, youths robbed of a future, and communities crushed by insecurity.
Let it be said with clarity: the ADC is not just another political party. It is the chosen vessel of a people who have grown weary of promises made and broken. The ruling party, bloated with power and arrogance, cannot comprehend a politics that is not orchestrated from state houses or bankrolled by looters. They fail to realize that what is happening now across Nigeria is nothing short of a civic resurrection.
Why the APC Is Running Scared
The signs are everywhere. The ruling party’s propaganda machine is on overdrive. Its attack dogs are barking louder than ever. Its surrogates – both known and disguised have taken to the media with insults, fabrications, and desperate damage control. Why? Because the ADC-led Coalition has upended their calculations.
They are jittery because the ADC is mobilizing Nigerians not on the basis of tribe, religion, or regionalism, but on the basis of shared pain and collective hope. They are unsettled because this movement is not waiting for 2027 to start winning. It is already winning the hearts of Nigerians village by village, ward by ward, street by street.
The APC is afraid because it knows the terrain has changed. Its tactics of vote-buying, ethno-religious polarization, fake empowerment schemes, and the hopeless renewed hope mantra, are losing their grip. Nigerians have become wiser. The hunger in their stomachs has birthed a clarity in their minds. The deceit has been unmasked. The once-silent majority is now the organized democratic majority.
The Truth About Coalition Leaders: Patriots, Not Predators
One of the most insidious narratives peddled by the APC and its agents is that the Coalition is driven by old and disgruntled politicians with blemished pasts. But this is a dishonest portrayal. The truth is that many of the key figures at the driver’s seat of the Coalition have demonstrated more commitment to Nigeria’s development than many sitting public office holders today.
These leaders, though not without human limitations but with feasible and physical means of income, verifiable background identities havebeen employers of labour in ways some state governments can only envy. They have run enterprises, empowered youths, supported SMEs, and carried communities on their backs during Nigeria’s darkest hours. They are patriotic nationalists who have invested their lives, time, and personal wealth in building rather than plundering.
Their decision to step out once again and lead this crusade for a better Nigeria is not out of ambition but out of conviction. And it comes at great personal risk. Risk to their businesses. Risk to their safety. Risk to their reputations in a toxic political environment. But they chose to do so because they believe that Nigeria can no longer afford the silence of good men.
They, like late Chief MKO Abiola,are rich but pro-poor, deeply connected to the suffering masses, and disenchanted with a system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. Unlike the detached technocrats, political scammers, certificate forgers, credit card fraudsters and insulated political contractors in power today, these Coalition leaders walk the same streets as everyday Nigerians. They feel the pulse of the people. And they have refused to stay aloof while Nigeria burns.
A Word on APC’s Propaganda: A Rebuttal to Bola Bolawole
It is against this backdrop of awakening that we must confront the disguised smear campaign recently advanced by Bola Bolawole in his column titled “APC, ADC: Spot the Difference!” – a conversation deliberately laced with sarcasm, tragic analogies, and subtle distortions designed to delegitimize the growing strength of the ADC-led Coalition. While cloaked in nostalgia and intellectual banter, the piece operates as a thinly veiled extension of the APC’s panic strategy – casting doubt, spreading cynicism, and painting the ADC with brushes dipped in the failures of others.
To compare the ADC – an evolving political vehicle of reform – to aviation disasters is not only tasteless and exploitative of national tragedy, but also a desperate attempt to delegitimize a party rising by popular mandate. Such comparison reflects superficial analysis, reductionist thinking, and analytical complacency to reduce political assessment to wordplay and acronym semantics, while ignoring the substance, vision, and grassroots legitimacy of a movement backed by Nigerians from every walk of life. The truth remains that the ADC is not an APC offshoot, nor is it a recycled version of old order politics. It is a new alignment with a moral compass, made up of both battle-tested elders and awakened young patriots determined to chart a new course. The Coalition stands on verifiable character, capacity, and courage. No amount of sly innuendo can erase that reality.
Why Nigerians Must Embrace the ADC
To those still watching from the sidelines, the message is simple: now is the time to choose courage over fear, hope over despair, and action over apathy. The ADC, as the platform of the people’s Coalition, is not a mere alternative – it is the better alternative. It is a platform that does not have the blood of failed governance on its hands. It is a platform that has not been stained by the sins of power without accountability.
The ADC is not weighed down by baggage; it is propelled by vision. It is not a platform for godfathers; it is a platform for nation-builders. It is the only viable vehicle today that combines ideological clarity with organizational readiness. The Coalition has put forward a welfarist agenda that prioritizes food security, education, health, job creation, and security for all – not for the few.
We are building a Nigeria where no child will go to bed hungry, where hospitals will treat before billing, where schools will educate and not decay, where roads will be motorable and where insecurity will be tackled with both resolve and empathy. That future begins with the ADC-led Coalition.
Beyond 2027: Building a Political Culture of Responsibility
This is not just about winning elections – it is about winning back Nigeria. It is about ending the culture of impunity that has defined the APC’s rule. It is about burying the politics of stomach infrastructure and birthing a politics of social transformation. It is about restoring the dignity of every Nigerian.
Let it be known: the ADC is not a third force. It is the people’s first force. The youth who marched during EndSARS, the pensioners who cry for their unpaid entitlements, the mothers who pray through the night for their children abducted or unemployed – they have found their voice in this Coalition.
This is our moment. The ruling party is afraid because they can no longer gaslight us with their false narratives. They can not silence us with tokenism. They can not distract us with circus-like politics. Nigerians are ready for leadership that listens, leadership that cares, leadership that serves, and leadership that works.
A Call to Action
To every Nigerian, this is your call to conscience. This is your chance to rewrite the future. Join the ADC. Be part of the Coalition. Become a foot soldier of the new Nigeria we are building. Knock on doors. Mobilize your community. Spread the message of responsible governance. Organize, don’t agonize.
Let the ruling party tremble. Let the elite conspiracy unravel. Let the ADC-led Coalition rise; and with it, let Nigeria rise.
History is being written. Don’t watch it. Write it.
OLATUNJI OLATEJU IS A POLITICAL SCIENTIST, PUBLIC AFFAIRS ANALYST, AND PUBLISHER OF THE POLITICAL PANORAMA. HE WRITES WEEKLY ON ISSUES OF GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, AND THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA. WHATSAPP: 08096688868
