Former Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Dr. Dan Shere, has raised the alarm over the near-collapse of political party structures in Nigeria, blaming party executives for abandoning their responsibilities and becoming stooges of those in power.
Delivering the lead paper at the maiden Igbo Eze North Conference held on June 19, 2025, Shere did not mince words as he tackled the theme: “Roles and Responsibilities of Political Party Executives.”
He said the rot in party systems had been glaring for over two decades and questioned why many party executives still behave like they are clueless.
“Answers to the questions raised by the topic ought to have been answered at least two decades ago,” he said.
Shere, who served in various capacities including SSG, Commissioner and university Pro-Chancellor, said political parties once played defining roles in shaping governance, but not anymore.
He recalled how President Olusegun Obasanjo, during his second term, raised a vital concern: “Where is the role of the party in building the character of the politicians if this democracy would be sustained?”
Shere noted that the current state of political party management is disturbing, with executives now reduced to errand boys. “The Executives are less than the toothless bulldog,” he said.
Drawing inspiration from Nigeria’s nationalist history, he quoted Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s moving funeral speech for Herbert Macaulay, urging modern party men to rediscover the values of the founding fathers.
“The struggle to build Africa as free and independent societies… must have its foundation in understanding the dynamics of managing the collectives,” he quoted Zik as saying.
He further noted that during the early days of NCNC, Action Group and NPC, party executives knew their job: to guide, monitor and discipline elected officials. But that clarity, he lamented, has vanished.
According to him, “Party officials must not act to be subservient to please persons in government, so that the independence of the Party shall remain.”
Shere laid part of the blame on the doorsteps of poor funding and what he described as “weaponisation of poverty.”
In a powerful analogy, he referenced Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin who once stripped a chicken of its feathers, then fed it sparingly to gain loyalty. Shere warned: “Comrades, this has nothing to do with chickens!”—insisting it mirrors the current condition of party officials in Nigeria.
He added: “Today, the party officials are caps-in-hand, begging appointees of government who cannot even pronounce the name of the party in power.”
On a positive note, he pointed to a flicker of hope in Enugu State under the current PDP Chairman, Dr. Martin Chukwunweike, who is also serving as a commissioner.
“His evolving Party Management style… would set the pace in commencing the process of institutionalization of the political party system in Enugu State,” he said.
Shere said the current era (2023–2031) offers a fresh opportunity to build back lost traditions if leaders show courage and commitment.
He called for a return to the basics, where parties run functional secretariats with desks for research, propaganda, membership, legal affairs, community relations and more.
“It is when these begin to happen… that political party functions shall cease to be one-man-shows, and we would be in a position to slap our chests and say that we are institutionalizing Democratic Party systems,” he said.
He ended with a call for action: “May our searches never take longer than our active years in politics!”
Dr. Shere has served as Pro-Chancellor of several universities, including ESUT, MOUA, UNIPORT and Renaissance University, and once led Nsukka LGA for two terms.
