The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), once the “towering giant” of African democracy, is currently facing an identity crisis so severe that even the common man on the street has begun to write its epitaph.

For 16 years (1999–2015), the PDP umbrella didn’t just represent a political party; it represented an era of perceived invincibility. Today, that same umbrella is leaking, tattered, and—according to one Ibadan artisan—beyond the point of repair.

The statistics are as grim as the headlines. What was once a broad canopy of inclusiveness has been shredded by:

• Systemic Defections: A steady exodus of governors and lawmakers to the ruling party.
• Legal Warfare: A party governed more by court injunctions than by its own constitution.
• The Ego Trap: Factional battles where personal ambition has officially superseded the collective survival of the opposition.

While driving through the Mobil area of Ibadan recently, I witnessed a scene that served as a perfect, albeit tragic, metaphor for the party’s current state.

I encountered a local artisan mending a battered umbrella using sharp thorns instead of fabric. When I asked him—half-jokingly—if his “special style” could fix the PDP’s umbrella, his laughter was both hearty and haunting.

“Anyone who wants to use thorns to repair the PDP umbrella is wasting time! There’s nothing that can fix it anymore. Those people have torn it completely apart.” > — The Arti

As we approach another election cycle, the question is no longer just about “winning”—it is about existence. With rival factions and dissolved structures, the PDP is currently a house divided against itself.

The artisan was right: The damage is self-inflicted. No amount of makeshift repairs—thorny or otherwise—can save a structure that its own architects are determined to dismantle.

Ronú sí i.