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  • Buhari, Fashola, Tinubu: Lagos won’t discriminate

    Buhari, Fashola, Tinubu: Lagos won’t discriminate

    President-elect Muhammadu Buhari returned yesterday to the hustings in Lagos to seek support for All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Akinwunmi Ambode.

    He also addressed a town hall meeting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, to boost Governor Rochas Okorocha’s campaign.

    Governorship and Assembly elections are slated for Saturday.

    The rally in Orile, Lagos Mainland, an area with a big concentration of Igbo residents, presented the opportunity for the party leaders to address the reported anti-Igbo comment by the Lagos monarch, Oba Rilwan Akiolu. They spoke before a massive crowd of cheering residents, many of them excited to see Gen. Buhari, who was visiting the city for the first time since his victory in the March 28 election.

    Governor Babatunde Fashola and APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said the party should not be crucified for the Oba’s statement because he is not a member of the APC and was not speaking for it.

    Tinubu said: “To you the Igbo, don’t we pay your children’s school fees like others? When we conducted an exam and a spelling competition, an Igbo boy, Ebuka, from Anambra, came first and he became the governor for one day.

    “Those that won the competition three times in a row were Igbo. Ebuka was sent to Switzerland computer school and then Obafemi Awolowo University. We did not say he was an Igbo boy and he would not enjoy. He became an executive in Oando and he is now in Canada.

    “Another boy, Felix, won and went to Switzerland and OAU. We paid his scholarship; we did not deny him because he is Igbo.”

    The APC National Leader, who noted that he was the first Yoruba governor to ever appoint an Igbo commissioner, said the Peoples Democratic Party, having failed to win last week’s presidential election, was desperately trying to pull the APC into the Oba Akiolu controversy.

    Tinubu urged Lagos residents to vote wisely in the governorship and House of Assembly elections and not to waste their votes on the opposition.

    “As you vote on Saturday, pray that God will not let you waste your vote; a vote for progress is a vote for development,” he said.

    Tinubu said Ambode was chosen as the party’s governorship candidate because he had the brain, character, integrity and ability to do a good job.

    “Vote for the man that will give you solid development, happiness, hope and great progress in Lagos and in Nigeria.

    “We have a president-elect from the party now. We have gotten victory and we will continue with the progress that Nigeria deserves,” Tinubu said.

    He noted that in the last 16 years, the state had been fair to all ethnic groups.

    “In 2011, when Jimi Agbaje asked me to give him the governorship ticket, I told him he was not qualified and I told him I was going to support a man of character and sound mind, who is Fashola.

    “Since then, Fashola has performed tremendously well and has not been sentimental, especially against the Igbo,” he said.

    Tinubu added that the PDP has plundered the economy through its agents, such as Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and other bodies.

    He said the money meant for the country’s development was diverted to private pockets, noting that Nigerians have been in bondage under the PDP-led government.

    He said: “Now they want to sneak into Lagos through the back door.

    “Lagos is not for experiment; this is the job for great brains. And because I supported Fashola, he got angry. I told him I will support a man of character and sound mind. Now, let me ask you people, has Fashola not performed?

    “Did he discriminate against the Igbo? He paid your children’s WAEC money, school fees and other things like that. Did he ask whether you are Okafor or Mahmud when you visit government hospital for medication? Did he ask you to pay different money when you are not a Yoruba man?

    “That is what you must think about as you vote on Saturday. Your vote for APC is a vote for the progress of Lagos and, by the grace of God, APC will continue to serve your interest in the state,” he said.

    Gen. Buhari described Lagos State as too important for the APC to lose to the opposition.

    “Defy all elements, whatever it may be, and vote for APC from top to bottom,” he said.

    Gen. Buhari told the crowd that Lagos, with its huge investments, could not be toyed with.

    “Don’t attempt to be on the wrong side of the centre because we are now the centre.

    “Tell your neighbours, your relatives and even the opposition party to please bury the hatchet and fall in line and vote for APC,” he said.

    The president-elect assured the people that they stood to benefit a lot if they voted for the APC.

    Gen. Buhari said that he will prioritise investment in Lagos infrastructure, noting that the state is a “mini Nigeria”.

    “Governor Fashola told me how much the state has been spending to maintain Federal Government infrastructure, including roads, buildings and other institutions.

    “I urge Ambode, who will be the next governor of the state, to harass me sufficiently to honour my undertaking,” he said.

    Gen. Buhari praised Tinubu for all he had done to mobilise revenue to sustain development in the state.

    He also praised Fashola for his hard work, commitment to the state and to the country.

    “I am extremely impressed,” he said.

    Fashola called for Igbo support saying the APC created the Orile Iganmu Local Council Development Area, which has a large concentration of Igbo people.

    He said the state had spent over N51 billion to construct roads, which will benefit everybody, irrespective of where they came from.

    “Even if you did not vote us in the last election, you can change your mind and vote us now. We will build Lagos together.”

    Fashola urged residents to vote Ambode, saying: “We are 5.8 million on the voters’ register and I will want three million votes for Ambode.

    “Put ethnic sentiments aside, there will be no discrimination.

    “As your governor, I have defended you every time you have been intimidated without discrimination,” he told the crowd.

    Fashola said Gen. Buhari  had promised to compensate the state for all Federal Government assets it had maintained.

    “That sign of compensation is already here and I know you won’t want to miss it,” he said.

    Ambode also solicited support from the people.

    “I want to say a big thank you to you all; March 28 was historic for Lagosians. We said we wanted change and we made it possible.

    “We are united on one cause; we will not discriminate against anyone.

    “We are all one, be you Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo; that is how we will remain forever.”

    The huge crowd waited patiently for the arrival for the party leaders. They were entertained by a live.

    At 12. 25pm an open roof bus that conveyed the party leaders arrived at the venue. Those in the convoy include: National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Tinubu, Fashola, Rivers, State Governor Rotimi Amaechi Senator Chris Ngige, Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, Lagos State APC Chairman Dele Ajomale, Ambode, Cardinal James Odunmbaku and Lagos State APC Women Leader Kemi Nelson.

    Others are Dr. Idiat Adebule, Mr. Audu Ogbe, Lagos State Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and Director of Organisation, Buhari Campaign, Boss Mustapha.

    Gen. Buhari presented Ambode to the crowd and urged them to support him.

     

  • Why are politicians playing ethnic card in Lagos?

    Why are politicians playing ethnic card in Lagos?

    Does ethnicity have limitations in determining the outcome of elections in a cosmopolitan state like Lagos? Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu examines the activities of politicians playing the ethnic card and how far they can go.

    Will the next governor of Lagos be governor of Igbo or Yoruba? The answer is no. The next governor should be the governor of all Lagosians, irrespective of tribe and religion.

    But, why are desperate politicians dividing the state along ethnic lines to gain an upper hand at the governorship election billed for Saturday? Why are the unscrupulously fanning the embers of disunity in the Centre of Excellence?

    Since Independence, Igbo and Yoruba have co-existed peacefully in Lagos. During the civil war, many Igbo hurriedly returned to the Southeast. Yoruba protected their property. The proceeds from their rents were handed over to them when they returned after the war. Igbo settlers have enjoyed the courtesy of their accommodating hosts, who have never discriminated against them.

    Since 1999 to date, the Lagos State government has also accorded Igbo in the city-state a sense of belonging. Their lives, property and businesses have been protected. In terms of teaching and civil service employment, there is no discrimination against them. Igbo has a commissioner in Lagos State Executive Council. There is also an Igbo senior special assistant in the Governor’s Office. The Publicity Secretary of the ruling party- the All Progressives Congress (APC) – is an Igbo.

    But, ahead of the general elections, the cordial relations have been ruptured, following the resort to ethnic politics by the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to observers, the PDP invaded the zones in the metropolis where there is a high concentration of Igbo to commercialise the election and incite them against Yoruba-speaking APC candidates. Unprecedented financial inducement and hate campaigns filled the air. The resort to ethnicity has jerked up the fortunes of the PDP in five federal constituencies where the PDP won the House of Representatives election. But, the opposition party failed the test of numerical strength at the senatorial poll.

    During the campaigns, PDP leaders made highly inflammable statements which aroused tribal consciousness. Some of them dreamt of an Igbo State, which, in their imagination, would be carved out from Lagos State in the future. There was also an inexplicable promise of a rival monarchy, whereby Igbo will have their Ezes in the Lagos State Government Gazette. More slots were promised the Igbos in the State Executive Council. In fact, other structures have to be re-built structure to accommodate more Igbo in the scheme of things. Thus, when the PDP campaign train rolled into the largest auto spare parts market in Ladipo, Mushin, mainland Lagos, the PDP leaders queried the composition of the market unions. They said since it is a supposedly Igbo-dominated market, Yoruba should not be market leaders. The Igbo traders hailed the sensitisation. The next day, the Igbo stared agitating for a change in the leadership of the unions. They insisted the Yoruba should give way. There was commotion. But, the police moved in to quickly restore order.

    Irked by the attempt to create ethnic tension, a PPD chieftain, who loathed the ethnic campaigns, said it may backfire later. “Igbo have been accommodated by Yoruba in Lagos. I know Yoruba in the Southeast do not enjoy the same courtesy. That is why no Yoruba has served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). Can Igbo do all these in the North? Are they not telling the Yoruba that they can lord it over them in their Southwest? The resort to ethnic card is dangerous. I know there may be an imminent tribal re-awakening among Yoruba in Lagos and the repercussion may be inimical to national unity. It may not be now. But, it cannot be foreclosed,” he said.

    Another party member, who is from Aworiland, retorted: “I blame our fathers who engaged in indiscriminate sale of land to foreigners. We their children do not even have inheritance again, in terms of lands. In the light of the Igbo’s ambitious move to dominate Lagos politics, I know that the Awori Descendants Union will not reflect on the dangers that lie ahead. They will apply the break.”

    Gradually displacing the peaceful co-existence in the metropolis is an intense clamour for ethnic consciousness. The offensive slogan – Lagos is a no man’s land – is being exploited with impunity. According to watchers, a clash of ethnic interests can be avoided if politicians refrain from playing the ethnic card. The feeling of tribalism did not exist in Lagos of fifties when Yoruba voted for the nationalist, the late Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe, to represent Surulere in the House of Assembly at Ibadan. Then, prominent Yoruba politicians, including Otunba Theophilus Benson, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, Chief I.S. Adewale and Prince Adeleke Adedoyin mobilised support for the late Zik of Africa. He was not perceived as an Igbo, but a national figure.  Also, Igbo in the teaching and civil service in Lagos were not employed based on their ethnic background. Only two factors were considered; their nationality and academic qualifications.

    But, in the pre-independence era, there was also a resurgence of ethnicity, following allegations of domination of the scene by Igbo. When Zik said the god of Africa has decreed that the Igbo should rule Africa, the declaration generated intellectual uproar. Thus, when the great man wanted to move up to the House of Representatives, a Yoruba, Adedoyin, refused to step down for him. Under the arrangement then, House of Representatives members were selected from the House of Assembly. Zik went to Shagamu, the heart of Remoland, to urge the Akarigbo, the late Oba Williams Adedoyin, to persuade his son to step down. The eminent monarch was an exposed ruler who had fought for the autonomy of his kingdom up to the privy council. Oba Adedoyin asked from Zik: That place you want to go (House of Representatives), is it not a good place? Zik answered in the affirmative. Then, the Akarigbo said, if it is a good place, let my son also go. That was how Prince Adedoyin was selected. Other Yoruba House of Assembly members, including H.P Adebola, also refused to step down.

    After the Great Zik left the Akarigbo’s palace, the chiefs asked from the Oba: Can Yoruba also represent Igbo in the Eastern House of Assembly? One of the Remo Divisional Council members (councilors) knew where the discussion was heading. He cleverly replied: ‘Why not? But, no Yoruba has shown interest in the Eastern Region.’

    The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was endowed with foresight, saw all these happening. He knew that the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, will become the Premier of the North. He knew that somebody from the East will emerged as the Premier of the Eastern Region. Therefore, he decided to organise his people to pave the way for the emergence of a Yoruba as the Premier of the West. Zik was compelled to relocate to the East. His kinsmen cried foul when they realised that the Leader of the Government Business, Ita Eyo, was about to become the Premier. The Igbo used their numerical strength in the Eastern House of Assembly to make Azikiwe Premier of the region.

    In demographic studies, there is no way ‘foreigners’ can rival indigenes in numerical strength. What Igbo nationalism in Lagos may result to is the raise the awareness on the part of Lagosians and other Yoruba that there is a threat and an imminent loss of a sense of belonging in their territories. This may be a nasty thought. After all, the constitution stipulates two years of residency for any citizen of Nigeria to qualify for elections in any part of the country. But, the blame for the development of such thoughts, according observers, should go to the ethnic jingoists and unscrupulous politicians playing the ethnic card.

  • Lagos tackles NIWA on tax, tarriff

    Lagos tackles NIWA on tax, tarriff

    Lagos State government has advised properties owners along the shorelines in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and other parts of the state against dealing with National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) on taxes, levies or  tariff.

    The state’s Attorney General and Commissioner  for Justice, Ade Ipaye, said NIWA does not have constitutional authority or statutory power to assess properties in Lagos for payment of any tax, levy, fee or tariff.

    In a statement, Ipaye clarified that under the constitution,  the power to assess privately owned houses or tenements for rates is vested in local government authorities by virtue of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “The Local Government Councils in Lagos State have neither delegated this power to NIWA nor appointed NIWA to act for them in this regard,” he averred.

    The state government therefore, advised property owners who have been served with such demand notices by NIWA to forward same to the office of the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice so that the government could take necessary steps to protect affected properties.

    The  statement titled “Lagos State government regularisation and regulation of properties in Lagos State by National Inland Waterways Authority was issued in reaction to various petitions from concerned property owners in the Ikoyi and Victoria Island areas of the state who were served with demand notices for payments in respect of NIWA’s supposed “Right of Way” and “regularisation exercise”.

    The property owners are also being asked to pay various sums of money as processing fee, inspection fee, monitoring fee, shore utilisation fee, and others and to grant NIWA’s field officers access to their private properties for purposes of measuring the shoreline for accurate assessment of their NIWA tariff.

    The g overnment said it has  carefully reviewed the applicable legislation setting up NIWA “and it is our considered view that its functions do not extend to the assessment, regulation or taxation of properties that are not obstructing any declared waterways.”

    It argued that  under the Land Use Act, all land comprised in the territory of each state is vested solely in the state governor.

    “The Lands (Title Vesting) Decree, which purported to vest title of all land within the 100 metres limit of the 1967 shoreline and all land reclaimed near the lagoon, sea or ocean in the Federal Government has been invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction since 2000. In effect, that obnoxious Act has ceased to be part of Nigerian Law,” the statement added.

  • Next stop, Lagos

    Next stop, Lagos

    After the stunning triumph for Abuja on March 28, the next stop is Lagos — Lagos, the South West super-mart and the crown jewel of the Nigerian economy.

    And all the arguments that compelled the federal ruling party’s debacle of March 28, also compel the Lagos ruling party’s triumph on April 11.

    But first, some dues.  In “So long, Goodluck” (March 24), this column hinted at President Goodluck Jonathan’s impending defeat and, likening him to the departing expatriate that spitefully defecated on his seat, feared the president would exit in a huff.

    Regular readers also bear witness that Ripples had always opposed President Jonathan, with the sole exception of his aborted attempt to rename the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Moshood Abiola University, Lagos (MAUL).

    Given the cavalier conceit that suggested Unilag was too “tush” for  MKO’s “bush” name, even if the university gladly enjoyed his charity in the past, and the democratic republic owing its essence to MKO’s martyrdom, Ripples insisted President Jonathan, as visitor to the university, reserved the right to rename Nigeria’s first federal-owned university, subject to amending extant laws, of course.

    It is from this point of eternal critiquing that Ripples happily eats crow on how President Jonathan gracefully conceded defeat.  His defeat acceptance speech, both in rendition and sentiments, would appear his best ever.  The great irony: Jonathan sounded more presidential in defeat than he ever sounded throughout his troubled tenure!

    This beatification does not, of course, wipe clean the president’s dangerous pre-election manoeuvres: on the explosive fronts of combustible religion, divisive regions and ultra-dangerous ethnic antipathies.  But that Jonathan knew when he was licked, and pulled off a dignified bow-out was, indeed, a thing of cheer.

    On that score, he towers above former President Olusegun Obasanjo, his estranged godfather turned bitter enemy, who executed a most frenetic dance after Jonathan’s unhorsing.

    But it is to Nigeria’s hefty luck that Jonathan abandoned Obasanjo’s do-or-die ethos just at the nick of time!  That, of course, was because Attahiru Jega was no Maurice Iwu (President Obasanjo’s remorseless election fixer); and, for that matter, when the chips were down, Jonathan was no Obasanjo!

    By conceding defeat in an election he could not have won, President Jonathan hall-marked the long-awaited transition from civil rule to democracy in Nigeria’s 4th Republic.  By the defeat of Nigeria’s ruling party — arrogance, warts, hubris and all — the Nigerian voter would never again crouch before an extant order!  Welcome, sweet democracy!

    It is in this new democratic spirit that Ripples navigates the April 11 gubernatorial and state legislature elections in Lagos — and other South West states of Ogun and Oyo, though no thanks to past electoral heists and judicially reclaimed mandates, only legislative elections would hold in Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states.

    Ripples’ grouse with Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was simple: Nigeria needed the very best; and service delivery at the centre, despite all the din and threat, was far from the best.

    In 1999, we knew what Nigeria was.  In 1999 too, we knew what Lagos was.

    Between 1999 and now, Abuja had embroiled itself in so much chaos that all it can show is net-retardation, taking down so many states with it.  No thanks to shambolic management of the Federation Account, most states, not excepting the Federal Government itself, cannot pay monthly salaries.

    Even humble but rapid infrastructure-developing states, like the State of Osun, have taken a terrible hit, from the Jonathan Presidency’s terrible mismanagement.  Osun today, therefore, stands a mere shadow of itself; with the freezing of many futuristic roads, a gargoyle of what might have been, had the state received its due from the federal purse!

    Lagos, on the other hand, despite being in political opposition, had not languished in its 1999 mountain of refuse, arrested growth and generally bad infrastructure.

    Instead, thanks to the Bola Tinubu-led order from Alliance for Democracy (AD), to Action Congress (AC), to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and to All Progressives’ Congress (APC), a renascent Lagos has come into its own; developing decent infrastructure within its comparatively puny resources — in comparison to the humongous but largely wasted resources at the centre — secured for itself financial independence and, in 16 short years, rose from being among the dirtiest cities on the globe to one of the cleanest in the West African sub-region.

    What is more?  The gospel according to rapid infrastructure development, driven by focused governance, spread to Ekiti (under Kayode Fayemi, which, unfortunately Ayo Fayose is busy undoing now), Ogun (under Ibikunle Amosun), Oyo (under Abiola Ajimobi), Osun (under Rauf Aregbesola) and even Edo in the South-South (under Adams Oshiomhole).

    Indeed, the stark difference, in infrastructure development, between Fayemi’s Ekiti (one of the poorest Nigerian states) and Mimiko’s oil-bearing Ondo (the richest in the South West, outside Lagos), shows the difference in contrasting vision.

    Besides, the South West-North West political entente that drove the APC historic presidential win of March 28 issued largely from the same Lagos thinking.

    That is why it is preposterous, nay fraudulent, to suggest that because there has been Change at the centre, Change must be in Lagos — or, for that matter, in Oyo or Ogun State.

    If Lagos, even under the most inclement of political weathers, had got it relatively right; and its success has influenced the change at the centre, why would Lagosians want to vote the dying federal (dis)order?

    Akinwunmi Ambode comes from the Lagos camp, whose idea has made the difference.  Jimi Agbaje comes from a discredited federal order, that not only ruined itself, but nearly ruined Nigeria. Can anyone truly imagine four more years of a PDP federal government?

    Let Lagos, and the rest of the South West in Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo vote a new federal order they have helped to midwife.  That is the most logical way to work the work, before savouring the sure prosperity, to follow from sure hard work.

     

    Adieu, Pa Paul Oni Meduna

    The Oni siblings, on April 2 and 3, at Iyamerin-Okeri in Kogi State, treated friends, well wishers and guests to a most befitting funeral rites for their patriarch, Pa Paul Oni Meduna.  And boy, was it a funeral to remember!

    Pa Meduna must be smiling in his grave.  Reason?  Given pre-election tension, it was a journey to dread, into the bowels of Kogi, the southern swathe of the North. What if the election had gone nasty?

    But it became a celebration of newfound democracy — with the officiating priest, at the funeral service, saying the locals voted with anger borne out of hunger!  Sweet indeed, is the memory of the just!  Rest in peace Pa Meduna, and congratulations, the Oni siblings: Sanya, Tope, Toso and Comfort.

  • Lagos rolls out new taxi regime

    Lagos rolls out new taxi regime

    •Provisional licences for 14,000 operators

    A NEW scheme, which the government of Lagos State says will make public transportation safer, more attractive and affordable, is on the way.

    Taxi-cab operators will be beneficiaries of the new system, which may get illegal taxi operators popularly called Kabukabu off the roads.

    Kabukabu is the name called private cars used as cabs by their owners to make ends meet.

    Commissioner for Transportation Kayode Opeifa dropped the hint while giving 14,000 provisional licences free to taxi and cab drivers at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Lagos.

    He said with the exercise, which came to an end yesterday, taxis will soon bounce back and regain their space in the multi-modal transportation system planned by the government.

    Opeifa, who represented Governor Babatunde Fashola at the event, said the licences would soon become tradable because of the government’s backing, adding that they could also be used as collateral for bank loans.

    He said the licences were given to those on the state’s data bank.

    A government research, Opeifa said, showed that the taxi and cab industry is worth N25 billion and this can be pushed to N50 billion in the next five years.

    Opeifa said it is worrisome that operators remained poor, while their services have been on a downward slide despite the industry’s potential.

    He said: “Beneficiaries are expected to take this provisional letters to the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) office, where their vehicles would be certified fit or they would be given some time to fix the problems and thereafter issued with the permanent licence, which would now be a life-time document.

    “Though the law puts the life of the vehicles to be admitted to operate in the state under five years, the governor had to extend this to 12 years, based on the economic realities that make the acquisition of fairly new vehicles impossible for the operators.”

    Opeifa said a new fare regime is in place, adding that road metering would begin next year.

    Another benefit of the scheme, he added, is that the Black Stripes on the yellow cabs will be phased out, to be replaced with the state’s colours of: blue, yellow, green and red.

    “Henceforth, the taxis and cabs would now be called Mega Taxis. Gradually, it would no longer be fashionable to see kabukabu on any part of the state as we are trying to strengthen the sector and ensure that operators are respected and responsible people who are not only making money but creating employment opportunities,” Opeifa said.

    The scheme, he said, is part of the multi-modal transportation initiative being put together by the government, adding that there is need for a good taxi and cab regime to fill the gaps being exploited by motorcycle operators.

    Opeifa urged Lagosians to support the initiative as the government would ensure that public transportation becomes the public’s preferred alternative.

    Lagos State Taxi Drivers and Cabs Operators of Nigeria (LSTDCOAN) President Tajudeen Adetoro lauded the initiative, which he said would revolutionise taxi operations as more orderliness would be brought into taxi service.

    He said his members were looking forward to the eventual take-off of the new regime.

    The Chairman, Modern Cab Operators Association of Nigeria (MCOAN), Mr, Adeboye Ajakaiye said the new regime would erase passengers’ fears of taxi services in the state, and bring sanity into taxi systems with more governmental presence and control.

    Ajakaiye said the corporate operators were looking forward to the take-off of the new regime, which would remove the fears of the older operators about the presence of new and younger operators, adding that the development will bring more businesses and open avenues for private sector investment in the hitherto unregulated industry.

  • Buhari leads APC’s battle for Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, others

    Buhari leads APC’s battle for Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, others

    President-elect for Imo, Rivers, others

    President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has a packed schedule this week. He is leading the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaigns in some “battleground” states to lend his popularity to the push by APC candidates.

    He is scheduled to visit Lagos, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Imo, Nasarawa and Benue states.

    Others on the programme are Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo and Adamawa, a source told The Nation last night.

    Ahead of his campaign trips, which will likely be in town hall format, Gen. Buhari has already called on Nigerians to vote APC candidates all the way.

    The president-elect will be in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Tuesday. Governor Rochas Okorocha, who is seeking reelection on the platform of the APC, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser Sam Onwuemeodo, said Gen. Buhari will be given a “heroic” reception at the Heroes’ Square, where he will address residents.

    The governor, who held a thank-you rally in the state, to appreciate the people for their unalloyed support, noted that Imo people contributed significantly to the resounding victory.

    The governor urged the people to turn out  en masse to receive Gen. Buhari irrespective of their political affiliations, adding that “in the new emerging order, everybody will be carried along and people will not be discriminated against on grounds of their political leaning”.

    The Coalition for a Better Nigeria, in a statement at the weekend, said Gen. Buhari will visit the commercial capital on Wednesday and hold “a town hall meeting titled Change 2015”.

    It will be the 5th national discourse of the Coalition to review Nigeria’s political history and progressives as well as Nigeria’s march to freedom with the 2015 polls.

    Leaders of the party, including National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Biyi Durojaiye, will be joined by Governors  Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) for the meeting at the Airport Hotel in Ikeja, the state capital.

    “We expect some outings, possibly town hall meetings in some critically challening states but nothing has been finalised by way of programming,” spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council Mallam Garba Shehu said yesterday.

    Director of Organisation of  the APC Campaign Council Boss Mustapha said the full campaign programme will be out today.

    Mustapha, who said he was in his home state of Adamawa campaigning for governorship candidate Jubrilla Bindow, said: “You know Gen. Buhari is no longer a candidate but president-elect.

    “His programes are no longer completely in our hands. You know many countries are making contacts with him, among other engagements. By Monday, we will be able to give you a final programme.”

    Elections into the governorship seats will be held in 29 states. Ondo, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Osun and Bayelsa states are excluded.

  • ‘APC will win in Lagos’

    ‘APC will win in Lagos’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Lateef Raji, is sure that the party will win Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections.

    Raji, who is the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, attributed the party’s “slim” victory during the presidential election to low turnout of voters, violence and the police who turned back APC party agents at the polling booths.

    “All these factors we have taken note of. The leadership of the APC in Lagos has been brainstorming on the outcome of the presidential election in the state to ensure massive turn-out of our supporters on Saturday for the governorship and House of Assembly elections.

    “We underestimated the desperation of the PDP and overconfidence was our undoing. They have shown their hands, we will amputate them. We cannot allow them to destroy the state we have been building since.

    “Now that APC has won the seat of power at the centre, we will never allow an opposition party to take over Lagos State. This is the finest hour for us in Lagos. A Federal Government under Muhammadu Buhari will bring a lot of fortune to Lagos State.”

  • For Lagos, For Ambode

    For Lagos, For Ambode

    I remember an incident a few years ago when President Jonathan was asked by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, to give the state a special status. The governor of example must have been bewildered when the President responded with a chilling parable. He said his uncle made his money in Abuja and spent it in Lagos. That is the hazard when a major state, and the nation’s most important city, is ignored in the centre. Since Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s reign, Lagos has had to survive with imagination. The centre ignored it and even harangued it, a la Obasanjo. As the city with the biggest population, influx and diversity of people from elsewhere and business hive, Lagos is like New York or London or Los Angeles. In spite of the political hue of the city, the centre in those countries acknowledges their places and roles. Under Asiwaju and BRF, it has been a fight against the grain.

    Now, the battle to get the centre started from Lagos, with Asiwaju, the best politician ever in the nation’s history, gaining the centre with adroit work of coalition with the APC. Now that LAGOS has gained the centre, how could it go to the opposition? And lose all it fought for in about two decades? Not to a man who once joined Tompolo and company to call for trouble if Jonathan lost, or who went venal and asked his supporters to compare who was more handsome between Jonathan and Buhari.

    The APC In Lagos has been a serious business with foundation set, and then improved with imagination. And Akinwunmi Ambode, ex-Harvard, Ex-Wharton Business School, Pennsylvania, first-class accountant in school and practice, who worked in all parts of Lagos and lived there, is the natural man for the job. Governing Lagos has always been a serious matter and not a contest of handsomeness. We need a man who will take Lagos with a steady hand to the next platform. We want a man who has experience but not an experimenter.

  • ‘PDP won’t reap APC’s labour in Lagos’

    ‘PDP won’t reap APC’s labour in Lagos’

    For what it called the sins of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the people of Lagos, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday said the rival party entered the governorship race in error.

    The APC said it was wrong of the PDP that once opposes the creation of additional local government areas to hasten development and supported the seizure of local government funds meant for the state for 14 months, to be asking for the votes of the people.

    It expressed optimism that the electorate will renew its mandate for another four-year term on April 11, saying the law of harvest abhors the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reap what the APC laboured for in the Centre of Excellence.

    “We’re confident that the enlightened and sophisticated voting populace will renew our mandate by endorsing our governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and our House of Assembly standard bearers at the polls,” the party said in a statement signed at the weekend by its spokesman Joe Igbokwe.

    He said the outcome of the presidential election which our candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari won convincingly has set the template for continuity and progress in the Centre of Excellence.

    Igbokwe said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be day-dreaming if it thinks Lagosians will pitch their tent with a party that has been rejected by the generality of Nigerians.

    His words: “Is it now that our party is controlling the central that our people will vote for a dying PDP? Would Nigerians have rejected the party on March 28 if the PDD had done well in the past 16 years?, the APC asked.

    The statement went on: “We should not forget that Lagos has been the envy of other states in term of development, good governance and performance since 1999 under the same political platform and despite victimisation and lack of cooperation from the Federal Government.

    “If the APC government in Lagos has been able do this much and take the state to enviable position in 16 years without federal support, then things can only be better now that the APC has won the presidency

    “There are so many reasons Lagosians should not vote for the PDP in Lagos. It is the PDP that frustrated the Lagos State Government’s plan to build the 4th Mainland Bridge that would have eased traffic on Eko Bridge, Marina Bridge and the 3rd Mainland Bridge.

  • Lagos’ll vote APC governor

    There are fears in some quarters that Lagos State, given the more than 600,000 votes it gave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recently concluded presidential election, would vote for the defeated party in the state governorship race. The possibility does not exist. The PDP got that number of votes because the voters hoped Dr Jonathan would win at the centre, and then instigate a stupendous and unprecedented win in Lagos on April 11. Now that he failed, who thinks Lagos would ignore the pains it had endured for about 16 years while in opposition to the ruling party in Abuja, and now foolishly vote to enter into another slavery and opposition to the (APC) national government? Are they sadists or gluttons for punishment?

    For 16 years, Lagos was abandoned by the federal government to rot and pine away in hopelessness. No one said a word in its defence, and no one came to its help. Without doubt, on April 11, the state will vote APC governor in order to get the help its beleaguered people have richly deserved since the federal capital moved to Abuja. It had consistently craved more local governments and a special status. This is the state’s finest chance to land both prizes. Those who hazard APC’s loss in the Lagos governorship race should instead prepare themselves for the election of an APC governor by a healthy and irresistible plurality, and not only in Lagos, but perhaps in states like Imo, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.