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Tag: liberate

  • PDM’ll liberate Bayelsa, says Siasia

    The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has the best manifesto to liberate Bayelsa State, its governorship candidate, Moses Siasia said yesterday.

    Siasia spoke at PDM’s rally at the Sports Complex in Yenagoa, the state capital, which attracted a huge crowd. The election holds on December 5.

    The frontline businessman said the state has been battered in the last 17 years because of bad leadership.

    He pledged to use his credentials as a “successful” businessman to lead the people and make them prosperous.

    Siasia accused past leaders of using the state’s resources to enrich themselves instead of creating jobs for the people.

    Siasia said the vestiges of darkness plaguing the state, including underdevelopment, would give way to light, the party’s symbol.

    He said: “This is the time to liberate Bayelsans and create a better future for our people. Bayelsans should vote for the torch because our symbol is the torch. Others have an umbrella and a broom. If there is no light, you cannot use the umbrella. If there is no light, you cannot use the broom. So, the light is superior to all of them.

    “We will provide good education and we will ensure there is good health care. We will create a great and massive industrialisation in Bayelsa State. We will also turn Bayelsa into a one-stop economic hub and tourist destination. These are the things we are hoping to do in four years of our political leadership, if we have the mandate from the people.”

    His party, he said, had robust plans for women empowerment and welfare packages for the elderly.

    He said: “As a young man who understands the value that women should be involved in the economic process, we understand the value that women bring in every society. We have come to develop our women.

    “We have come to empower our women to take care of their children. Women are proficient when you give them assignments. That is why a woman is my running mate.”

    The PDM candidate denied rumours that he was being sponsored by former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson.

    Siasia said he had no godfather, adding that those who attended his rally were not induced with cash.

    He said: “I don’t have a godfather. I have heard stories that the former President is sponsoring me and that Dickson is sponsoring me too. Nobody is sponsoring me. I am saying this with all authority and with the fear of God. I don’t have any godfather.

    “The people are my godfathers. We are using political ethos and due process to ensure that there is a real change. I did not mobilise anybody here. I am not the kind of candidate that will share N3,000 to people.

    “That is the more reason, even in our radio announcements, I emphasise that they should tell Bayelsans that we don’t have money to share. But we have creativity, productivity, genuineness and truth to give the people of Bayelsa.

    “So, the time for Bayelsa to be short-sighted is over; this is the time when our people can be futuristic so that we can create a sustainable future for our people. Some people, who have mortgaged the future of this state, are still there.”

  • Only the truth can liberate us

    Reacting to my pieces Ekweremadu’s opportunism and Atiku’s apostasy, and June 9: Fallout of clash of cultures, many readers accused me of being fixated with the Igbo and their leadership’ as if there were no leadership problems in Yoruba land. Others accused me of bigotry, xenophobia, dismissing both articles as ‘hate filled orchestrated campaign against a people’. The relief however was that it is not hard to imagine that such comments like –  ‘’You are a fool to say the Igbo thrive more in other peoples country; Have we taken over your fathers village or is Abuja a Yoruba country” could only have come from an uninformed mind.

    Alas, little did this critic know that the Igbo have indeed become a threat to women in my village who are in fact now gearing up to re-enact the first women protest in Nigeria when Calabar women embarked in popular uprising against the Igbo women who took over from the natives in the sales of bush meat in their remote villages. The difference is that while the Calabar women confronted Igbo women,  the targets of the planned women uprising from my village are  able bodied, heavily built and physically intimidating Igbo young men who have taken over the sales of yam , corn, okro, pepper – all hitherto exclusive preserve of our women and mothers. And if my insolent critic really wants to know: our mothers don’t care if Igbo take over Abuja. They care more about their villages. They are also worried about Igbo disrespect for our traditional rulers. The other day, they took up arms against our revered Oba of Lagos whose only fault was threatening those who would work against the interest of Lagos with ancestral curses. And but for his quick intervention,  they would have used Igbo block vote to snatch Lagos for PDP just as they did in Abuja recently when they used their block vote to deprive APC the clear majority given to them in the National Assembly by the electorate.

    That is not the only reason why we cannot but talk about the Igbo. They have claimed to be descendants of the Jews.  And like the Jews, they are not only very stubborn, they are very resilient. They don’t like enjoyment. They detest our ‘owanbe’ parties. They love ‘suffering and smiling’ (apology to Fela). Like the Jews, they control the commerce of wherever they settle. Even in bad behaviour, they excel. When they dabbled into ‘danfo’ driving in Lagos, they outwitted the traditional insolent ‘danfo’ drivers in bad behaviour. When they took over ‘okada’ business in Lagos, they became more aggressive, threatening motorists on the roads. They mobilized their members against the Lagos APC government who quickly relaxed some of its laws shortly before the election. In far away Ekiti, Governor Fayose is said to be in love with Igbo Okada riders. They came in very handy during his war against his state lawmakers. Igbo Okada riders along with the local thugs manned the borders to prevent the marooned lawmakers from sneaking to town to do their jobs.

    The fear of the self-professed Igbo descendants of Jews is the beginning of wisdom because when they sneeze, the nation catches cold. But as argued earlier, the fault is not in the Igbo man but in his culture. It was not an accident that Ekweremadu celebrates unscrupulousness as shrewdness and an amoral behaviour as politically right. He has even tried to draw a parallel between his opportunism and similar events in our past history such as the self-serving coalition between the NCNC and NPC in 1959, and NPP and NPN alliance in 1979 both of which collapsed over sharing of perks of office. I am sure, Ekweremadu, the usurper, would be delighted to know that Richard Sclar in his Nigeria Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation and Trevor Clark’s autobiographical work – Sir Tafawa Balewa ,The Right Honourable Gentleman’ have helped him to document some other parallels.

    Zik, according to Sclar, was the only Igbo man during the inaugural meeting of NCNC shortly before it transformed into a political party in 1944 and assumed the leadership of NCNC following the death of Macaulay in 1947 without a whimper from the Yoruba majority. But Zik saw nothing wrong in ceding the NCNC presidency to Okpara when he vacated the position as against Fadahunsi, the candidate of TOS Benson and his Yoruba group. Similarly when Zik also vacated the Senate Presidency in 1960, he ceded the office not to any of the Yoruba NCNC stalwarts but to Dennis Osadebey. Trevor Clark also documented another parallel. Dr O Ikejiani had just lost his appointment with the University College Ibadan because his PhD turned out not to be in the requisite area of Microbiology he had claimed before his appointment. But Raymond Njoku immediately took a memorandum to the Council of Ministers suggesting Dr. Ikejiani as successor to Emerson, the outgoing chairman of the University Council. Upon becoming Governor General, ‘without receiving ministerial consent and against the advice of the collegiate council which voted 8-2 against Ikejiani’s choice, Zik unilaterally approved his appointment as chairman of University Council that had just dismissed him’!

    Trevor Clark also documented the power struggle for the succession to the British out-going head of the Nigerian military, Welby-Everard, who had recommended Brigadier Ogundipe as an officer who could hold the military together. His second choice was Brigadier Ademulegun. His only reservation about Ogundipe was on account of his politics. He had led the Tiv operation and was the Sardauna and the NPC candidate. By his assessment, ‘Aguiyi-Ironsi of a Sierra Leonean father and an Umuahia mother was the least equipped militarily with narrowest background’. But Ironsi was Zik’s candidate.  Zik along with Mbadiwe, Okotie-Eboh and Mathew Mbu and Pius Okigbo lobbied Ribadu on behalf of Ironsi. Finally, Maitama Sule was flown to Kaduna on the order of Balewa to go and persuade the Sardauna who accepted with a warning that ‘Nigeria will regret it’.  Ironsi’s promotion was announced in March 1965, the Sardauna was killed in the January 1966 coup under the leadership of Ironsi. But it must be noted that anthropologists however have warned that all these actions sometimes considered  reprehensible by some groups, do not make Igbo culture which has sustained peaceful coexistence in their communities for centuries, inferior to other cultures.

    It was perhaps for this reason that to the British – “It was clear that Nigeria if it was to be a nation, must be a federation with as few subjects reserved for the central government as would preserve national unity”. Thus following Oliver Lyttleton suggestion of May 20 1953, representatives of the three dominant Nigerian regions were invited to London to redraft the 1951 constitution in such a way as to provide for greater regional autonomy and the removal of the power of intervention of the centre in the matters which will be placed within regional competence between July and August 1953. This was the elixir for the monumental achievements of the federating units between 1953 and 1960, the golden era of our nation.

    For instance in 1960, 60%of our Gross National Product and 85% of our exports were agricultural. We were the world’s largest producer of groundnut and oil palm and seventh in cocoa. Each region managed its own affairs. In 1960-61 financial year, the West with a population of seven million generated 29 million pounds and decided to spend 16 million on capital expenditure and 17 million on recurrent while the East with a population of eight million  generated 16 million and opted to spend seven million on capital and 15 million on recurrent. The north with a population of 18 million spent 10 million of her earnings on capital and 18 million on recurrent.

    Truth is the only thing that can liberate us. Like the Indians, Russians, Canadians, and even Britain that gave us a template almost 60 years ago, we must come to terms with our own demons. Unfortunately those behind our travails these past 60 years have continued to label all those that call attention to our missed path to greatness including the late sage, Awo a ‘tribalist’. What they have been unable to do however is invalidate the British thesis, or suppress the self-evident consequences of ‘the path to Nigeria greatness’ not taken.

  • Okori: APC ’ll liberate Akwa Ibom from tyranny

    Okori: APC ’ll liberate Akwa Ibom from tyranny

    All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate in Akwa Ibom Northwest District Chief Inibehe Okori is contesting against Governor Godswill Akpabio of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI, he explains why people are defecting to the APC and how he intends to floor the governor at the poll.   

    Why are you running for the Senate?

    The duty of a Senator is to make laws for the good governance of the country. I’m offering to go to the Senate to be able to cater for my people in line with constitutional requirements of the duties of a Senator. Secondly, it would enable me to impact on the lives and wellbeing of the people of Nigeria. It would also enable me to attract democracy dividends, which may come in different ways, such as constituency projects and what I would call government largesse.

    What motivated you to go into politics?

    I’ve been a professional in politics for quite some time. What motivated me is the desire to serve; to utilize the opportunity to attract the benefits of holding political office in Nigeria for my people.

    Why are you running on the platform of the APC?

    The quest for justice, equity and fairness brought me into the APC. The party has provided a platform for my people to be liberated. In real terms, the APC is here to right the wrongs committed by the ruling PDP. For instance, in my senatorial district the agreement is that the Senate seat should go to three local governments that make up Abak federal constituency, which is where I come from. Since 1963, when Nigeria became a republic that federal constituency has been represented in the Senate. In the senatorial district, we have four federal constituencies and the other three have had representatives at the Senate at least twice. So, I’m in the APC because the party is insisting that for the sake of justice, equity and fairness, the senatorial slot must be given to my constituency. Governor Godswill Akpabio, who is contesting on the PDP platform, comes from the Ikot Ekpene federal constituency, which has enjoyed the slot three times.

    Akwa Ibom is believed to be a PDP state. You are also running against the governor. How do you intend to overcome the double challenge?

    People often talk about incumbency, but it doesn’t really matter. Akpabio has been a governor, not a senator. So, you cannot say Akpabio as a senator did this or did that. Rather, I think I’m well positioned, considering my exposure in the country, particularly my relationship across geo-political zones. The Senate is a chamber made up of 109 members. It is a place you must synergise and work in tandem with your colleagues. It is not a place where you sit down and dish out directives to commissioners and other aides. You must be able to relate well with others in the course of your work, by extracting cooperation and exchanges with them. I have that gait, competence and capacity to synergise with colleagues and bring dividends of democracy closer to my people.

    Incumbency has never been a factor in the election of a senator. Let me take you back into history. In 2007, two incumbent governors were defeated in the senatorial race. One of them is today the National Chairman of the PDP (Adamu Muazu); he was then the outgoing governor of Bauchi State. You see, democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people; it is a government of individuals like Akpabio and the like. So, for me, incumbency in this regard is not a big deal because democracy entails a social contract and politicians are expected to stick to the principles of the agreement. So, whether you are an incumbent or not is immaterial; once the agreement is breached, you must face the consequences.

    Given the amount of money at Akpabio’s disposal, do you think you can match him, in terms of campaign spending?

    Well, to God be the glory that people who have money don’t talk about it. The Bible says that when you bring yourself down, the Lord will lift you up and when you lift yourself up, He will bring you down. What type of money does Akpabio have? Is it the peoples’ money that is entrusted in his hands? Is it justifiable for him to use this money to oppress the people? The God I worship would not allow that. As I speak to you, I want you to look at me once again; I am that David that fought Goliath; I am that Moses that confronted Pharaoh on behalf of the people of Israel. It shall come to pass.

    What is the major problem of your constituency?

    Basically, it is poverty. People are really impoverished; most of them are living below $1 per day. So far, I have covered all the polling units within my constituency and I must confess to you that I am really sad about what I met on the ground. I am full of tears for my people. The infrastructure that you need to grow the economy is non-existent, particularly in this era when small and medium-scaled enterprises are encouraged to develop within clusters. All over the world, government has a support system for such SMEs, as a way of creating employment opportunities. There is also absence of medical care and educational facilities, particularly in this age when emphasis is on information and communication technologies (ICT).

     

  • ‘I’m running to liberate Ogun from poverty’

    ‘I’m running to liberate Ogun from poverty’

    Prof. David Bamgbose is the governorship aspirant of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State. In this interview with reporters, he explains why he deserves the party’s ticket and why he left the Accord Party for the PDP. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE was there.

    Why are you contesting for governorship?

    You cannot leave the governance of this state to the set of people in power. Someone like me need not have any business with governance, if they were doing the right thing. There is need to create conducive environment for the people in both private and public institutions. People should be able to have access to infrastructure, equipment and other facilities. But, the authorities in power have refused to tackle the problems. I have been a player in the private sector and other diverse local and international organisations. But, I have found out that my country and my state in particular is not fulfilling its God-given destiny. There is need for us to do something to arrest the situation. But, people have accepted the situation without question. They are not thinking of changing the status quo. We must do something and that is what I represent. But, the challenge that I have is how to achieve the above objectives. Let me give you this example; our College of Education charges the lowest fees among all tertiary institutions, whether private, state-owned or federal government-owned. We also allow students to pay in instalments. We equally run free education in the prisons. The prison is supposed to be correctional institutions, but in Nigeria it is a different thing entirely. Our activities and what we do for prisons inmate have made some of them graduates. Coming into politics is to seek a higher platform to reach out to more people, to make life better for them. We must do something about the state; we cannot leave it to the set of people in power to continue to toy with our collective destinies.

    Why did you leave the Accord Party for the PDP?

    It is a very pragmatic, but painful decision to move from my former party, the Accord Party to the PDP. Pragmatic in the sense that you cannot achieve certain things on the basis of ideas alone; you must be realistic. I found out that in Nigeria, there are two major parties the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The work we are going to do, if it must be successful, we must get across as many people as possible. It would be easier to achieve this through the PDP platform. So, there is nothing wrong taking that decision. The only thing that made me to move from the Accord Party to the PDP is to have a better structure. At the end of the day, also, I cannot confidently tell you that money will not be the criteria for the PDP to choose their candidate at the primaries. But, it should be on record that we presented our person on the platform. At the end of the day, the job would have been better done, if I can get the PDP ticket. This is because the personality of the people in governance has tremendous influence on the programme the party. The candidate of the party is very important; if you look at the calibre of the candidates of the parties in the elections in the Southwest, it speaks volume about the outcome of the result of the elections. So, one of the strongest reasons why I moved to the PDP is to be able to have a bigger platform, for us to be able to make our agenda available to a wide range of people and also to win the governorship of the state.

    There’s a long list of aspirants in the PDP. How you  can achieve this?

    It is the fundamental interest of any political party to get to the seat of power. Now, everyone that is aspiring on the platform of the PDP will go through the primaries and I think I will be of greater benefit to the PDP now and in the future. Out of the 10 of us that are vying for the governorship, under the PDP, there is none of them that have a business organisation in the whole of the Ogun State. I have three organisations in the state and I am resident in the state. Of course, they too are residents in the state; they go for their businesses and come back to the state. I employed over 200 people in our organisations. I want to say I am a bigger stakeholder in the evolution of the state than any one of them. And for example, the incumbent governor has been raising issues on tax matter. There was a time he locked the gate of our college. And if my party will present a candidate that will lose the election, God forbid, this people will go back to their business located outside the state. I will be the one that will remain in the state and facing the governor in the state. Again, there is a clear record of our activities of reaching out to the poor. In our colleges, we have offered scholarship. I have the track record of contribution to the betterment of humanity. So, it is better for the party to look beyond narrow equation or what they can get now. They should look at the larger benefit. I have the record of not being associated with any blemish. I have not worked with any government before. Some of the contestants have held political offices in the past without any benefit to the people. I may be weak in the area of giving money. I don’t have the money to throw around. I am of the opinion that these people, who go into the political arena, spending money are doing so on the basis of business and would look forward to reaping it back. If they get to power, what they will be bothered with is how they will recoup the money they have plough into it. It is investment for them, so we will not throw money around. We are going to sell ourselves to the people, as we are doing right now and allow God to pick the right candidate.

    Was there any consultation before  from the Accord Party to the PDP?

    I consulted with my primary constituency, but it was not a wide consultation. I had to talk to people in Accord Party, but they had divergent opinions. But at the end of the day, they understood my point of view. In Accord Party, we have little resources, for us to prosecute this election.

  • Wamakko: APC’ll liberate Nigeria

    Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has an agenda to liberate the country from misdirection, weak and incompetent leadership.

    He said the party was striving to win the presidential elections in 2015.

    Wamakko, who spoke at the weekend after the APC congress, said the party was focused and determined to salvage the country from ruins.

    He assured that APC would not toy with Nigerians’ interest or intimidate them.

    The governor said the party would ensure good governance, transparency and accountability across the country.

    “APC is willing to transform Nigeria by ensuring the desired change in the polity.

    “By the grace of God, APC will win the presidential election in 2015 and establish a federal government that will lead to the attainment of the Nigeria of our dreams and a government that will not intimidate the people.

    “I am confident that we will win in 2015 and I am appealing to all Nigerians to join in the crusade of liberating Nigeria from weak and incompetent leadership.”

    “I wish to commend the state interim caretaker committee for doing a good job and I say congratulations to the new executive members and urge them to carry all along to ensure the party’s victory in 2015.”

    The Chairman, Bala Abubakar, thanked party members for giving him the mandate to serve.

    Abubakar pledged to work with all members, promising to justify the confidence reposed in him.

    He said: “We are indeed grateful for the confidence reposed in us to steer the affairs of the party and we assure you that by the grace of God, we will not fail.

  • APC ready to liberate Nigeria, says Tinubu

    APC ready to liberate Nigeria, says Tinubu

    Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has spoken on why he joined other progressives to form the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Speaking at the weekend to an African audience at the Njala University, Sierra Leone where he was conferred with the Honorary Doctorate Degree of Civil Laws (Honoris Causa), Tinubu told the excited crowd of academicians, students, politicians and business leaders that the party was formed so that Nigeria could avoid social calamity.

    “We formed the APC so Nigerians from all walks of life and social station might gather under one tent to develop the nation on the basis of equity and shared prosperity. What we seek is a fair social compact that we may avoid social calamity,” he said.

    Tinubu said the APC is more than a political party interested only in political power. He described the party as a mission, “a calling forth of the nation to realise its better self”, insisting that it is a call for the nation to fulfill its destiny.

    “We realised that if Nigeria continues as it is, it will soon collide into the barrier of its internal contradictions. A land of vast wealth yet vast penury; a people of great talent and energy but also of despair and unproductivity born out of their jobless poverty. A land that exports the raw materials that helps fuel, electrify and lubricate the global economy but one that lives more in darkness than in light.”

    The APC leader said for that change to happen in Nigeria, all those who desire change must be committed to the same cause. “I have worked too hard and long for the progress of our people to countenance such a broken outcome. We must reform ourselves so that we can fully occupy the destiny our people deserve,” Tinubu said.

    Njala University, the best rated higher institution in Sierra Leone, in picking Tinubu for the award, cited his contributions to the deepening of democracy Nigeria and the sub-region and the tremendous transformation of Lagos State when he was governor. The university, which marked its 50th anniversary, also contends that Tinubu towers above many people considered for the award as he remains active in public service.

    Describing him as a “great son of Africa”, the university attributed the award to Tinubu’s virtues, political exploits, intellectual acumen and strategic thinking.

    In his acceptance speech to the over 6,000 people, titled: “The best is yet to come”, he saluted the comeback spirit of the people of Sierra Leone.

    Tinubu said: “From the ash and dust of war, you have stepped forward as a nation, a small nation engulfed by such a big war, you persevered defying the odds. No nation, no people ought to have suffered as you have, you teetered on the brink of extinction. Yet with some help from your friends, you averted a disaster that seemed inevitable and permanent.”

    Tinubu said Africa needs to invest in the education of the youths, who are the limbs and hands of future development, saying for Sierra Leone the worst is over.

    “You held fast to a thin ray of hope until it grew to fill the sky above the nation, where there was nothing but breakage and destruction, now is learning and the building of new buildings, new lives and new dreams. A new nation has risen from the old, the worst has passed, the best is yet to come,” he said.

     

  • ‘APC will liberate Nigerians’

    ‘APC will liberate Nigerians’

    House of Representatives member Hon. Abimbola Daramola from Ekiti State spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU and ADEKUNLE YUSUF in Lagos on the controversy surrounding salaries and allowances of lawmakers, the anti- corruption war and prospects of the All progressives Congress (APC).

    How did you receive the news of the registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

    It was with excitement. The type that every woman has after carrying her pregnancy up to the point of delivery and when the baby comes out and the mother hears the sound and cry of the new baby. That was the kind of feeling I have. But, immediately, like all the new mothers always feel, I see it as a sign of responsibility.

    I know that responsible parents are also mindful of the kind of schools they want their children to attend; they want to ensure that the kid grows up well and is prepared to face the uncertainties of the future. That exactly is my mindset when APC was eventually registered.

    What are the challenges facing the new party in your state as well as other states now?

    Don’t forget, unless we want to be unrealistic with ourselves, there will always be local realities. Therefore, there is the need to contextualize. If for instance, you have APC in Yobe, you will expect most naturally that the weight that APC will pull in Yobe may not be as a result of what a party like ACN could bring into the card; you will expect that the guys from CPC who have been there (are responsible for the feat).

    For instance, ACN used to have six states, and then we have come together with CPC coming with one or three states with ANPP. So you will expect that we will reflect the environment that has produced 80 legislators in the southwest; it will be very difficult for us to discount that. All we are trying to do now is the amalgamation of people with multilateral strengths so that they can overcome multilateral challenges and conquer.

    When I was in the business school, one of things we were taught is SWOT analysis. S stands for strength, W for weakness, O for opportunities, T for threats and so you can apply that to our present reality today. You need SWOT analysis, for instance, when you want to come out with a new product and you are thinking of penetrating the market; SWOT analysis will help you to determine the penetration strategies that you want to use. Whether you should go by way of packaging; maybe that is your strength to overcome the weaknesses that already exist and be able to capture the opportunities to annul the threats that already exist in that market.

    We know that things are not working as we all expect; we know that we are not getting the best from the endowments of God over this nation; everybody knows it across and regardless of parties.

    And I dare say, that the opportunities are there, and the greatest opportunity we will be talking about will be the opportunity for people to merge the God-given endowments over this country with strength and be able to conquer the weakness and threats of corruption, the threats and weaknesses of social and moral decay.

    Decay, like in which sector?

    For instance the decay in the education sector, where the students are more at home than they are in school, hospitals don’t have drugs, Lagos-Ibadan express way will take another five years for it to be fixed and all of those things. People can now see, for instance, and I am proud to say with due respect, that the ACN, now APC governors have showed an increasing understanding of the fact that power belongs to people and the ultimate essence of power is the power that affects positively; we are seeing it everywhere. If we harness this together and root it in the ideology that has bred APC, that may just be drug to cure the ills and the malice of this country as at today.

    The opinion of those in government is that it is populated by those who lost out in the power game in PDP.How do you feel whe you hear make statements like this?

    It is a very puerile argument by the Presidency. Paul was formerly Saul; Saul was on his way to Damascus and he had an encounter with God. Of course, his mission was to go and persecute Christians; he was on a mission to further persecute Christians. He heard that voice and God told him “I am the one that you persecute on the road to Damascus.” But guess what happened? Saul met his salvation in the process of going to persecute the people of God. Then, he had that encounter and there was a turnaround and Saul became Paul; it is recorded in the Bible that he became the greatest preacher that the people of those times felt. He became one of the most courageous apostles and one of the greatest evangelists of all times.

    You can imagine and take a look at where he was coming from. Imagine when an armed robber becomes a Christian. The way he will preach the gospel, so, you may liken that to the scenario that we find ourselves today. Unless we want to deceive ourselves, a woman who is pregnant,does not have to wait for the ninth month before she knows that she is pregnant. So, the guys who are nailing this country to the cross know themselves. Don’t mind the sound bites that they give to Nigerians for comfort; don’t mind all those things that they say, so that they can appeal to the people.

    The truth of the matter is that everybody knows that Nigeria is at the tentacles. I am not a doomsday preacher, but I know when a country is working. Now, there is a global challenge and a global requirement and global demand for qualitative and purposeful leadership.

    How would you assess what is happening in Nigeria today?

    We should be able to tell if things are working, but it doesn’t appear that things are working. I must say this, there is a point in time that we have to start embarking on stocktaking as a nation and the time is now. It is even late; we should have done this many years ago, because development is not waiting for anybody.

    A friend of mine, Victor Ogene of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), moved a motion trying to reconcile the parity of entry-point scores into Federal Government Colleges (unity schools). In the north, or in some states in this country, what you need to get into those schools is four out 200 marks. In the Southwest here, you have to score well. Before my brother’s child could get into Queen’s College, she scored almost 180 marks.

    In the same country, some are being admitted with just scoring four out of 200. Is that a country that is working? Is that a signature tune of a nation that is working? It is a serious mater! So, when I tell you that we are sitting on tentacles or on a tinderbox, I sure know what I am saying. Unfortunately, we live in lies and deceive ourselves here.

    But your party is said to be lacking in presidential material?

    What is important at this point in time is not who will become the presidential candidate; when we get a systemic assembly, an assembly done out of a systemic ideology, when we have that in place and for people to have laid down their guards, they will be glad enough that anybody who emerges out of that process will most naturally be the one that may take us out of the wood. We are two years away from the election anyway, and there is so much work to be done. But Nigeria is not there yet, we are still in Egypt. It is about time we take a collective walk. When God even gave the direction, because God has given the direction by APC, it is time for the people of Israel, the modern day Israelites, that is Nigerians, to come together and allow the will of God for this country. The will of God for this country is to have a country that works; the perfect will of God for Nigeria is to have a country where everything works.

    How do you react to the allegation of overbloated allowances and salaries, that all this constitute a huge burden on governance in Nigeria.

    I believe very strongly that the cost of governance can be reduced. What you would have succeeded in doing is to reduce the cost of governance and have more money to deploy to good works. However, we have also discovered that when money has been saved in this country, you never get to see what it is used for. All the monies recovered from Abacha, Swiss bank, nobody knows where they ended up until today. It took the House of Representatives to move a motion and invite EFCC and ICPC to come and account for that. But when you say the National Assembly as an arm of government has also been one of the sources of conduit pipes and sources of leakage in the system, I am going to ask you to please take your time to sit back and ask yourself if that is true. Again, was Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that said the National Assembly takes a third of the Nigeria’s budget right? In the past six years that I know, the budget of the National Assembly has always been N150 billion per year for both House Representatives and the Senate.

    Does this amount include the allowances?

    Yes. I dare say when people call me honorable, I say in my mind vulnerable. Because virtually everybody that sees you feels you have now joined the class of the newly arrived. But that is not true. Senator Ojudu on his Facebook page the other day said if a senator earns N5 million per day, he will still be broke. Number one, the N150 billion can never be one third of the nation’s N4.9 trillion budget. The N150 billion is to maintain 109 senators and 360 House of Representatives members, and about 3,500 Nigerians who report to work in the National Assembly as staff and legislative aides because every legislator has five aids that also get paid out of the N150 billion.

  • APC ‘ll liberate Nigeria, say ex-PDP members

    The Reformed Action Congress of Nigeria Group, a group of defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, yesterday urged Nigerians to support the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Rising from its general meeting in Ogbomoso, the group said the progressives’ party would liberate Nigeria from its sundry challenges and the maladministration by the ruling PDP.

    At the meeting were Alhaji Alli Oyedeji Dodo; Senator Ayo Adeseun, representing Oyo Central and Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market; Mr Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, Chairman, Odua Investment Limited; Kamil Akinlabi Adegbenjo, member, Oyo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and Mufu Ogunremi, a former House of Representatives member.

    Others are: Asiwaju Yemi Aderibigbe, Special Adviser to Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Transport and former Chairman, Akinyele Local Government; Mr Sumbo Owolabi, Commissioner for Water Resources; Lanre Agoro, a former House of Representatives member; Alhaji Yinus Akintunde Santana, a former Commissioner for Works and Transport.

    There were also political office holders and board members of government agencies and corporations as well as representatives from the 33 local government areas.

    Adeseun said the APC is the viable alternative to the PDP-led Federal Government, which has failed to take the nation out of the woods in the last 14 years of democracy.

    He hinged the group’s hope on the slogan of the new party: changing the phase of governance for a better Nigeria.

    According to him, the Ajimobi administration has been exemplary in the area of peace and security, which has returned to Oyo State since his assumption of office. He also acknowledged the sanitation and beautification of the environment, dualisation of major roads, youth empowerment, infrastructural development and other ongoing programmes of the government.

    Alli urged members to stay connected, adding that the APC would provide succour to the masses.

    He added: “APC is our party and we shall all work together to bring victory on all sides, from the federal down to the local level.”

    Akinlabi said the meeting was aimed at bringing all former ACN reform members closer to the government.

    Also, Yobe State Deputy Governor Abubakar Aliyu has said Nigeria would benefit from APC because of its good leadership.

    He said: “Good leadership alone can fix the problems of Nigeria and all the other problems of the country will be history.”

    The deputy governor told reporters in Damaturu, the state capital, that the selfless commitment of leaders of the various parties in the APC is exemplary.

    Aliyu said: “I want to say that the kind of leadership provided during this merger is the one that Nigeria needs. If we get it right through good leadership, the problems of Nigeria will be over.

  • ‘APC ‘ll liberate Nigeria’

    Ondo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain Mr. Tunde Imolehin has warned the Federal Government and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against interfering in the activities of the electoral commission. He said the allegation that they were making moves to prevent the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) was worrisome.

    Imolehin said that the merger of progressive parties would strengthen democracy and good governance because there will be a viable opposition after the merger.

    The politician who spoke in Akure said the days of the PDP in power were numbered.

    He added: “Even, the progressives in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) know that a merger is the only option now because of its collateral strength. APC will come alive, especially when it is supported by many progressive governors who are party leaders in their respective states.”

    Imolehin lamented the poor state of the economy, pointing out that the woes have been aggravated by corruption.

    He said the situation in Ondo State mirrored the ineptitude at the centre, urging the people of the state to take their destiny in their hands.

    Imolehin added: “The last governorship election was full of irregularities. ACN did not loose that poll. Its third position was premeditated, but with the proceedings at the tribunal, the party will triumph because there was a precedence.”

     

  • ‘Progressives will liberate Nigeria’

    ‘Progressives will liberate Nigeria’

    Former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will liberate the country from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He allayed the fear that the merger will collapse because of power sharing, assuring that the APC leaders are ready to make sacrifices in the national interest.

    Shekarau told reporters in Kano, the state capital, that Nigerians were eager to vote for a progressive party in 2015 because the PDP has failed them in the last 14 years.

    The former governor spoke at a ceremony marking the declaration of Hon. Kawu Sumaila for the governorship. The aspirant hailed the leadership qualities of the former governor, stressing that members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have confidence in him.

    Kawu said that the APC will form the next government in Kano, urging the people to support the new platform.

    At the event, ANPP members passed a vote of confidence on the merger process and Shekarau’s contributions to the effort.

    The former governor told the party faithful that only the combined forces of parties opposed to the PDP can dislodge the party from power.

    He said: “The merged parties; the ANPP, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance; are equal partners. Collectively, they will work as one team. At the merger talks, each of the four political parties had 21 members to form the 84-member committee.

    “Nigerians need not fear for the outcome of this merger plan as we will not disappoint the electorate because we have realised that PDP’s oppression, misrule and mismanagement of nation’s resources should not continue.

    “What we need from the teeming masses is their collective prayers and votes, and their determination to end the 14 years of misrule. It is just as matter of patience.”

    Sumaila described the PDP administration as a disaster, urging Nigerians to wake up from their slumber.

    He lamented that the ruling party has turned the country to a personal enterprise, thereby subjecting the masses to abject poverty.

    He said: “The APC will surely bring to an end the era of the retrogressive cabal in the PDP who are bent on milking the resources of the nation to the detriment of millions of innocent Nigerian”.