The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Party

  • ‘Accord Party aims to take over Lagos’

    ‘Accord Party aims to take over Lagos’

    The chairman of the Accord Party in Lagos State, Gbenga Olatunde-Kool,  has lofty dreams about the chances of the party in next year’s general elections. In this interview with deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI, he talks about the party’s strategy to capture the state and the future of small parties in Nigeria.  

    It’s about three months to the general elections and we’ve not heard much from the Accord Party in Lagos. What’s going on?

    Yes, the Accord Party happens to be a grassroots party; we have been working within the grassroots because we believe that the grassroots people are the majority in the political scenario. That’s why the party has taken time to put its structures at that level, like having the chairmen and the excos. We have 57 local councils and LCDAs in Lagos and we have structures in virtually all of them. That’s what we’ve been doing and we are not so loud because money has a part to play in politics. I’m sure with time all the noise you are expecting would come in place before the elections.

    The APC has been tagged as a progressive party, while the PDP is usually identified as a conservative party in the media. Where do we place the Accord Party?

    The Accord Party is the caretaker of the poor masses because we are out to handle the welfare of the masses. It is as if, in governance these days, we only see the elites; the poor masses are not involved. An example, for instance, though the infrastructure in Lagos has not been put in place, the elite are thinking of building an Atlantic City. Go to some local governments, such as Igbogbo/Bayeku Local Government in Ikorodu, for instance, you will discover that the roads there are terrible. It’s as if we don’t have a government in place; and ironically this is where majority of the people who voted for the ruling party are staying. Obviously, it’s so painful. You will hear people complaining about the state of roads in places like Ikorodu on a phone-in programme in Yoruba, on Eko FM. The chairmen of local governments have been in place for long. But, they are practically doing nothing. The state government is there, but it has never done anything to improve the state of roads in places where the masses live. What do you expect? When the roads are bad, commuter buses inflate their fares. In essence, the APC, which is supposed to be progressive, has not been living up to its name. You see, if you want to take care of the masses, you must go to the grassroots. It’s not a question of going to Ikoyi and make sure that their roads are in good shape. How many people live in Ikoyi? All these big buildings you see in Ikoyi, you just see about two/three people coming out of it. But, you get to all this local areas where the masses are, you will discover that within a bungalow of five rooms alone, you can get about 50 people coming out of it; if not more. So, my party, the Accord Party, stands for the masses. We know where the shoe pinches them and we are ready to make sure that everything is done the right way.

    What are the chances of the Accord Party in the forthcoming governorship in Lagos?

    We are yet to unfold our governorship aspirants in Lagos because we want to take our time, just like any other party. It is when we get to that stage that people will know that we seriously mean business. Most of us in the party are highly religious and have soft minds.

    So, how are you going to perform at the election?

    No doubt, we’re coming tops in the election because we have our machinery in place and everything is working out for us.

    How are you going to win the election, if your aspirants are not known at this stage?

    We have a lot of aspirants waiting in the wings. We know the people have a choice, so we are waiting to see the way things would unfold in other parties. In Accord Party, there is no godfatherism and no nepotism; we go all-out and let people make their choice.

    Small parties like yours have been accused of being an appendage of the PDP. What’s your reaction to this?

    We can never be an appendage; that’s a misinformation. Accord Party stands on its own. It strongly believes that the time has come for the emergence of a new leadership that can prepare Lagos and Lagosians for the new millennium. This is the time to focus on the restoration of the dignity of Lagosians, which has never been there. The elites are being looked upon, to the detriment of the poor masses. Most times, you’ll find that if there is any offence committed by any of these poor masses, like the danfo driver or whatever, the only thing you’ll hear is meet me in court. Can they afford to pay the bills in court? The poor cannot afford it. So, in the process, someone who is looking for his daily bread is punished unjustly. What I’m saying is that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has become a money-making institution for government. It is like that outfit is even compelling people to steal or resort to armed robbery because they tell people to go and pay N10,000 or N20,000, when their income in a day is not more than N500 or N1,000.

    What positions is your party going to field candidates in next year’s general elections?                

    The Accord Party is still a young party; I hope you know that. We are not interested in the presidential election yet. But, aside from that, we are going to field candidates for all positions. We are interested in the governorship, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the House of Assembly and counselors too.

    How do you rate the preparations towards next year’s elections?

    As it is, we are ready, because we’ve never stopped working. Our own target is to take over Lagos State. The Accord Party is set to take over control of Lagos State. That’s my main aim and objective.

    We mean the preparations on the part of INEC. Are you satisfied with what INEC is doing?

    Of course, I’m satisfied with what INEC is doing so far. We can’t crucify INEC for doing what it is doing right now. But, if there is a kind of digression, definitely we will shout.

    What of the issue of the distribution of permanent voters’ cards, people have been complaining…

    INEC has not done well in that regard. Personally, I registered and voted in 2011, but they names were missing from the registered released this time around. They told me to go and register afresh. In the process, they mis-spelt my name,

    What is the future of small parties in Nigeria?

    Accord Party is the alternative to all the problems. You see, people have tasted the PDP and the APC and now they are tired of the two major parties. If you check, you will discover that the two parties are populated by the same people, who keep moving from one party to the other. I wonder why they are recycling themselves because of power. So, we are coming in to take control.

    There is unemployment in the land and there is hunger, yet people still vote on the basis of sentiments. What are you doing to convert this to an electoral asset?

    It is going to be different this time around. It is not the parties that people would vote for, but those people participating. The names of people participating are what matters to the electorates; not the parties.

  • Party leaders drum support for Ambode

    Party leaders drum support for Ambode

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode’s quest for the governorship has received a major boost.  Party leaders  in Ikorodu, Alimosho, Badagry and Ojo local governments adopted him, ahead of the primaries. Amobode is on the last lap of his tour of the 20 local governemt areas and the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

    In Ikorodu, the former deputy governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, led other notable leaders, including Olorunfemi Basorun, the Secreatary to Government (SSG), former Agriculture Commissioner Asipa Kaoli Olusanya, and Mrs Aderenle Ogunsanya to welcome him.  Ambode told them that his bid  is borne out of his passion  for service. He promised to implement the manifesto of the party for the welfare of Lagosians. He also promised to give government back to the people by strengthening the LGAs and the LCDAs  to take government nearer to the people. Ambode said he decided to start his tour from Ikorodu because of its socio-economic importance. He promised a good welfare package and infrastructural development.

    Ogunleye thanked Ambode for the visit. He said the leaders have no doubt on his capacity to rule Lagos and promised him their support. He advised him to carry the party leaders along in his programmes and policies.

    At Alimosho local government area, which is one of the biggest local governments in Africa, High Chief Solomon Ogundola  led other  leaders, including Titi Adebayo, the woman leader, Alhaji Waheed Orire, Alhaji Abdulahi Enilolonbo, Alhaji Yisa Yusuf, Hon. Femi Adebanjo, and  Olusegun Sodiya to receive the aspirant.

    Ambode said he is not a stranger to Alimosho LGA, having served there for three years as a treasurer. He expressed his total commitment to the advancement of the LGA and pleaded that the leaders should give him their support during the forthcoming primaries. He promised, if he becomes the governor, he will open up Alimosho to provide opportunity for the people, including youths and women.

    In his response, Chief Ogunsola, welcomed Amobde to Alimosho ,which he described as the “country home” of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the National leader of the APC. He said that the local government could produce the votes, which determine who becomes the governor. He said this is the first time any aspirant will be given a full complement of the party leadership  in the local government. He pointed out that the LGA has continued to enjoy the infrastructural development, right from the time of Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola. He urged Ambode to initiate new projects in the area to better the lot of the people.

    At Badagry, it was an awesome event. Ambode was received by former Head of Service and Special Adviser Hon. Sunny Ajose . The leaders assured him of their support. Ambode expressed his readiness to take Lagos to greater heights, if given the opportunity to govern the state. He said he is conversant with Badagry and its environment and the critical place it occupies in Lagos. He promised an all-inclusive governance where the less privileged and rural communities will enjoy the dividends of democracy. Ambose said the massive infrastructural transformation going on in Badagry will not only continue, but new projects will also be initiated to open up the ancient town.

  • As NANS becomes a political party

    It is painful that this piece is to expose the dark side of our affairs, which have become a matter of indispensable necessity. Anyone who stops learning is old. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. Keeping our mind young is by making it vibrant, especially by engaging in issues that concern our very existence.

    I get worried about issues that concern my immediate constituency – which is the youth. As a young Nigerian, I consider it as an obligation to speak and write about how I can improve the lot of this constituency. I do know that some people see the glass half full; others see it half empty. But I see a glass that is bigger than it needs to be.

    What is my worry? It is about National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). This body, which claims to represent m interest, has lost ethical and moral values. It only represents the interest of the few claiming right to its leadership.

    NANS used to be the mouthpiece of the entire students. This was the era of Segun Okeowo of blessed memory. The era when unionism was an extension of the organised trade union; when poor naturally subscribed to be the ideology and wishes of students.

    All that is no more. NANS is now a political party. Its leaders are political beggars, arranging frivolous endorsements and awards for corrupt politicians for pecuniary consideration. By the way, how many of these rogues claiming to be NANS leaders are known to students in far-flung Maiduguri or nearby Ilorin?

    We need a platform to explain our challenge as youths. This is my own opportunity. I have written about NANS years back but the rogues won’t change their way. After I published an article titled: Students’ Union officers interference in societal politics: Whether wrong or right in The Nation on September 8, 2011, I got several threat calls from the NANS quarters.

    Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. This precisely describes NANS of today. Chioma Nwobi corroborated my assertion when she wrote in Punch on September 10, 2014: “Honestly, my anger is more with the Nigerian media which continues to highlight organisations such as NANS in the papers as if they mean anything and as if any value to any serious group of people. NANS has been a useless organisation…’’

    Though, some still argue that NANS is still an element of patriotism and students’ brotherhood. Interestingly, they never deny the fact that, today the body is nothing but a drowning entity looking for sustenance.

    Today’s NANS, in its entirety, is devoid of good concept of students’ unionism, unlike in past when its leaders are used to be respected. But the NANS narrative has assumed a disturbing dimension as the so-called youths behind this body have become corporate beggars.

    They beg for cheap favours and go around making factions all in a bid to make quick money. The truth about these factions is that, they all stand for the same ideology– to make money. This is a betrayal to the aims and objective of the students’ body.

    A body like NANS should be seen advocating for good governance and education reforms. Today, many higher institutions are battling dilapidating infrastructure and inadequate equipment, which naturally should be the concern of NANS. But the shameless adults, claiming to be NANS leaders, are looking elsewhere.

    The story today is that no Nigerian university is among the best 1,000 in the world or even the best 50 in Africa. Does this not concern NANS? But the rogues move around to make foolish endorsement and give lighthearted awards to political leaders whose actions are part of the reason our education system is messed up.

    The Punch columnist, Abimbola Adelakun, wrote on September 4, 2014: “NANS obviously is a band of opportunists looking for what to eat and for whom no perfidy, no level of ignominy, would be too low to wallow so long as it guarantees supply of ‘stomach infrastructure’. Their desperation to be included in the routine sharing of the national cake perhaps explains why you never see these professional students ever associated with anything academic.”

    Arewa Youth Consultative Forum said of NANS leaders: “Many of these characters are found in Abuja today. They don’t go anywhere; they just sit there. They see governance as political activities and endorsements to collect monies from politicians and as a day-to-day routine business. We were part of the so-called NANS in the past. Today, many people will agree that it is neither here or there… All is not well as regard the view of an average reasonable Nigerian towards NANS. It shows the body is decaying so fast.”

    What again do we want to hear about NANS, which reasonable people have not said? Rather than using the platform for emancipation, NANS leaders chose to court corrupt politicians for money. While many graduates are roaming the street in search of non-existent jobs, NANS leaders organise dubious programmes to get mouth-watering sponsorship from the corporate organisations. What hope do the students have?

    We would continue to ask this question until our values as students are totally eroded by rogues and criminals using the name of NANS to commit atrocities. I leave you with a mind full of hope. If it is to be, it is up to us.

     

    Habeeb is a student at Nigerian Law School, Abuja Campus

     

  • 2015: APC decries plan to relaunch acronym battle against party

    2015: APC decries plan to relaunch acronym battle against party

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has decried an alleged plan by “unscrupulous and apparently-hired hands” to relaunch the acronym battle against the party.

    It alleged that the masterminds were “seeking to register three new parties that bear the acronyms of the same parties that merged to become the APC”.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said those behind the phantom parties, who are apparently working at the behest of people who have a mortal fear of the APC, have applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Allied Council of Nigeria (ACN); Advanced National Patriotic Party (ANPP) and Conservative People’s Congress (CPC).

    It said the fact that the acronyms of the three entities tally with those of the APC component parties – the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – is not accidental.

    According to the party, the registration of the phantom parties is a grand design by those who have been having sleepless nights since the APC was registered.

    APC said: “It is worthy of note that the three applications to INEC for the registration of the three organisations as political parties were made on the same day. Apparently, common sense takes flight in the face of great desperation!

    “Their plan is simple: Once the parties are registered, they will then apply to change their logos to those of the original ACN, ANPP and CPC, and then hope to be on the ballot for next year’s general elections. Just before the elections, the sponsors of the phantom parties will send out messages that the APC has splintered into its component parties for the purpose of the election. Whatever happens, their plan is to confuse the electorate and hamper the electoral fortunes of the APC.”

    The party urged INEC not to succumb to the antics of those who are planning to sabotage the 2015 general elections and win elections by subterfuge.

    It said: “This acronym battle is a part of the larger war against our party to prevent its registration. Nigerians will recollect that the same people, apparently, applied to register a phantom APC the moment it became clear that our merger would succeed and INEC would register our party, having met all the requirements to consummate the merger.

    “Thankfully, INEC refused to compromise its neutrality and integrity and chose to act in accordance with the law by registering our party.

    “We urge the electoral body to do the same now, in the face of unprecedented desperation by those who believe they can only win elections by cutting corners.”

    APC advised Nigerians to be vigilant as the 2015 elections approach, adding that those coming to terms with the reality that the party is a viable alternative in the country’s political firmament will stop at nothing to seek to mar its electoral fortunes.

  • Lawyer becomes Labour Party chair

    Labour Party (LP) Federal Capital Territory chapter  has elected Comrade Ashimole Felix Chukwuma as its  chairman   and 19 others to pilot the affairs of the party in the next three years.

    Ashimole, a graduate of the Faculty of Law, Lagos State University(LASU), was called to the Bar in 2003 .

    He was a member of NBA Abuja branch, the (Unity Bar) before he transferred to Bwari Bar.

    He is a partner, Che Oyinatumba & Associates, a labour law, human rights and public interest litigations firm.

  • UK: Nigel Farage and his Independence Party want out of Europe

    Among those who cheered Farage’s vulgar assault were plenty of Tory M.P.s at Westminster. They are openly rebellious and disloyal to Prime Minister David Cameron and close to UKIP in spirit. Cameron has placated them by promising a referendum on whether or not to stay in the E.U. after the next election.

    After the warm-up speeches, a hush of expectation fell. The Forum in Bath is an Art Deco movie theater now used mostly for concerts and evangelical services, and on the last Tuesday of April, it had the air of a revivalist meeting. In the foyer, they were selling books, button badges and even tea towels, while inside a lively, if middle-aged, audience nearly filled the former cinema.

    They had come to hear Nigel Farage, the loquacious, dynamic, bumptious, bibulous, irrepressible leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, who was touring the country ahead of the elections to the European Parliament later this month. He has himself been a member of that body for 15 years and will doubtless be re-elected, although he belongs to it only to attack it, and his party exists to destroy it, or at least British participation in it and in the European Union.

    That still seems quite a remote prospect, but these elections, separate from national elections, could have a drastic impact on British politics. As yet, UKIP doesn’t have a single member of Parliament, or M.P., in the House of Commons at Westminster. But if the polls are right, UKIP will come out on top in the European elections, ahead of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who at present govern the country in uneasy coalition, as well as the opposition Labour Party. Even if UKIP doesn’t believe in the E.U., winning in the European elections will greatly enhance their position back home.

    ‘Of course I said some ridiculous things,’ Farage says of his schoolboy days with a grin and a shrug, ‘not necessarily racist things.’ Grinning and shrugging is something he does often.

    Maybe because he thought he was about to upset the political apple cart, Farage had a swagger in his step as he took the stage at the Forum to thunderous applause. He spoke easily, at some length, with no notes or prompter, relentlessly hammering away at his theme: The country threw away its independence and is now governed by the Eurocrats of Brussels, who have let in a flood of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania. All will be well if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

    Outside, there was a knot of demonstrators as well as a BBC television truck: Farage is news. Two protesters held a banner that said (incorrectly as it happens) “Nigel Farage is a banker,” and one woman had a small handwritten placard reading, “They called Hitler charismatic too.” If the comparison is hyperbolic, she’s hardly alone. For all his apparent geniality, Farage is seen by plenty of people as a pernicious figure and his party as a danger to the political health of the nation.

    In addition to an egg thrown at him as he was walking through Nottingham three days later, a deluge of criticism and scandal has recently washed over him and his party — from allegations of financial impropriety to a concerted campaign to brand UKIP as racist, an accusation that some of its own activists have done nothing to discourage. And all of it is laughed off by Farage with cheeky bravado. At his peroration in Bath, he said that he had received a letter from a 92-year-old former bomber pilot: “Nigel, you only start getting flak when you’re near the target!”

    He likes to dish out flak as well as take it. In February 2010, Farage gained a measure of international fame, or notoriety, when Herman Van Rompuy, a Belgian politician who was the newly appointed president of the European Union, was in Strasbourg, France, to address the Parliament. Farage told Van Rompuy to his face that he was a man with “the charisma of a damp rag” — those tea towels on sale at the UKIP meeting in Bath bore Van Rompuy’s face and the words “Genuine Belgian Damp Rag” — and that no one outside Belgium had ever heard of him. It left Van Rompuy in stunned silence and quickly became a YouTube classic.

    Among those who cheered Farage’s vulgar assault were plenty of Tory M.P.s at Westminster. They are openly rebellious and disloyal to Prime Minister David Cameron and close to UKIP in spirit. Cameron has placated them by promising a referendum on whether or not to stay in the E.U. after the next election.

    But here is a tangle of paradoxes. Many voters — British and otherwise — use the European elections as a way to vent their spleen against their governments, and conventional politics in general, but then return to the mainstream parties in national elections. However well it does in these European elections, UKIP is still not certain to win any seats at the British general election in a year’s time. And because Labour and Liberal Democrats are opposed to a referendum on European withdrawal, one will be held only if the Conservatives win an absolute majority at Westminster. That doesn’t seem very likely at present — and what makes it less so is the prospect of UKIP stealing votes from the Conservatives and handing the election to Labour.

    Although UKIP has the E.U. as its central obsession, its support stems from discontent with much broader social and cultural change — a fundamental disquiet with the rapidly shifting face of England. Farage delights some and disgusts others, and yet no one is quite sure what to make of him, or even knows for sure who he is.

    Nigel Farage was born in 1964, the son of a stockbroker who overcame alcoholism but ultimately left his family. Farage grew up in a village on the North Downs of Kent, where he still lives “within a mile or two,” and not far from Chartwell, the home of Winston Churchill. His is an incantatory name. Like Ronald Reagan and Benjamin Netanyahu before him, Farage enjoys nothing more than to be photographed in front of a portrait of Churchill, who is continually invoked by UKIP speakers — four times in Bath, by my count.

    Farage went to Dulwich College in south London, an excellent private school with the distinction of having educated P. G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler. By his own account, Farage was a noisy and annoying boy, and a letter from his school days recently returned to haunt him. When he was chosen to be a prefect, one of his teachers wrote an objection to the boy’s offensively right-wing opinions. “Of course I said some ridiculous things,” Farage says with a grin and a shrug, “not necessarily racist things.” Grinning and shrugging is something he does often.

    –Cullrd From Reuters

  • Party, Omisore’s group differ over plan to militarise poll

    Party, Omisore’s group differ over plan to militarise poll

    The Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Omisore Campaign Organisation differed yesterday over plans to deploy military personnel for  the August 9 governorship election.

    Interim Chairman of APC, Elder Adebiyi Adelowo, at a media briefing yesterday at the party’s secretariat, said the election was supposed to be a civil exercise devoid of soldiers.

    He said at the event, which was also attended by APC State Interim Secretary, Prince Gboyega Famodun and a chieftain, Alhaji Fatai Diekola, that the APC had no evil plan during the election, but want an environment devoid of use of security agents to intimidate the electorate.

    The APC chieftain said it should be made compulsory that the soldiers and police as well as other security agents to wear name tags and hang their identification cards to prevent infiltration of fake security agents during the poll.

    He raised the alarm over alleged plans by the PDP to rig the election with the collaboration of the Presidency and security agencies.

    Adelowo appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to caution the leaders of the party over their alleged desperation to take over power through fraudulent means.

    According to him, President Jonathan should caution the Ministers of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Oobanikoro and Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, over their alleged desperation to ensure that PDP captures the Southwest.

    He said: “Information at our disposal shows that the PDP has perfected plans to rig the August 9 governorship election. They want to use various machinery, including the security agencies, especially the soldiers and police. Apart from this, the PDP is planning to use the police to pick some of our members, particularly stalwarts before the poll.”

    But  the Director of Publicity for Omisore Campaign Organisation, Prince Diran Odeyemi, described the APC’s allegations as baseless.

    He said the PDP would win the election without rigging and without the influence of any individual or group of people.

    Odeyemi, who said the APC resorted to the allegations having realised that its days are numbered in the state

    He said the allegations would not make the PDP lose focus on its determination to take over government from the APC.

  • Condoms litter varsity’s hall after freshers’ party

    Freshers admitted into the Kogi State University (KSU) in Ayingba, last Saturday, held their Matriculation Night party in the school auditorium. But the morning after, the venue was littered with used condoms.

    School cleaners were shocked at the discovery, raising suspicion that party may have been marred with carnal activities.

    The party, which was organised by the Students’ Union Government (SUG), was said to have started at 9pm on Saturday. The official matriculation was held in the auditorium earlier in the day.

    According to a participant, who did not want his name in print, packs of condom were freely distributed to the students by an official of the SUG.

    The matriculation, which was its 15th edition, was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Alhassan Isah. The oath-taking session was conducted by the Registrar, who admonished the students to obey rule and regulation of the institution.

    The VC urged the freshers to put their studies above other campus activities.

     

  • Lagos 2015: Party, politics and religion

    Lagos 2015: Party, politics and religion

    Many factors will shape the governorship election in Lagos State next year. But, Niyi Akinsiju contends that religion will not be one of them.

    Politics of succession is in the air in Lagos State. While this is natural, considering the democratic nature of our polity, it is unbecoming for such a fundamental aspect of our existence to be trammeled by primordial sentiments often steeped in religious bigotry.

    Recently, a Christian body came up with the call for a Christian governor in 2015 alleging that the two governors who have ruled the State since 1999 are “Muslims.” While they did not, in their publications and utterances condemn either of the two “Muslim” governors for misgoverning, malversation or corruption but rather praised them, they hinged the need for a Christian governor on the laughable imperativeness of having men who have the fear of God in a position of leadership. The question begging for an answer is: could the two “Muslim” governors, well scored by these religious sentimentalists, have ruled the State without the fear of God?

    It is indeed important to note that the call for a Christian governor is not emanating from the masses whose interest is good governance and not the faith professed by the provider of good governance. It is important to note that the call is coming from politicians who feel, that to preserve their personal interests and feather their egoistic nests, the calculations may only be tilted in their favour by injecting malarkey of religious prejudices into the considerations of who becomes the governor in 2015. They have forgotten that the seed they sow today may bloom into destructive fruits tomorrow which their selfish gusto would not be sufficient to contain. Rather than being concerned with how to preserve the legacies that we may be proud of and correct areas of inadequacies bequeathed by imperfections of man, they rather seek to divide the masses by religious sentiments which conflagrations and resultant concatenations of evils will definitely surpass historical records.

    Most unfortunate of it all is the irresponsible suggestions of pandering to these banal prejudices on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The bush radio has relayed efforts being made by some notable party leaders to introduce religious and zonal considerations to the choice of who flags the party’s banner in 2015. Several meetings have been reportedly held where gentle urges have been sold to party leaders on the need for the next governor to be a Christian, and some politicians have been visiting churches in the hope of securing divine endorsement. The brewers of this concoction made the need for a Christian candidate a desideratum to winning the 2015 governorship election by the party. What an irony?

    The masses are not concerned by whatever faith you profess or which zone you actually represent in the geo-political setting of the State before entrusting you with a leadership mandate. Testimonies to this fact abound in the selection of Abiola and Kingibe; a Mualim-Muslim ticket in 1993; Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo, a M ticket between 1979 – 1983 in Lagos where there was a large Christian following; Chief Bola Ige/Chief Sunday Afolabi, a Christian-Christian ticket in Oyo State in 1979 – 1983 where Muslims were in preponderance; Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin/Chief Akin Omoboriowo, a Christian-Christian ticket in 1979 – 1983 in Ondo State where there was a fairly sizeable population of Muslims. Edo State has always been governed by Christian governors and deputies since its inception and there has been no agitation for a Muslim governor or traditional worshiper. From the days of John E. K. Odigie Oyegun (1992 – 1993), Lucky Igbinedion (1999 – 2007), Osereimeh Osunbor (2007 – 2011) until Adams Oshiomhole (2011 until date), no whimper has been heard on the need for a Muslim governor as that is not the problem of the masses but rather the need for free and fair election, saner economic policies, sound educational foundation and development, full employment and adequate security, etc.

    In Osun State between 2003 and 2010, the State was ruled by a Christian governor and a Christian deputy. However, there was no agitation by the people for a Muslim governor as the basis upon which people voted in the government of Aregbesola was due to the failure of Olagunsoye Oyinlola/Olusola Obada to improve the socio-economic lives of the people which was effectively challenged by a better and more promising political manifesto displayed by Aregbesola during the electioneering campaign.

    All the governors that have ruled Ekiti State, both in substantive and acting capacities, have all been Christians from Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Chief Tope Ademiluyi, Chief Ayo Fayose, Chief Friday Aderemi, Chief Olusegun Oni to Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Our leaders in APC have not reflected on the fact that we presented a Christian-Christian ticket in Ondo State during the governorship election of 2013, and the basis of the party’s loss has rather been political than religious. Christian governors, for instance, have ruled Ondo State ever since its democratic inception and there have been no hues and cries by the people for a Muslim governor. Starting from Sir Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Bamidele Olumilua, Adebayo Adefarati, Olusegun Agagu to Olusegun Mimiko, our people in Ondo State have never considered religion as a determinant factor in electing a governor.

    Until the election of Ibikunle Amosun in 2011, no M was elected governor in Ogun State. From the time of Olabisi Onabanjo (1979- 1983), Olusegun Osoba (1992 – 1993), Olusegun Osoba (1999 – 2003), Gbenga Daniel (2003 – 2011), our people have never clamoured for religious consideration in effecting change of baton. Now, in Lagos, our political leaders are advertising religious sentiments in order to ensure their relevance in politics and continuous determination of who emerges as governor. Who told them there is no need for internal democracy as to allot the governorship slot to a religious faith of their own choice and wild imagination? Would it not smirk of hypocrisy when we criticize other people and parties of lacking in democratic tenets only for us to be found wanting of same?

    It is desirable for us to come clean so as not to befuddle the political vision of the younger generations who listen and watch us with intense passion. Once we sow seeds of religious crisis by imposing religious affiliation as a political requirement, we cannot predict the extent such would go. Is it not best to have a leader who will honestly serve the people rather than one who will serve only his religion with activities and policies pointing in a godless direction? Is it not best to have a governor who would sharpen our education and increase our economic integrity than having a governor who would deplete our treasury on religious patronage by purchasing private jets for pastors and imams?

    Lagosians must wake up at this stage and reject this ungodly virtue of religious patronage that seeks to submerge all principles of good governance under pseudo-spiritual nuances. The agitation for a governor of a particular faith is a saddening and remarkable indication of small intellect growing smaller. It is a descent into the Paleolithic Africa in which only spiritual solutions were sought to non-spiritual but purely politico-economic challenges. What has Christianity or Islam got to do with the primary selection of a governorship candidate on the platform of a political party that claims credentials in civilization and transformation capabilities to make Nigeria a desirable part of mother earth? Is it not infantile and primitive for us to be entertaining such sentiments and mentalities in this age and time? Let us engage in qualitative thinking please.

     

    •Akinsiju writes from Lagos

     

     

     

  • ‘Mu’azu good for party growth’

    ‘Mu’azu good for party growth’

    Amember of the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Chidi Nwosu has described the election of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as the new national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a square peg in a square hole.

    Speaking with The Nation in Umuahia, the lawmaker who represents Umuahia South, said that the crisis of the party which tended to tear it to shreds is now over with the election of the new national chairman.

    Nwosu appreciated the efforts of the leaders of the party in ensuring that the decisions and interest of the members of the party are not only looked into but carried out for the benefit of the party and posterity.

    He said that the party leaders have done very well in heeding the call for and ensuring that the former national chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur disembarked from the party as the national chairman without any rancour.

    The lawmaker said that there are sentiments in some areas in the party over the emergence of the new chairman, stressing that some people are seeing it that state governors are becoming very powerful in the scheme of things in the country.

    He said, “The trend of things in our country is bad, as governors are now becoming very strong and the election of Mu’azu who is an ex-governor shows that one can only become someone if you are a governor, just like the President who is an ex-governor and our national chairman”.

    Nwosu noted that that some people are not happy, “As it tends to portend the fact that only governors are in a position to assume important positions in the society, we have examples in our President, Vice President and now our national chairman who are ex-governors”.

    He said that the idea of former governors ascending important position is not bad, “Because it shows that most of them who are in such positions must have excelled in such positions and have integrity to make them occupy any position that may be entrusted on them after being governors”.

    The Abia lawmaker said that Mu’azu as a former governor and fourth ex-governor to become the national chairman of the party, “We believe that he will last longer than two years unlike those before him, as the constitution of the party stipulates four years tenure for our national chairman”.

    Nwosu regretted that the position of a national chairman of the PDP is becoming an albatross to all those who have occupied such position, where prominent people ascend only to have problems and will be forced out of office.

    He assured that the new national chairman will bring peace to the party, pointing out that those who had asked the former national chairman to leave are mainly governors and they are going to ensure that the right things are done in the party to sustain the peace in the party now.

    The lawmaker said that being a former governor that Mu’azu will use his links with the governors to bring back peace, stressing that the governors know what is happening in the party and that the new chairman will use his magic wand to bring the governors who left back to the party.

    Nwosu reasoned that Tukur who have been a governor over 30 years ago, “May have lost touch with the realities of the politics of modern day and what governance is all about, including losing contacts with both his former colleagues of the old and the new ones”.