Tag: tinubu

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recorded a major breakthrough yesterday with an assurance from Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State that he had started inviting like-minds in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the APC.

Nyako made this disclosure at the Government House in Yola, Adamawa State yesterday, where he received some leaders of the APC who were in the state to persuade him to join their party.

Nyako is one of the seven PDP governors who recently left the PDP to form the New PDP.

Reacting to an address by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who spoke for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Bisi Akande and other APC leaders in the delegation, Nyako said a situation where the culture of impunity had come to stay in the PDP would make it easy for most members of the party to join the APC as a better alternative to save Nigeria from the abyss.

“As far as I am concerned, I have already distributed kola nuts to the entire Fulani nation and like-minds in PDP to leave enmass to the APC,” he said.

He added that at the right time, he himself would lead a large movement into the APC.

Earlier, there had been jubilation in Yola, the state capital, as the visiting APC leaders reconciled Governor Nyako, Gen. Buba Marwa and the ACN governorship candidate in the last governorship election in the state, Engr Marcus Gundiri.

The three notable politicians, who had battled for the governorship seat of Adamawa State, which was won by Nyako in the 2011 elections, were all smiles as they were brought together by the APC leaders.

It was an emotional scene as the political gladiators embraced one another after they were addressed by Tinubu, who spoke for the other APC leaders, at the banquet Hall of the Government House in Yola.

Political observers in the state beheld an unusual scene as Nyako, Marwa and Gundiri exchanged banter.

Tinubu, who spoke for the other APC leaders, described the APC as a family that is determined to make Nigerians happy.

He urged Governor Nyako to join the APC and remain the true father of all in the state, adding that the APC was determined to place Nigerians in better conditions from 2015 as against the prevailing lacklustre leadership at the centre.

“I’m hopeful that Admiral Nyako and his G7 will join the party and help clean up the mess cursed by corruption and bad governance in Nigeria for so long, for our children and grandchildren,’’ Tinubu said.

He thanked the people of Adamawa State for turning out in large numbers to welcome him, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and other APC leaders to the state.

Also speaking, the Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, thanked the governor for showing interest in the APC and making it possible for the party to continue to grow since the crisis in the PDP started.

On his part, Gen. Buhari said the APC was earnestly selling its values to Nigerians, “and the struggle is not for us but for our generations yet unborn. We cannot afford to leave the country but stay to salvage it together.“

Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has called for more investment in the medical sector to ensure the early detention and treatment of cancer.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader was reacting to the death of former Chief of General Staff (CGS) under the Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar government and a former governor of Ondo and Lagos states, Vice Admiral Okhai Mike Akhigbe of cancer on Monday in New York, the United States.

In a condolence letter to the Akhigbe family, Tinubu described the death of the former CGS as a shock.

He noted that an early detection of cancer might have averted his death.

Tinubu said: “I call on the Federal Government to heavily invest in state-of-the-heart medical facilities in local hospitals, especially in the area of diagnosis and detention, so that this disease can be early detected and treated before it becomes life-threatening.

“We owe that much to the memory of Vice Admiral Akhigbe.”

The frontline politician paid tribute to Akhigbe, saying the late CGS was among a patriotic corps of Nigerian military officers, who assisted in the birth of the current democracy.

Asiwaju Tinubu said the late Naval officer, with the others in their group, earned Nigerians’ gratitude for reclaiming the honour of the military and delivering democracy to the country.

He urged the family to be consoled that the late Akhigbe handled whatever national assignment he was given to the best of his ability, including military postings as governor of two states and service as the country’s No. 2 citizen.

“We must leave everything to God. He created the late Admiral, and loved him more than all of us combined. If he has now called him to His side, we must all rejoice in total submission to His will and wisdom,” Asiwaju Tinubu said.

The APC leader urged the family to take heart and be consoled.

“Please, take heart. I pray for God’s protection for the entire family he left behind,” he wrote.

“On behalf of myself, my wife and our family, I condole with you on this irreplaceable loss,” he added.

All Progressives Congress (APC) Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday said a Nigeria where citizens will be safe, where people will enjoy uninterrupted power supply and a functional health care delivery system is a distant dream.

Tinubu said Nigeria had the potential to be categorised among developed nations, but its capabilities have been retarded by “bad and unthinking leadership at the centre”.

He spoke in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos, at the public presentation of the Nigeria of My Dream, a book written by APC chieftain and Babaladura (spiritual head) of the Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria, Asiwaju Olorunfunmi Basorun, to mark his (Basorun’s) 75th birthday.

Tinubu, who was represented by former Health Commissioner Leke Pitan, said to have good infrastructure and ensure the security of life and property, Nigeria needs leaders with strong will and character in key places, who will work selflessly for the people.

Describing Basorun as the best secretary Lagos State has ever had, the former governor said the celebrator’s experience as a politician and an administrator was useful to the country.

He said: “At 75, Babaladura still shows the agility of a 35-year-old. He is a consummate public servant, a passionate politician and a well-respected party leader, who practicses what he preaches. Basorun wrote the book to facilitate the emergence of a nation the coming generation would be proud of. The content of this book will not adorn book shelves, but find abode in the minds of millions of people.”

Tinubu urged the Basorun to continue serving the people.

The Special Guest of Honour, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, said the occasion should not be seen as another political gathering but one marking more than three decades of Basorun’s selfless service to the people.

Fashola was represented by Mr. Musiliu Folami.

Reviewing the seven-section book, the Deputy Political Editor, Daily Independent, Habib Aruna, said Basorun believes pragmatic ideas were needed to govern a heterogeneous society, such as Nigeria.

He said: “Against the dream of Asiwaju Basorun, Nigeria is at the crossroad and the book is being launch at a time the country is reviewing its existence and unity through a national dialogue conceived in search of unity and peace. Through his participation in the past national conference, the thoroughness of Asiwaju Basorun and his good presentation of ideas are noteworthy.”

Aruna said youths had the likes of Basorun to look up to for direction in politics and spiritualism.

Basorun said he believed in a Nigeria devoid of strife and bad leadership. Advising members of the National Dialogue Committee not to do the bidding of “people that do not mean well for the country”, he said if the committee must succeed in its assignment, it must not believe that there are no-go areas in making the nation a true federalist state.

Chairman of the occasion Mr. H.O.B. Lawal said Basorun had been part of Nigeria for decades.

The event, which was held at the Light House Events Centre in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, featured a lecture by Dr. Omotunde Ogunlaja on Longevity: Living Longer and Staying Healthy.

Also at the event were Lagos APC Chairman Chief Henry Ajomale; former Lagos Deputy Governor Abiodun Ogunleye; the former lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Olorunnimbe Mamora; former Lagos Speaker Jokotola Pelumi, Cardinal James Odunmbaku and Alhaji Mutiu Are.

Also present were Mrs. Kemi Nelson; Mr. Busura Alebiuosu; Pa Abiodun Sunmola; Mr. Akanni Seriki; Mr. Rabiu Oluwa; Mr. Tony Adefuye; Mr. M.A Taiwo; Mr. Kaoli Olusanya; the Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, Oba Ola Fatola and the Olu of Afowowa Sogade, Oba Olatunji Hamzat.

The rest are House of Representatives members Mrs. Abike Dabiri and Alhaji Yakub Balogun; Mr. Sinai Agunbiade; Adebimpe Akinsola; Mr. Ayo Elesho; Mrs. Folake Sokunbi; Mr. Murphy Adetoro; Mr. Jide Akinloye; Mr. Salisu Alogba; Mr. Ganiyu Badmus and Mr. Femi Oduwole, among others.

FORMER Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria needs to chart a new path in its politics, economy, education and infrastructural development to avoid rising levels of poverty and political discontent.

Tinubu spoke yesterday in Lagos on major national issues at the 70th anniversary business lecture of the Island Club.

He said: “We live in a fast-paced world, but Nigeria is only crawling. In front of us, progressive development moves quicker than us. With each day, the distance between development and us increases. Behind us, calamity moves fast, gaining ground on us. With each day, it comes nearer and near to us.”

Tinubu noted that Nigeria’s overdependence on oil and the neglect of agriculture have placed the country in a precarious level of growth and development.

He said: “I shudder to think of the state of the nation in years to come, if we continue in this limp fashion. Those now in government take false solace in the belief that Nigeria is a land of happy, care-free people, who will somehow manage to eke a living, no matter how badly governed we might be. Those in governance had better looked again. Whatever happiness we had was borne out of fantasy or of faith and patience that a better day would come.”

The former governor cited the World Bank in its 2013 report on unemployment in Nigeria.

The global bank said the nation’s unemployment rate was 22 per cent while youth unemployment rate was 38 per cent.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader was represented by Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

Tinubu said: “Nigeria today has no business parading the kind of burgeoning unemployment figures we read about. Nigeria has no business battling with the provision of stable electricity, what with its reserves of natural gas and the billions sunk into the sector. Nigeria has no business battling to provide good roads, mass transportation and efficient health services when its annual earnings of about $57 billion from oil revenues are put into consideration.’’

On the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said: “The most troubling aspect of the current state of the union is that we lack inspirational national leadership. The country is adrift on a dark ocean with no clue about how to get to a safe harbour. The people have lost faith that the government is capable of solving the problems affecting them. The people see the government more as a burden than benefit, more as overlord than a servant.

“The ruling party caused this. Most of its politicians are not interested in progress; they live to maintain power. Thus, they invest their efforts in gaining and keeping influence. They care little about solving public problems as they devote scant time to it.”

The frontline politician accused most of those at the centre of extravagant lifestyles and wasteful spending.

He said: “They wash their feet in champagne. Meanwhile, too many people struggle to find clean water to soak their garri.”

The APC leader urged Nigerian leaders to diversify our economy, improve the manufacturing sector and boost energy production.

“Then, we can start to move in the right direction of growth and development. We can start to build a more promising future or tomorrow, if we pay attention to the critical issues that assail us and reset our priorities as leaders and as followers.

“Agriculture holds the key to our future and the answer to swelling unemployment numbers. Let us make agriculture and oil production the twin engines of our development,” Tinubu said.

He quoted statistics to show that Nigeria was lagging behind in the critical areas of good governance and economic growth.

According to him, poverty is ravaging the lives of millions of Nigerians.

The former governor also cited the 2013 African Economic Outlook report by African Development Bank (AfDB), which showed that poverty in Nigeria had worsened since 1996 and through 14 years of the PDP rule.

He faulted the efforts of the Goodluck Jonathan government at combating poverty.

Tinubu said: “While the officially reported growth rates of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceed population growth in the country, the pace of poverty reduction does not. This implies that the number of poor Nigerians living below the poverty line has grown measurably.

On the proposed National Conference by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, he said: “For years, the idea of a national dialogue has been bruited. The government has always slapped the notion away. Now, devoid of ideas and with its back to the wall of poor performance, the current government grabs at the notion much like a drowning man does to a life vest.

Yes, we need to talk. I remain an ardent supporter of the call for a national conference that is sovereign and truly open to all. That is the only route out of the woods.

“We must bring Nigeria back on the path of true federalism. A staged-managed affair scripted and monitored to achieve the narrow political aims of narrow political minds in Abuja will do nothing but whet confusion’s appetite. Anything short of a Sovereign National Conference will be like trying to apply a bandage to a tornado.

“So, soon after calling forth this event, we have seen the deceptive, unsure steps of the government. Many of those who attacked my position in questioning the sincerity of the government are now retreating from the Jonathan conference. All I ask is that you watch not with blind hope but with a watchful eye. I believe you will come to see this as the dark alley that I see.”