http://injusticebusters.org/index.htm/dr-john-schneeberger.htm
E.R.R
Saturday, April 11, 2015
APC rejects Mass PDP Defectors “Stay where you are”:Lai Mohammed.. APC national chairman tells defecting politicians
Lai Mohammed the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), John Oyegun, condemned the huge number of defections currently taking place in the polity.
He said that it was not good for the nation’s development to have such level of exodus from the ruling party.
Oyegun spoke to newsmen in Benin shortly after casting his vote.
He said that rather than defecting, politicians should remain in their party to form a formidable opposition to enrich the nation’s democracy.
“Many opposition party members have defected to APC just because they lost out, that is not good for political development.
“One would have advised that opposition members should stay where they are, and form a formidable opposition party.” Mr. Oyegun said.
Meanwhile, Oyegun won the election in his polling unit – Oredo East: Ward 2, Unit 1.
Friday, April 10, 2015
APC Panicking Because Agbaje Will Win In Lagos – Fani-Kayode
Governorship Polls:
The People’s Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) yesterday said that President Goodluck Jonathan was still committed to conducting free, fair and credible election today.
In a statement yesterday by the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDPPCO, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the organisation said that allegations by the All Progressive Congress (APC) that President Jonathan planned to rig today’s governorship election in Lagos in favour of the candidate of the PDP, Jimi Agbaje were far from the truth.
Fani- Kayode claimed that the APC was just panicking because it knows that Agbaje will win the election. He stressed that this was the first time in 16 years that the APC together with the opposition was facing a formidable challenge from a governorship candidate of the PDP.
“Once again the APC has degenerated into a party of liars who have little or no shame. It is not true that the President has any rigging plan for Lagos and neither do we need any such plan because our party is very strong there.
“The problem that the APC has and the reason that they make such asinine and stupid allegations is because they actually believe that they own Lagos state and all those that live there.
“They are now in a state of panic because for the first time in 16 years they are facing a formidable challenge and they know that Jimi Agbaje of the PDP is likely to win. The truth is that there was no secret meeting in which rigging was planned by the President and neither is it true that materials were smuggled in to rig Lagos state.
“The only people that are interested in rigging and in milking any cash cows are the APC themselves and they can rest assured that we will resist them at all levels. We will not only keep them on their toes at the Federal level by being eternally vigilant but we will also provide them with the most aggressive, relentless, focused and assertive opposition that Nigeria has ever known.
“President Jonathan simply conceded defeat in the Presidential election but this does not in any way mean that we have lost our nerve and neither does it represent a capitulation of our convictions or a collapse of our firm resolve.
“We shall continue to assist in moving this great country forward and to contribute to public discourse and national affairs.
“Jonathan conceded defeat and congratulated General Buhari even though there were many question marks about the card readers, the role of INEC and the so-called votes that APC allegedly won in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna and in one or two others places in the north.
“The figures for the APC were inflated in those states whilst the votes that Jonathan scored were purposely suppressed and reduced in places like Abia and other parts of the east by INEC. This is the bitter truth even though many people are reluctant to say it or admit it.
“Till today, many of us are wondering what really happened to the INEC commissioner in Kano and whether it is true that he and his whole family were murdered after he privately expressed his misgivings and regrets about inflating the figures for the APC during the presidential elections.
“Rather than spitting in Jonathan’s face and rejecting his friendly handshake by accusing him of plotting to rig Lagos, the APC should keep their mouths shut and bury their heads in shame for what they and their friends in INEC did during the presidential election.
“President Jonathan chose that course and opted for a peaceful resolution only out of concern for the stability of our country and for the sake of the welfare and peace of Nigeria.
“If he had done anything else or if he had protested the results of the election many innocent people, including our members and supporters, would have been slaughtered like flies all over the north and everyone knows this.
“Despite our peaceful and law-abiding disposition the APC should not mistake our gentility, our willingness to overlook their criminal behaviour and our readiness to let bygones be bygones as weakness.
“The truth is that even with all the rigging that they did in the presidential elections they only defeated us by 2 million votes. Their candidate got 14 million votes whilst ours got 12 million.
“The more the APC makes baseless and absurd allegations against our President and our party, the more we shall question their so-called victory at the presidential election and expose the truth. They should enjoy their so-called victory at the federal level quietly and stop attempting to intimidate us, disturb our peace or label us as a party of riggers.
“They have also accused us of using ethnicity and religion in politics. This is absolute rubbish and it is a lie from the pit of hell. With what the Oba of Lagos said a few days ago we know which party is led by the ethnic and religious bigots in Nigerian politics and that party is not the PDP. It is the leadership of the APC and not the PDP that used religion and is still using religion in a shameful and provocative manner to garner votes and to win popular support in this country regardless of the dangerous consequences of doing so.
“We reject their sordid allegations and claims and we look forward to winning convincingly in Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Taraba and many other states in the April 11th elections.
Nigerians, It Is Time To Decide The Terms Of Our Coexistence!!
The Igbos are the wandering Jews of West Africa… gifted, aggressive, Westernised; at best envied and resented, but mostly despised by the mass of their neighbours in the federation – Henry Kessinger (famous American diplomat)
Back in the days, men made fortune out of war, war was business. But today, the Igbos are making fortune out of business, because business is the new war.
Before we talk about the plight of the Igbos in Nigeria, let us start by defining a word that has been frequently used by the Igbos to define their situation in the country, marginalisation!
According to a good number of dictionaries, to “marginalise” means “to treat someone or something as if they are unimportant.” It also means “to take or keep somebody away from the centre of action.” Another dictionary defined it as “relegating someone or a group of people to a lower or outer edge of a community or society.” For so long, the Igbos have bitterly cried out against apparent marginalisation by the Federal Goverment of Nigeria. There is almost a zero federal presence in the east, despite the fact that the eastern region is the most technologically advanced of all the regions. This suggests unequivocally that the Igbo-speaking Nigerians have been unjustly treated. There is a well calculated ploy by the powers that be from other ethnic nationalities to ensure that the Igbo region stays perennially underdeveloped.
According to a good number of dictionaries, to “marginalise” means “to treat someone or something as if they are unimportant.” It also means “to take or keep somebody away from the centre of action.” Another dictionary defined it as “relegating someone or a group of people to a lower or outer edge of a community or society.” For so long, the Igbos have bitterly cried out against apparent marginalisation by the Federal Goverment of Nigeria. There is almost a zero federal presence in the east, despite the fact that the eastern region is the most technologically advanced of all the regions. This suggests unequivocally that the Igbo-speaking Nigerians have been unjustly treated. There is a well calculated ploy by the powers that be from other ethnic nationalities to ensure that the Igbo region stays perennially underdeveloped.
What the Igbos are going through can be traced to none other than Yakubu Gowon. Gowon should explain why a people who were by far the dominant majority ethnic group were suddenly relegated to only one out of the three states created by him in the old Eastern region. Why alter demography just to make the Igbos a minority in a region where they were the majority? Since then, the Igbos haven’t been able to get this injustice reversed and till date, they have seen more states and local governments created in other regions across the country. Nigerian historians are unanimous that the 1963 census remains the most transparent in the country till date. The 1963 census stated that one out of every four Nigerians was an Igbo, which means that if things were done equitably in this country, the Igbos should have a 25 per cent representation in all federal institutions as well as a 25 per cent share of all states and local governments created since independence.
We must tell ourselves the truth and stop living in denial. Nigeria as it stands today is sitting on a keg of gun powder and if we must stay together as a country, we have to sit down and discuss the terms and conditions of our coexistence. No section of the country should be treated better than others. I have heard some northerners mutter several times that power belongs to them. “Born to rule,” the old Sokoto State slogan is a clear confirmation of what has been psyched into the system of every northerner. And they keep saying “One Nigeria?” Isn’t it obvious that the northerners are more Nigerians than other Nigerians? That’s why they could openly threaten the nation with violence like they did in the just concluded presidential election. It was peddled about that if Buhari had lost the election, there would have been trouble in the country and as a result, a lot of people voted against their wishes especially in the north. So many issues need to be addressed in this country. For example, how do you explain why Arabic is on the naira when the official language of the country is English? How do you explain why an Hausa man is allowed to carry daggers freely when others get arrested for carrying a razor blade?
Please, can someone explain to me who the real Hausas are? I have travelled to virtually all the northern states and in most of the states, the people I met claimed not to be Hausas but from other tribes. According to them, that they spoke fluent Hausa doesn’t mean they are Hausas. Nancy who’s from Kaduna always makes it known to whoever cares to listen that she’s not Hausa but Zango Kataf. My guitarist who’s from Nasarawa State grumbles whenever I call him an Hausa man. Amina, my Fulani neighbour screams and curses whenever I call her an Hausa lady. So who then are the real Hausas? What states are they occupying? Stop using politics to bamboozle me that Hausa is a majority. Stop using politics to lump Hausa and Fulani together because you want me to think you are highly populated. In the just concluded presidential election, Katsina State had over two million eligible voters, I have been to Katsina several times and I can’t remember ever seeing so many people there. How did they come about the figures in the presidential election? May God save this country from desperate politicians because it doesn’t make any sense politicising the population of the North when we see otherwise each time we travel there. It is in the same light they claimed Kano was more populated than Lagos in the census conducted during Obasanjo’s regime. We are tired of these lies. If we must remain an indivisible country, the true population of the Hausas, Igbos and Yorubas and every other ethnic group in this country must be made public as well as the number of Christians and Muslims. Enough of the Hausa-Fulani scam or the Zango Kataf man being counted as Hausa.
Finally, the fact that other ethnic groups see the marginalisation of the Igbos as relative or just a perception and not based on the objective realities on ground is a shame. The Nigerian army today cannot produce a bullet but the boys in Awka are producing not only bullets but guns. An unbiased Federal Government would have taken advantage of that and create employment as well as exporting to generate money for the country. With a little government encouragement, Aba can easily rival the industralised nations of the world in production. If Ndigbo won’t be allowed to enjoy the freedom, to develop and maximise their collective and individual potential through unfettered access, use and exploitation of God-given resources – human and material, the country might soon be plunged into another years of Biafra vs Nigeria and this time around, there will be a victor and a vanquished.
Meet Akinwunmi Ambode, The Incoming Governor of Lagos State
If competence and experience will count on Saturday April 11 2015 governorship elections in Lagos State, if pedigree counts, if attitude counts, if character counts, if honour counts, if excellence counts, if training, capacity, capability count, Akinwunmi Ambode is the incoming governor of Lagos State.
Incoming governor Akinwunmi Ambode must be a lucky man to enter the centre stage at this critical point in the nation’s history. For close to 36years Lagos has never fully connected with the centre in a civilian dispensation being a progressive state and home of progressives. For close to 36years Lagos has been allowed by the powers that be at the centre to rot and pine away in hopelessness and helplessness. The special status promise guaranteed by the late General Murtala Mohammed never saw the light of the day even till date.
All the states created with Lagos in 1967 have been split to two, three or four states with only Lagos remaining one state. In the attempt to bring development to the door steps of the people of Lagos State former governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu created more 37 local governments from the existing 20 LGAs in Lagos but the government at the centre refused to recognize the 37 local governments till date. Lagos named these 37 local governments Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs. Whatever was given to the recognized 20 local government has always been shared among the 57. With more than 25 million people, Lagos has been finding it difficult to cope with its challenges without support from the centre. To add salt to injury Lagos has been rebuilding the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, a federal road without support from the Federal Government. A light rail project from Okokomaiko to Marina has been going on without the support of the Federal Government. All over the world, no state government has carried out such a project without the support of the central government.
Now you can imagine how lucky Ambode is to come on board at a time when an All Progressives Congress, APC will control both Abuja and Lagos. The PDP controlled Federal Government which will end in May 29 2015 has helped in no certain terms to humiliate and decimate the opposition in the past 16years. Thank God this error of history will end very soon. It is indeed a new dawn for Ambode’s Lagos. This is the very important reason why Lagos must remain in the hands of APC. This is the reason why Lagosians must usher in Ambode with more than three million votes on Saturday April 11 2015. We cannot struggle for 36years to install a government at the centre only to let Lagos go to PDP. It will never happen, and Lagosians must know this truth, before they go to the polls.
Lagosians want President Buhari to help them to convert the 37 LCDAs to recognized Local Government Areas. Lagosians want President Buhari to help to recognize the special status promised by the late Murtala Mohammed almost four decades ago. Lagosians want Abuja to help them to build the fourth Mainland Bridge up to Ikorodu division. Lagosians want help from Abuja to complete the Lagos-Badagry expressway which is a Federal road. Lagosians cannot afford to throw these gains away by voting PDP. The problems and challenges facing Lagos are far too enormous and monumental that we have to put the state in the hands of an apprentice who knows nothing in matters of governance and public administration.
Jimi Agbaje of PDP has no experience at all in matters of governance when compared with Mr Akinwunmi Ambode who possess 27 years cognate experience in public administration spanning from the local government to the state level, and leaving the service as the State Accountant General. I am told that competence and experience guarantee performance. Lagos is too important to be left in the hands of learners and meretricious mediocrity. Some people say they need change in Lagos and I ask, is Jimi Agbaje of PDP, (a dying Party) the change that we need? What is he going to bring to the table? What does he know about governance of a complex State like Lagos? Is Lagos a laboratory for experiments by learners? Can we use a shoe for hammers? How can Lagosians vote in a man who has never been a Councilor, a Local Government Chairman, a Commissioner, a Permanent Secretary, Senator, House of Rep Member, Minister, Special Adviser to Governor or President, Ambassador as governor of Lagos? Everybody wants to lead, but at what cost? A careless leadership can result in a major loses everywhere.
APC has walked a long road, faced many challenges, walked through the mines, and scaled many walls to get to where we are today and we cannot experiment with Lagos. Akinwunmi Abode knows Lagos at his finger tips. He has worked in Badagry, Mushin, Alimosho and Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Governments. He has worked with the Lagos Waste Disposal Board, LSWDB. He has been an Auditor-General for local governments at the age of 37, a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and retired as the Accountant General of the State. He is a Fellow of Institute of Chattered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, a Master Degree holder in Finance Management. He has attended many professional training in leadership in Harvard Business School, Cranfield University UK, Wharton Business Philadelphia, USA, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Massachusetts, IMF and the World Boston etc.
Abuja has never been lucky in the department of leadership but Lagos has been lucky. Akinwunmi Ambode will continue to build on the legacies of His Excellencies Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola. He worked with both superstars and he understands the way to the destination.
Welcome Governor Ambode of Lagos State!
Joe Igbokwe
Lagos
PETER OBI PLANS TO DEFECT TO APC, CONSULTS WITH SENATOR CHRIS NGIGE
Senator Chris Ngige ..stated that Peter Obi is a very dangerous man who should be avoided by every well meaning Igbo son.This Man stole Anambra dry, .. Ngige disclosed to our source that Peter Obi dealt mercilessly with him. "He refused to pay all my entitlements as Governor of Anambra State despite court judgements in my favour. He refused to include my name/picture among the pictures of past Governors of Anambra state despite the truth that I governed the State for 3 years with records he found difficult to beat in his 8years of smooth governance.
So this story is actually Peter Obi's traducers pitching for Chris Ngige.
Ngige should know that he rigged election to become governor and a court forced him out of office. So he did not govern Anambara state and not entitled for any pay. In fact, he should refund all the money he collected as illegal governor. The same thing applies to Emanuel Uba who also rigged election and was later kicked out by a court.
Peter Obi will be the last man to join APC when he has bright future in possible APGA/PDP merger.
He should stay where he is and engineer union of PDP and other regional parties from middle belt to Southern Nigeria. GEJ 's constituents are huge and should be embraced and organized into effective force to retake power from Buhari.
PDP should take a leaf from scripts Buhari, APC and bokoharam wrote on how to grab power. They started their plot from day-one when GEJ took over from dead Yaradua and never stopped in the multi year struggle until they oust GEJ. Same way, Peter Obi, PDP, APGA and other smaller parties should team up and kick off their fight with Buhari/APC on May 29th, 2015 until the geriatric crook is kicked out. People should not be afraid of Buhari and APC because Nigeria is in democracy. The government cannot arrest anybody for corruption without concrete evidence and proof in court of law. It is clear that APC and Buhari are trying to use intimidation and scare tactics about unproven allegations of corruption to chase Nigerians away and then loot the treasury as they want. Buhari himself has certificate forgery case in court that is due up in 4/22/2015. PDP should pursue this case and use it to oust the illegal and illiterate religious bigot.
PDP and Peter Obi have very good chance to win presidential election in 2019, that is if Buhari is not removed by court or impeached before then.
South African woman arrested at MMIA with N74m hidden in Oats packs
A 39-year-old South African woman was intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, with $373,725 (N74.4million) and €2,120 (N450,000) concealed inside packs of oats, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has said.
In a statement Thursday, the agency said the money was detected during an inward screening of passengers on a South African airline flight from Johannesburg.
Two Nigerians are also being investigated by the anti-narcotic agency in connection with the case.
Hamza Umar, the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, identified the lady as Nosisi Nqgula.
“The mode of concealment presents reasonable grounds for money laundering,” Mr. Umar said. “Five packs of oats were found to contain $373,725 and €2,120. Two Nigerians, Damian Akamelus and Prophet Cyprian Chigere are also being interrogated in connection with the seized money.”
Victoria Egbase, NDLEA Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, said the refusal of the South African to declare the money and the manner of concealment were criminal and that the case was being investigated to establish possible link with drug trafficking.
The suspect, Ms. Nqgula, who works in a cosmetic shop, said the bag containing the money was given to her by a Nigerian in South Africa.
“I live in Johannesburg, South Africa,” Ms. Nqgula said in her statement. “I was given a bag by a Nigerian to deliver to one Damian Akamelu. During examination of my bags at the Lagos airport, the money was found inside packs of oats.”
Ahmadu Giade, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, who commended the officers for detecting the money, ordered that the case be investigated to determine the source of the money.
“One of the mandates of the agency is to identify, trace, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from drug-related offences or property whose value corresponds to such proceeds,” said Mr. Giade. “I have therefore directed that the case be investigated to ascertain the source of the money.”
The investigation report is expected to be presented to Mr. Giade for necessary action.
Meanwhile, officials of the South Africa Embassy are said to be in touch with the suspect.
Defence Chief rules out military coup in Nigeria
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Alex Badeh, has ruled out the possibility of a military coup as Nigeria transits from the current administration to another, saying the era of military takeover of governance in the country is gone for good.
Air Chief Marshal Badeh spoke on Thursday while receiving members of the National Peace Committee for the 2015 general elections. He stressed that the Nigerian military is resolved to continuously respecting democratic institutions in the country.
The CDS, who noted “The era of military rule is gone forever in this country. In fact if there was military rule I am not sure if I could have been here,” said, “We are the armed forces of Nigeria and not that of any political party and will be subordinate to the constituted authorities.”
He added that the military leadership is a product of democratic governance and would not embark on activities that could jeopardize Nigeria’s electoral process.
“I remember when we asked for more time to embark on what we are doing but there was a lot of misgiving. But we are happy that we are able to ensure that some exercise their choice of who to govern them. Even though we did not achieve 100 per cent, but we are able to secure the major ones,” he said.
Badeh went on to assure Nigerians that the military will remain non-partisan in executing its responsibilities during the governorship and state assembly elections on Saturday.
Speaking during the visit, former military head of state and leader of the national peace committee, Abdulsalami Abubakar, commended the military for providing adequate security which helped in ensuring free, fair and violence-free elections.
He equally applauded members of the armed forces for liberating most communities in the North East hitherto occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.
A member of the committee, Ibrahim Gambari, equally commended the military for its professionalism during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and called for improvement during the forthcoming gubernatorial election.
While noting that the military has been instrumental in enforcing peace in other countries including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, he said, “So you have distinguished yourself and proved your professionalism and all we ask is for you to enhance that in the forthcoming elections. We also commend you by ensuring that the people in the North East have the rights to exercise their franchise and we want you to ensure that the job is finished.”
THE 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS. BY JAYE GASKIA: 09/04/2015
Let me begin with a few introductory explanations. The
tittle of this piece was deliberately borrowed from the tittle of Leon
Trotsky’s piece on the 1905 Revolution in Russia in which he was a major
dramatis personae, getting elected as the President of the Petrogad [St
Petersburg] Soviet by the workers’ delegates at the peak of that uprising which
became a revolution.
Trotsky, along with the major leadership of the Russian and
Global Revolutionary Socialist Movement had understood the revolutionary
significance of that 1905 popular uprising of the Russian people, and had
characterized it as a significant Political, but bourgeois democratic [that is
capitalist ruling class] revolution. The reasons were obvious; it not only
shook the Russian Monarchy and feudal system to its very foundation, it marked
the ascendancy of the Russian bourgeois capitalist elite and inaugurated the
foundations of democratic representative government which shared some powers
with the Sovereign – the Czar/Emperor.
More fundamentally that revolution marked the collapse of
the old national consensus among the ruling classes and inaugurated a new
process of renegotiation of the fundamental terms of a new national governing
and ruling consensus.
Similarly, in their historic nature, both the January
Uprising of 2012 and the process and outcome of the 2015 general elections
marked different moments – inaugural and concluding moments, of a Political,
bourgeois democratic revolution in Nigeria. It is for this reason that I have
borrowed Trotsky’s tittle for 1905.
Let me explain further. Many adjectives have been used to
describe the 2015 general elections process and its outcome [which by the way
is still a work in progress]. And all of these adjectives are probably correct,
but they do signify certain fundamental processes.
These elections and its unfolding outcome is significant in
many respects. It is Historic and Momentous, for a number of reasons and
because of a number of factors; factors which helped to shape the outcome.
In the first instance it marks the very first time in the
history of this country that an incumbent president seeking re-election would
be defeated in an election; in the second instance, and following from the
first, it marks the first time that a ruling party at the federal level would
be defeated in a general election by an opposition party; in the third
instance, and deriving from the second, it marks the first time that Nigerians
through a general election will oust a non performing federal government and cause
a change in the federal government to the extent that it will now be
constituted and superintended by a different political party, which was
hitherto the opposition party; and in the fourth instance, it also marks the
first time that votes will significantly count in a general election, arising
from a process that significantly whittles down the chances of electoral fraud
and is largely seen and perceived to be transparent and credible, and producing
an outcome that is largely accepted as largely reflecting the real will of the
electorates.
Why are all these four interrelated processes of historic
significance? Why do they matter? Because all the four aforementioned processes
combine to radically upscale and inculcate popular self-confidence of the
masses in their ability to change a government.
The historic importance of this reinforcement of popular
self-confidence to alter the character of power cannot be over emphasized. The
impact of this is that citizens now know that within the ambit of the choices
available to them, they send a non-performing, unresponsive government and
regime packing, and replace it with another one. The implication of this is
that the business of governing can no longer be conducted in the old ways; it
can no longer be business as usual.
Furthermore the emergence of an opposition party strong
enough to mobilise a movement for change; occurring simultaneously with the
unraveling and implosion of the ruling party which had hitherto been the
institutional manifestation of the old national ruling class consensus; the
success of the citizen driven electoral reform process; and the outcome of the elections represent
the breakdown of the old National Consensus among the ruling class fractions,
and marks the consolidation of the process of negotiating a new national ruling
class consensus.
It is this dialectical interaction between breakdown and
reconstitution of national ruling class consensus that underlies the bourgeois
democratic revolution character of the 2015 general elections, and that qualifies
it as a political revolution.
It is this same bourgeois democratic revolution character,
this breakdown and reconstitution moment that makes this an opportunity for the
popular masses, an opportunity to deepen the revolutionary character of the process,
an opportunity to build on the renewed popular confidence of citizens to
explore the possibility of exploiting the uncertainties of the present
situation to deepen the ferment and perhaps move towards the conversion of the
revolution from a political revolution to a social revolution.
Now that the ruling class fractions are in a state of
turmoil and frantically seeking to renegotiate a new national ruling consensus
amongst themselves, our duty and our task is to raise our own popular demands,
to capitalize on the renewed popular confidence to make social demands on the
ruling class and its new incoming government.
This is the time to raise the demand for the reconstitution
of the state as a developmental state, and for the establishment of a welfare state.
Our overriding minimum demand must be for the institution of a universal,
accessible social security system; such that as the renegotiation process is
taking place the demands and interests of the popular masses will be taken into
consideration and form part of the new national consensus.
Given the heightened levels of expectations surrounding the
emergence of this new govern in waiting, given the grave nature of the national
and global economic crisis compounded in our own case by unprecedented levels
of treasury looting and depletion of national wealth, it will be most likely
that the incoming government may soon be faced with a monumental crisis of
unmet and unrealizable expectations. The implication of these is that there are
many potential uprisings lurking in the corners along the way over the next
four years.
This general context and scenario then presents an
opportunity for the popular mass movement to deepen the ferment, and push the
boundaries of the political revolution to its elastic limit, thrusting the
process towards supplanting the political revolution with a social revolution.
To accomplish this we need to build a mass political platform to the left of
the incoming APC government. The fact that the opposition is now in power
should provide us with a context within which to build a new opposition.
To conclude, a few last lines. And this is to the APC and
its incoming government. What does change really mean for the APC? What is the
APC’s assessment of the Nigerian crises? What are the 4 or 5 areas of focus
that its government will prioritise in addressing and resolving the Nigerian
crisis? What In concrete terms will the APC government do to transform the
power and energy situation over the next four years? How many MWs will it add
to the power generation capacity annually over the next four years? What
concrete steps will it undertake to improve the transmission capacity of the
national grid, particularly given that any given time the transmission capacity
of a national grid should be much more than the total generation capacity for
electricity? How will it resolve this disconnect between power generation and
power transmission?
How does the APC government intend to deal with youth
unemployment? While addressing critical questions of inclusive and diversified
economic growth and rehabilitation and building of basic infrastructure to
service the economy?
What Nigerians want from the APC now is fairly fleshed out
document detailing its alternative policy proposals, and outlining its Four
year National Development Plan for the country. We have had enough of the
vagueness of change. Now is the time to give us a picture of this change.
And for the PDP, apart from the factors listed at the
beginning, why did it lose? Well at the inception of the PDP regime in 1999,
poverty rate was 54% in 2001, and hovered around 68% in 2015; And this in the
midst of unprecedented economic growth and high levels of earned revenue.
Or take unemployment; official unemployment rate was 8% in
2003 and had risen to 24% by 2015, with youth unemployment skyrocketing to 40%
according to NBS and 80% according to CBN by 2015.
And whereas economic growth rate averaged about 8% in the
early 2000s, by 2015 it was hovering between 5% and 6% per annum.
Take education, of the 57 million out of school children
globally, 11 million were Nigerian children by 2013, the second highest such
concentration after Pakistan.
Or health, where by 2015, according to official figures, 37%
of Nigerian children under five years are malnourished.
Add to these mix unprecedented levels on insecurity, as well
as high cost of living, then it becomes clear that the reasons why PDP lost and
APC won had nothing to do with the so-called ethnic gang up now being
postulated by those unwilling to face reality. Instead the reasons had plenty
to do with the abject conditions of living of Nigerians. The reasons are rooted
in class exploitation and its outcome, not in ethnic solidarity and alliances.
WHO IS WHO SOKOTO 2015.
Do u know that the 2015 Gubernatorial election in Sokoto State would be the most interesting in Nigeria?????
-Hon. Tanbuwal of APC is contesting against Ambassador Wali of the PDP.
-Hon. Tanbuwal and Amb. Wali are from the same LGA in Sokoto.
-Hon. Tanbuwal is married to the younger sister of Amb. Wali (same father, same mother)
-When Amb. Wali was made Senate Leader in 1999, he brought Tanbuwal to Abuja as his Special Legislative Assistant.
-In 2003, Amb. Wali practically sponsored the election that brought Hon. Tanbuwal into the House of Rep.
-When Hon. Tanbuwal became the Speaker of the HoR, he used his position to influence the appointment of Amb. Wali as Nigeria's ambassador to Morrocco. Country people, abeg who Mrs Tanbuwal go vote for???
Husband or Brother?? She would either be a FIRST
LADY or FIRST SISTER.
•
COMR. KASSIM A. GAMAWA•
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