The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), AtikuAbubakar, has given himself a head start in the race for the presidential villa. Among the contenders for the plum job, he has been to more states in the country for political rallies. LEON USIGBE writes on some of his messages to voters that gather to hear him out.
“Atiku is coming.” This is the message that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), AtikuAbubakar, is selling to Nigerians that gather to hear him out in his ongoing presidential campaign rallies across the country. He frames it as a message of hope to citizens who he thinks have been pauperised and damaged by harsh times under the nearly eight years of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He tells the crowds to look back to the 16 years of PDP, eight of which he was the vice-president of the country, during which time, he likes to say, Nigeria witnessed unprecedented growth and prosperity that have now been washed away by the incompetence of the governing party.
“It has become fashionable for the APC-led government to blame the opposition and external factors for Nigeria’s economic woes. The evidence, however, is overwhelming that the country’s under-performance is largely attributable to leadership failures in the management of the state. The APC-led government lacks the critical competencies to initiate and implement innovative solutions to our problems and deliver on their mandate with the desired impact,” he points out in his “Covenant with Nigerians,” the document that contains his plans and means to implement them.
Therefore, his coming, if elected in next year’s election, will be to reset the country. The reset being both an acronym and literal meaning of what he intends to do to rescue Nigeria. The acronym stands thus: R – Reunification; E – Economy; S – Security; E – Education and T – True Federalism.
With this, the former vice-president is approaching his current bid for power from the point of view of a nation that is broken economically, sociologically, fractionalised and in dire need of a rescuer and unifier.
Atiku maintains in the covenant that “Nigeria’s unity has never been threatened like now,” noting: “Today, an increasing number of Nigerian citizens openly challenge their allegiance to Nigeria’s corporate existence through violent agitations and misguided demands for ethno-regional autonomy because of widespread feelings of marginalisation and neglect.
“Nigeria has never been so overwhelmed by insecurity in all parts of the country. Sadly, we have reached a point where the functions of the state have been usurped by separatists, bandits, insurgents, and terrorists. Despite her vast resources, Nigeria has remained one of the poorest and unequal countries in the world. Our economy is fragile and vulnerable. Job losses, eroding incomes and lack of citizens’ access to basic amenities have pushed more than 90 million people below the poverty line.”
Also informing his core messaging to voters is the fact that “Nigeria has continued to operate a faulty, complex federal structure with a high degree of centralisation at the centre. The Federal Government has succeeded in accumulating many responsibilities which belong to the other [weaker] levels of government. The Federal Government appropriates, along with these responsibilities, huge resources to the detriment of the states and local governments.”
So, he has found himself telling voters at every stage of his rallies that they have another opportunity to ensure the emergence of an experienced, courageous, and result-focused leader such as himself to find a way through the country’s tough situation and make a positive difference.
Yet, his presidential campaign has been the target of hoodlums who his party suspects are agents of a jittery APC. The campaign trail has been attacked in Kaduna, Borno, and Gombe, all of which are APC-controlled states. Reports of such attacks had caused the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General BabaganaMonguno (retd) to issue a dire warning to perpetrators to refrain or face the full wrath of the law. Buoyed by the prospect of reining in the assailants and the reassurance from the NSA, Atiku has continued his nationwide campaign tour combining general and targeted messaging specific to areas visited.
In Gombe at his North-East campaign for instance, he drew analogy between himself and the late former Prime Minister of the of Nigeria, AbubakarTafawaBalewa, who was the only elected Nigerian political leader from the zone and said he could step into the shoes of the First Republic leader if elected the president. “When Sir AbubakarTafawaBalewa was the Prime Minister, most of you were not born. Don’t you want another TafawaBalewa in the North-East? This can only be actualised by voting PDP and here I am, the one that will give you the opportunity to produce another TafawaBalewa,” he told the teeming party faithful.
In Osogbo, Osun State, Atiku told the people that the election of Governor AdemolaAdeleke would be more meaningful if PDP is voted at the centre. Hear him: “I believe by returning PDP to power, you will strengthen this authority by voting PDP in the next general election because a Federal Government controlled by PDP and a state government controlled by PDP in Osun State is to the greater good of Osun people. And our only objective is to make sure that the current challenges of insecurity, disunity, economic deprivation, lack of jobs for our young men and women and the future of this country through restructuring can be achieved.
“This I promise you I am going to start doing them from day one. It means empowering Osun State with more resources and authority with what is needed to be done, to provide the infrastructure needed for development, invest in education and healthcare in Osun State and bring about industrialisation for the economic benefit of the people of Osun State. My brothers and sisters of Osun State, I have come to thank you and I urge you, I appeal to you, I plead with you to come out in greater numbers than you did in the last state election and vote for the PDP in the next general election. That is the only way that you can secure your future and the future of your children. We promise you we will not fail you.”
At his Abuja rally, the PDP presidential candidate fed on the discontent of the indigenes arising from their treatment by successive governments, which they believe have alienated them. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Aborigines have continued to agitate for appointment into political positions and implementation of a democratic Mayoralty for the territory. “If what you have demanded requires constitutional review, we assure you that we shall support that constitutional review so that your aspirations are protected and guaranteed in our new constitution.
“More so, we have pledged to restructure this country. In the process of restructuring, we shall give you all that you are demanding. I want to assure you that, and I want to promise you that,” he told party faithful from all Area Councils of the territory packed inside the Eagle Square in the nation’s capital. In Lagos, while promising a $10 billion national fund to empower young men and women in small medium enterprises, he urged the people to move away from the single family who he said had held them hostage for decades. The former vice president declared: “So, let me also promise you, if you elect me, we are going to restructure this country. What do we mean by restructuring? We will give your state and local government more power and resources. It is up to you to hold them responsible. Therefore, the people of Lagos, it is high time you took your destiny into your own hands for your own future, not for the future of one family. For in the last 23 years, you are governed by one family.”
But as the Atiku nationwide presidential campaign marches on, it has continued to witness distractions from the G-5 or Integrity Group of five aggrieved governors, the arrowhead of which group is NyesomWike of Rivers State, who has seemingly remained impervious to all entreaties to sheath his sword. Despite that, the presidential hopeful appears to be moving on with stoic determination as his cautiously optimistic camp believes that he must seize on the opportunity offered by the “floundering” APC presidential campaign to present himself to the Nigerian electorate as the desired next president of Nigeria.
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