Barely one week to the presidential election in the series of the 2023 General elections, Nigerians have been advised to ensure that they elect a steady hand not a hand that must always be steadied because only a steady hand can steady a volatile Nigeria.
The advice was given by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barr Yakubu Dogara when he spoke on Friday in Yola at a Town Hall meeting organized by the Atiku/Okowa campaigning organisation with the theme: “Overcoming the Fears of Same Faith Presidential Ticket 2023.”
According to him, “We need a hand on which nothing dies not the hand that spills everything that is placed on it if we do not want our collective national destiny to be spilt.”
He stressed that “We need a grounded leader, not a feckless pretender who has become a perfect gift to every level of comedy both locally and internationally. By our votes, let us send a strong and clear message to those who want to foist this tasteless joke on us that Nigeria is no Comedy Cellar or Viva Blackpool.”
Yakubu Dogara said, “Tell me if any of the candidates comes close to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in terms of readiness to hit the ground running from day one. In case you don’t know him, let me attempt the impossible task of introducing him to you.”
He then said that Atiku Abubakar is a statesmanlike no other and a father in every sense of the word, Abba adding that he is a demonstrable source that gives life to everything around him.
According to him, “Give him pure water and he will turn it to Farro water; Show him a Primary school and he will turn it into a world-class university; Show him a jetty and he will turn it into a world-class port; Give him a bull and a heifer and just a few years and he will give you a herd; Give him a bag of chaff and he will mill it into animal feed.”
He continued, “Give him a bottle of Bala blue and he will turn the cream to farro juice; Give him home and he will bring Nigeria into it as family members and Make him walk into an environment where there is contention and fight and see how they fade into peace. That is the rich pedigree that HE Atiku Abubakar will bring to the table as president.”
“Therefore: For national healing and recovery, let us vote for Atiku, To end terrorism, banditry, insurgency, kidnap for ransom and sundry acts of criminality, let us vote for Atiku, To rebuild shattered trust and strengthen national unity, let us vote for Atiku,” he urged.
The former Speaker further urged, “To bring order to national chaos, let us vote for Atiku, To end religious divisions and engender religious harmony, let us vote Atiku, To enthrone merit over mediocrity and nepotism, let us vote Atiku and To permanently close IDP camps and ensure full resettlement, let us vote for Atiku.”
Yakubu Dogara added, ” To create jobs and end youth unemployment and restiveness, let us vote for Atiku, To ensure prosperity for all not prosperity for some, let us vote for Atiku, To grow the economy and create jobs, let us vote for Atiku.”
He added that “For a strong naira, let us vote for Atiku, To lift millions of youths and women out of poverty, let us vote for Atiku, To put an end to our oil and gas revenue addiction, let us vote for Atiku.”
He also urged that for robust and functional physical and government infrastructures (roads, air, land, sea and rail transportation, electricity, ICT, e-government; etc), Nigerians should vote for Atiku as well as to reduce our housing deficits, create and deploy a functional, affordable and efficient mortgage system.
“For the provision of not just education but qualitative education, let us vote for Atiku, For the provision of primary health care and affordable health insurance for all citizens at all levels, let us vote for Atiku, For an agricultural revolution to grow what we eat and eat what we grow, let us vote for Atiku,” he added.
Yakubu Dogara added that for Nigeria to be a global tourist destination, as well as to elect a president who is a cultural architect that creates the atmosphere for every Nigerian to become more and with whom less becomes more, Atiku should be voted for.
According to him, “To elect a president who understands that compassion is not tossing a coin at a beggar but pulling down the system that produces beggars, who will end rent-seeking as a business and inspires us to go into manufacturing and production because he is into to it himself, let us vote for Atiku.”
“To elect a president who is not looking for electricity to roast corn but is already turning corn into meal for humans and animals, who will rally us to action in poetry and govern us in prose, not someone who does not understand the difference between the two, let us vote for Atiku,” he further urged.
He added, “To elect a President who clearly understands what he is promising not someone who is making promises to fictional groups like, “wives of widows, who do not claim it is his turn to chop but realizes he has to go to work to produce the food Nigerians desperately yearn for, let us vote for Atiku.”
Yakubu Dogara further urged “To elect a president who knows that only God gives power and that it is never anyone’s turn to take power, who will hold his ground, not one that the ground must hold, before any audience in the world and bring honour not shame and dignity to all Nigerians, let us vote Atiku.”
He then said that, for Atiku’s covenant with Nigeria, the implementation of which will unlock Nigeria’s manifest glorious destiny, Nigerians should vote for him.
Yakubu Dogara concluded, “It was Victor Hugo who reminded us that, “All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Atiku represents an idea whose time has come. By the grace of God, who alone gives power, Atiku will soon be president-elect and Mr. president by May. Let us go from here determined to be instruments in God’s hand to make it happen. Come on, friends, we are well able. See you on inauguration day.
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