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Return to class, take your job as sacrifice, Kachikwu begs ASUU

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The presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Alliance (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, told the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to regard their job as sacrifice to the nation and return to work.

He said the about five-month-old action cannot be resolved if the lecturers maintained their demands as according to him, government is in no position to satisfy them. 

Speaking at an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in Abuja, on Tuesday night, he said Nigerians must endure the present hardship but assured that efforts will soon be made to rescue the country. 

Addressing the party members, Kachikwu said: “Whatever they do to you, just endure because in a little while, in a short time, in the near future, our small voices, our small actions, our small protests, our small plans, our small groups will become a mighty rescue mission to save our nation.

“You must endure. We must endure. Architects and town planners form groups in your communities. Create the masterplan of the community you envision for your city. Engineers come together in your different cities and

design the infrastructure we need. Design the power grids we need. Start with the design. Start with the plan.

“Lawyers, civil society groups, men and women of good will, contribute your quota to a new and better constitution that divides us rather than the corrupt one that now divides us. 

“Lecturers go back to classes. You have sacrificed before. Sacrifice one more time for the sake of our children. This government can’t afford to pay your demands. They are broke. They can’t give what they don’t have.”

“Please go back to classes and save the future of our children. Our medical personnel are leaving the country in droves, and nobody cares. Who will staff our hospitals? Who will treat the sick?

“Are we going to leave our healthcare to quacks? No. We must take a stand for Nigeria today. It is the right thing to do,” he stressed. 

The presidential candidate lamented the recent upsurge in successful terrorist attacks especially at the Correctional Centre in Kuje, Abuja where hundreds of criminals were set free including 68 Boko Haram inmates. 

“What were known terrorists doing in a medium security jail?” he asked, while noting that the Kuje incident was just one of the several jailbreaks that have occurred recently in the country leaving authorities helpless.

He also noted that the attack on President Muhammadu Buhari’s advance team in Katsina State, and other serious security breaches in parts of the country are indicative of the poor state of the nation.

According to him, under the present administration, “Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented calamity second only to the Nigeria civil war. From Taraba, Kogi, Niger, Abuja, Katsina, Zamfara, Borno, Sokoto, Kaduna, Ondo, Imo, Anambra, tales of woe. The streets of Nigeria flows with the blood of the innocent.”

According to the presidential flag bearer, there are indications that Nigeria is heading towards a failed state.

He added: “If most people have given up, then who is going to be part of this rescue mission? Who will save Nigeria? The answer is simple, you. I refuse to give up on you. I refuse to give up on Nigeria. Our nation might have failed but we will rise again.

“As long as I have breath in me, I will keep on speaking, I will keep on nudging, I will keep on prodding you. One man at a time, we will build a formidable rescue army. We will rebuild our country, we will revive our economy, we will protect our citizens, we will secure our borders and we will defend our land.

“I don’t care about what this government has done, I care about what we need to do now. Time is not on our side, but God is on our side. Forget about 2023 and start today. Raise your voices, speak up and don’t be cowed. Our nation is blessed with the people who can make this the greatest nation in the world, and you are one of those people.

“Join this rescue mission and let’s start changing Nigeria one person at a time,

one street at a time, one city at a time and one state at a time. We will rescue Nigeria. It is our goal, it is our destiny, it is our mission. Remember, the rescue starts with you.”

Giving the current happenings in the country, he expressed fears about the fate of the 2023 general elections.  

He said: “We can’t run full throttle towards the 2023 general elections when we don’t know if we will have a nation in six months. This is the crux of the matter. How much more can this nation take? How much more can the Nigerian people take? When does the abuse stop? When do we say no more?

“The most painful part of our collective suffering is that we are too afraid to say anything. The media operate in fear of having their licences suspended or revoked. The opposition parties dread that invitation from the security agencies when they speak out of turn. 

“The people remember the forgotten victims of the EndSARS protest, so they stay silent in the face of despair, disillusion and abuse.

“Who will save the Nigerian people? Who will save us from ourselves? Because we must accept that we all have a role to play in this mess. Silence in the face of tyranny is not an option. An emasculated parliament is not an option. A weakened judiciary is not an option. Abandoning Nigeria for other countries is also not an option.

“We also know that this President will never resign and that he will never be impeached by this weak assembly. So, what are our options as a people? Do we let ourselves be killed? Do we wait for the next rain of bombs on our cities? Do we wait for the next calamity? Please look around you and understand that all is not well with us.

“Nigerians are hungry, Nigerians are suffering, and Nigerians are afraid. This is the hill before us. We must understand that we must first have a country before we can talk of elections.”

Kachikwu further said: “Under the Buhari administration, Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented calamity second only to the Nigeria civil war. From Taraba, Kogi, Niger, Abuja, Katsina, Zamfara, Borno, Sokoto, Kaduna, Ondo, Imo, Anambra, tales of woe. The streets of Nigeria flow with the blood of the innocent.

“Many a mother is weeping. Many a wife in sorrow. Many families left to mourn quietly and helplessly. In all this, no one has lost his or her job. No minister, national security adviser or President has resigned. The shame of a nation. 

“Who did this to us? We reduce the dead to nomenclature such as scores killed, dozens killed, hundreds killed. Don’t we know they have names?

“They had dreams, ambitions, aspirations. They had loved ones. What needs to happen before we know Nigeria is a failed state? Who needs to die again? Which school needs to be attacked? Who needs to be kidnapped before we realise that this administration has nothing more to offer? 

“Beyond the killings and kidnappings, we also have to contend with a failed economy.

“Tens of millions unemployed and underemployed. Yahoo and the trade in human parts are now accepted as industries in our nation. The naira is 612 to the dollar today. Our farms are untended as terrorists rape, maim and kill our farmers while our government looks the other way.

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“Five months of fuel scarcity in some cities like Abuja, diesel at an all time high of N800 a litre and the middle class who are the engine room of every society just wiped out overnight. Our children are at home as government and ASUU fritter away their future. I can spend the next 24 hours talking about the failures of this government, but they are all too familiar to us all.

“How did we get here? How did we let our nation descend to this abysmal level? How did we fail on multiple levels with our eyes wide open? Didn’t we have any constitutional safeguards? What is the role of the parliament when the executive fails?”

The ADC flag bearer said it is time for Nigerians to save the country, adding: “Who will save Nigeria? Who will save Nigeria from her government? Who will save Nigerians from Nigerians? You.

“Today we must reset. Today we must chart a new course. Today we must choose to fight for Nigeria. Today we must fight for ourselves. Let us look within us and find the courage to start again. We must take our country back from these evil men. We must resist all invaders.

“We must defend our lands, our cities, our country, block by block. This is our patriotic duty. No longer will we let religion, tribe and tongue divide us. Those who have destroyed our country are from all tribes, tongues and religions so we must not be deceived. They are in the minority. We are in the majority. We have suffered and endured for too long and we must endure for a little while longer.”

 

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