Politics
President Yar’Adua And Second Term Agenda
The lid over political campaign moves to get President Umaru Yar’Adua re-elected in 2011 has been blown open. The president recently halted all shades of campaign, citing the need to concentrate on governance as motive behind his decision. In defiance of this presidential directive, promoters of this project, mostly the president’s henchmen and chieftains of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have commenced campaign for his re-election. Nwife, one of the arrow heads of the initiative denied an on-going campaign for re-election of the president, but confessed: “But if you ask me whether I want Mr. President to be re-elected, I will say, yes, because Nigeria has never had it so good. This is despite denials by those involved that their moves are not tantamount to re-election campaign for the president”. The political antecedents of these men, and the style adopted are reflective of the regular deceptive pastern of the president’s friends, super rich businessmen and political jobbers in the past at the corridors of power.
The re-election campaign is very hypocritical and an attempt to unduly outsmart the opposition when the political campaign whistle has not been officially blown. Curiously too, we are concerned within why (PDP) must push the president for another term, when nothing had worked in the country, more than two years after the president came on board.
In the first place, why we think President Yar’Adua is qualified to rule the nation if not for his imposition on Nigerians by President Olusegun Obasanjo who manipulated the votes of Nigerians in 2007. the president acknowledged this by admitting publicly in the early days of his administration that the election that brought him to power was flawed; hence his setting up of the electoral reform panel headed by retired Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais.
So far, there is nothing on ground to show that president deserves a second term. His seven-point agenda merely exists on paper and appropriation, infrastructure level is zero, the roads are in a shambles, unemployment is soaring to high heavens, potable water remains elusive while insecurity looms large across the country.
Under developed democracy, the president’s poor performance would have attracted his resignation. He has travelled abroad on many occasions to put his health in shape, sometimes when the nation is facing challenges.
With a leader like president Yar’Adua, Nigerians don’t need anybody to remind us that we have remained too long in the comity of under developed country. With the huge lot left unattended to in the country due to leadership incompetence, allowing the president another term of four years, though legal, will not augur well for the country.
Dr. Charles Anosike a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University, said, “We now have more impoverished people walking on the streets today than in the past. Everything points to the fact that this administration does not have the panacea for remedying the country’s anomalies”.
“For running an incompetent government that has inflicted pains on the people and distress, the president does not deserve a second term. He should call his Lapdogs that are behind his re-election campaign to order”, he said.
“Take a look at the president’s Democracy Day’s address. It is instructive that half way into his four year tenure none of his promises in his seven point agenda have concretely materialised, they all seems to remain in the pipeline. The promised to generate or boost electricity supply, improvement of the road network, resuscitation of the of the moribund rail system and dredging of water channels, and the reinvigoration of the agricultural sector to ensure food scarcity, security of lives and property and rampage by criminals. “You could say that isn’t for lack of noble intention on the president’s past but, as have been often said, because the decay is deep-rooted and requires prolonged gestation in planning and effecting a remedy”. But the citizens in the interim are getting the raw deal and wondering what impact governance has. It marked the second year and of the administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua at the federal level and more than two-thirds of governors at the state level. Given our historical antecedents, these represents a testimony that our people have clearly shown their preference for democratic governance and an abiding faith in its transformative power.
You could say that this country earned in the last 10 years from her crude oil resource more than she did in all the previous years of independence, but this hasn’t rubbed off much on its citizenry. Prof. Dora Akunyili, has vigorously carried on with a campaign to rebrand Nigeria but how much of a bad product can you rebrand by changing the package without improving the content? But we have every cause to celebrate and defend this rule and ultimately grow it into a true democracy. Is it time to 2011 in order to roll out the drums and celebrate concrete accomplishments in national development, or time to complain about the published failure and wastages of the past or time to persuade masses loss of memory (amnesia) and simply look forward to deferred promises of the gains of nationhood.
Ucheonye Onyekachi is IT student from Anambra State University.
Ucheonye Onyekachi
Civil Society Coalition for Good Governance, Budget and Accountability has condemned the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Executive Secretary, Civil Society Coalition for Good Governance, Budget and Accountability, Amb. Emmanuel Nkweke, who said this in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt also described as illegal all legislations passed by the defected lawmakers.
Amb. Nkweke described the defection as “monkey politics’, queried the rational behind the action of the lawmakers few months after being sworn into office, adding that members of the civil society community were yet to be told reasons for the defection.
“Up till now, we are yet to be told why they defected just few months of being sworn into office. For me, that is monkey politics”, he said.
He urged the lawmakers to go back to their former party and beg Rivers people for forgiveness, adding that if that is done, they may be welcomed back.
Amb. Nkweke also cautioned the lawmakers not to allow themselves to be used to do the bidding of an individual, adding that the present administration in the state needs the support of all to move forward.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the group has commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for giving civil societies the latitude to operate freely in the state.
He alleged that civil societies were caged in the last eight years, adding that there was no breathing space for civil societies in the last eight years in the state.
Amb. Nkweke described civil society as the engine room of democracy as it engages in sensitisation on the policies and programmes of government, regretting, however, that their inputs were never taken into considerations.
“Civil societies give signals, civil society creates the awareness and sensitize the people towards achieving a reliable democracy.
‘’i want to let you know, very frankly, that civil society space in Rivers State, for the past eight years, was suffocated. There was no breathing space, they didn’t breathe. Civil society was dead completely”, he said.
Amb. Nkweke said the situation also affected upcoming activists as some of them had to operate from hideouts.
By: John Bibor
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on President Bola Tinubu not to condone incompetent personalities in his government.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, NANS President, Comrade Pedro Obi, expressed concerns about the competence of the Minister of State for Youth Development and the SSA to the President on Student Engagement.
Comrade Obi, after staging a peaceful protest at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), reiterated that the NANS will not be intimidated and will continue to fight for the interests of Nigerian students.
He said, “The message is very simple, we have incompetent people who have been appointed to offices. It’s unfortunate and it’s not the President’s fault, of course he believes in Nigerian youths and has also given us the opportunity to showcase our capacity in various roles that he has given us.
“We have the SSA to the President on Student Engagement, who has shown incompetence. He cannot continue to hold that office and we are calling on Mr. President that he should be sacked with immediate effect.
“Also we have the Minister of State for Youth Development. We are also calling that immediately he should be sacked, because he has left what he ought to do and has dabbled into the affairs of NANS.
“These people have displayed incompetence and are destroying the youth community. There are so many competent youths that President Tinubu can pick from.
“NANS can never be intimidated. This is an organisation that we grew up to meet and we will continue to protect the dignity of this organisation.”
Receiving the NANS on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office in the SGF, Dr. Maurice Nnamdi Mbaeri, assured the NANS of relaying back their complaints to the SGF which he said will land on the listening ears of President Tinubu.
According to him, “I have listened to the complaints you raised. I assure you that your complaints will get to the listening ears of Mr. President.
“Let me assure you that I’m happy this was also re-echoed in the NANS President’s speech that President Tinubu has indebt love for the youths of Nigeria and also for the students of Nigeria. This has been demonstrated by polices that (has) been put in place for the youths.
“I want to assure you that the President has your concerns in his heart and he’s always ever ready to attend to your needs.
“With this, I am going to report back to my boss the SGF, who will take up the matter with the President. I urge you to continue to maintain peace and tranquillity. Don’t do anything that will make Mr. President feel bad about you.”
Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu, has withdrawn the court action he instituted against the party over his controversial removal from office barely two years into his four year term.
His action has removed legal impediments likely to militate against the emergence of his replacement from the North Central.
Several meetings have been held and being planned following this new development.
On Tuesday, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) passed a vote of confidence on the Ag. National Chairnan, Amb. Umar Damagum, whom members said has discharged his functions creditably.
It was gathered that the North Central Caucus of the party had long before now started mobilizing to ensure that the zone produces Ayu’s replacement to complete his tenure which expires in 2025.
In a related development, Amb. Damagum has held series of meetings with various groups to perhaps shore up his chances of retaining his seat as acting chairman.
He led the members of the NWC on Wednesday to interact with the PDP National Ex-officio ahead of the NEC meeting.
Immediately after the meeting with them, he led the NWC members to another meeting with the State Party Chairmen from the 36 States, including FCT, Abuja.
The meetings were held at the NEC Hall, PDP National Secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, in Abuja.
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