He may have run for Nigeria’s presidency in the past without success, but the massive turnout of people on the declaration of his intent to run for the same office on the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in 2015 on Wednesday may just be an indication that the former Head of Head, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari may get the shot right this time. Read the account of a seemingly historic declaration. There were flurry of tributes on Buhari. From Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state to Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. Others included Governors Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state and Tanko al-Makura of Nasarawa state. Among senior party officials at the venue were the National Vice Chairman, Northeast, Pastor David Lawal and the National Secretary Mai Mala. Senate Minority Leader and former governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume led the National Assembly delegation that included several senators and members of the House of Representatives. Also remarkable by their presence were the younger brother of late President Umaru Yar‘Adua, Col. Abdulaziz Yar‘Adua and a former member of the House of Representatives and immediate past board member of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Zilani Ibrahim. We will fight with our life — Ameachi: Change is in the air. Do you agree? And I can tell you why I say that change is in the air. In the past when the progressives had this kind of gathering, you would not see too many Governors. Today, APC can boast of 14 Governors. There is change in the air. The governors in APC are determined to work together for this change. In all our meetings, we insist that whoever emerges as the Party’s candidate, all of us will work to deliver APC. You know that our dear GMB is one of the aspirants. And you know he is a material you don’t have in the other party. If they say they have a material like this, they should show us somebody who is anti-corruption like Buhari. One person. So, APC provides an alternative for the country. We are tested and we will never disappoint Nigeria. For us as APC, we will line up behind the party. Go back home now and get your voters cards. We will punish these people. Rivers state is not in their hands. Lagos state is not in their hands. Kano State is not in their hands. So, tell me where we are going? They are banking on using security against us. We shall teach them lesson. We will fight with our body, with our lives because there must be change this time. And I have said it again and again, there is no aspirant in APC that is not better than the aspirants in PDP. What we must do is not only to vote for the aspirants in support, we must also take the voters card so that when we finish nominating our candidate here, we will line behind that candidate and ensure that we will vote out Jonathan. If we see the money they are stealing, there will be light. Won’t there be light? Mr. President said to us on live television: I am the most abused president in 2012. He said by 2013, there will be so much power in Nigeria; that Nigeria will be dancing for me on the street. Are you dancing? Do you have power? Buhari is an asset to Nigeria and APC — Chief Audu Ogbe, former national chairman of PDP and APC chieftain: Governor Ameachi, Senator Akume were discussing the crisis of the youth. We must find you jobs. We have to get you jobs. It is an oath before God Almighty, we must get you jobs. Now, it is my burden and responsibility to tell you about this man called General Mohammed Buhari. I will be very brief but the story is long and you should know why it is Buhari. People ask you, why him? I will tell you why. He was born in 1941 in Katsina. He went to the military college in Zaria then went to England. He came back as a second lieutenant. And then began his career as a soldier. I did not say all the details but here is a man who has held such responsible positions that today we see he is a very solid asset to Nigeria and to this party. They have described him in the following words: they said he was an only pebble in the beach. That was a comment by a white man who was in school with him. Another one went ahead describing Buhari as a gentleman, soft spoken soldier who persevered, preserved the ethics of the profession. He was always careful with his language. He will smile at every joke and will never do anything to rock the boat. We are here and by the grace of God, muslims and Christians, we shall be here together. Because we believe and he does, that Almighty God is big enough to accommodate Muslims, Christians, Hindus even pagans. God in His infinite mercy brought us together and our business is to work together for the growth of our country and the future of Nigeria. Why Buhari? We are here because we know he is as cool as cucumber, as deep as the ocean, as quiet as a philosopher. He is not a noisy man. He is not brash. And is it because he has money? No. He saw money but did not take it. He had power but did not abuse it. Why are we gathered? What is the mystery about General Buhari? Why does he turn out such a crowd each time he appears? Here is a man of unusual character and why does he want to contest now? Because there comes a time in the history of a country when extra ordinary man has to be called upon to meet extra ordinary circumstance. Nigeria is in serious trouble. Make no mistakes. There is terrorism in North East. There is corruption at a level no body has ever imagined in this country’s history and you all know. But everything is being covered in heavy propaganda. The man says elders can’t go to sleep when the house is on fire. So, he wants to come out, restore the place and move on. And I want to say that this party appreciates other contestants. We send our greetings to Atiku Abubakar. We send our greetings to Kwamkwaso. We send our greetings to Sam Nda-Isaiah. Let each one of them have a chance. We are practicing internal democracy at the finest point. And we want to say all of you who are here, we send our greetings of sympathy to the north east, to the governors there who are members of our party. May the Almighty God bring Boko Haram to an end. We send our greeting to the Chibok parents. We believe that one day, they will be reunited to their children even though those children have seen a lot of trauma. We commend the #BringBackOurGirls Movement led by members of this party. We thank them for their commitment to Nigeria because they remain the only living evidence that Nigeria has a conscience. We hear that the federal government wants to take them to court. Let the court room be large enough to accommodate all of us because they are doing the right thing. Buhari not in the race for himself — Timipre Sylva, former Governor of Bayelsa State: Buhari is not in this race for himself. He is in this race because of us, the younger people. We are very happy that he has decided to come out of retirement to help us stabilise this country so that you and I, the younger ones, can carry on with the development of this great nation. And people even say General Buhari is too old. To them, I will only quote the words of the former president of America, late President Ronald Regan. We are not going to make age an issue in this campaign because we do not want to be accused of taking advantage of the inexperience of our opponent. Gen. Buhari brings experience to this campaign. He brings integrity to this campaign. He brings transparency to this campaign and that is why all of us must join hands to support him to be the president for us because he is the man of the people today, he will be president of the people come February, 2015. Senator Mamora: There is a wind of change. The wind of change is blowing. Come 2015, we shall have APC government installed in Abuja. Can we go on with the insecurity in the country? Can we go on with youth unemployment in the country? Can we go on with the subversion of the rule of law in the country? Can we go on with no power supply? Can we go on with economic degradation and deprivation? Therefore, we need that change and the time has come. Everyone of us is involved and we have to work to achieve that success. Senator George Akume: As Governor Silva said, age is not a barrier. It is the idea that is important. Now, we have Boko Haram. No jobs. Is that what you want? APC is a great party richly endowed with best human resources you can get anywhere in the world.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 09:21:09 +0000
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