I thank all those who spend time to project the merits of a Jonathan continuity without being paid. Here in Lagos, some westerners need my balls for supporting him but they are aware they are not going to get it cheap. Even the police in lagos has agreed with me that I aint so cheap to blowaway. I must continue in my convincing speeches for Jonathan. Till Fashola depots me to Anambra as usual. Thanks my friend from the APGA Desk, Abuja. Press Release -Nigerians can no longer be deceived by code words for elections which are only a front for no plan. Discipline, was welcomed to the nation’s psyche in early 1984 when General Abacha announced a coup, and, a then Major General Muhammadu Buhari, was made Head of state by his clique. They told us indiscipline was responsible for our Nigerian moral and economic malaise. Most Nigerians agreed. What? With Akinloye openly celebrating his first Million Naira (1.35 million dollars then), and flaunting his personal branded champagne, most of us agreed that we were treading the wrong path. Discipline was used to urge Nigerians to curb their excesses including a huge disrespect for order and cleanliness in the daily life. Simple but effective programs as the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), was introduced. Weekly campaigns for Clean-up were held and are still effective in parts of the country. Nigerians were asked to curb their excesses including flaunting wealth, check their foreign travel, desist from maligning the country’s image in foreign nations, curb our taste for foreign goods, to look locally and develop our indigenous resources, since we had some wealth to foster same. A blanket ban on foreign importation was imposed and goods unilaterally seized at the wharves. Foreign airfares were hiked by the Federal Government to curb travel excesses. Decrees were established against corrupt officials, who were tried and sentenced. Nigerians were asked to be patriotic in all aspects of the National life, and develop a culture of respect for themselves and their country. But between these trends was open Nepotism. And Muhammadu Buhari did not care, as decrees which looked like they were made in the general interest were only imposed to choke off a given group and subjugate them to long-held misgivings. This was evidenced in the arrest of supposed Government officials from the over-thrown regime, Some Government officials were treated better than others, as some officials were held in dungeons, while others were held in mansions, with a cook to boot. Such disparity in dealing with the same alleged offence. Former Senate President - Dr. Joseph Wayas does not forget till this day, and would recount to anyone within earshot. While the Importation of goods were roundly banned, The Government sustained impunity at the airports, as it allowed its top Government officials and their wives to manipulate the airport security. The Government itself escorted 53 suitcases to a palace, allowed the family of top Government functionaries to walk through customs with myriad suitcases of fashion accessories. Buhari said nothing, while the press and polity boiled. These boys, who openly started from 1966 to wage their brand of discipline, felt they could do no wrong and went unchallenged. From openly killing fellow Nigerians, sharing the spoils of war - there is no honor among thieves, they engaged in petty jealousy and sacking themselves. It was about rewarding the daring in their military escapades. Coup after coup. What Discipline? They enriched themselves and their cronies, and between periods of distrust in the polity, they handed over power to trusted associates, with tacit understanding that they would hand same back after given periods, when perceived calm had supposedly returned in the polity. That was the Nigerian power sharing! The Truth was that Buhari and his gang had no plan for Nigeria. Their only plan was to continue the gain in ethnic one-upmanship within the military sect, reflecting same in the Nigerian national life, and have others obey or follow their existing order. That is the discipline. That is still the plan. When they found that gaining an upper hand in the military schism was no plan, they made sectional allies who created plans. These allies however, found out that their benevolent leadership had no clue regarding the implementation and management of what they had set up. They exploited the ignorance, and spoke big English as if all was right. The Western Nigeria bourgeois was born. The Northern leadership demonstrated severe ignorance (as the long-term has revealed) of the implications of the policies they allowed this bureaucrat/bourgeois class to create for Nigeria, and fellow Nigerians. Policies geared to sustain ethnic status quos are presently unsustainable, and are being consistently reviewed for better impact across the nation. The Northern elite are still puzzled; what went wrong? They had fashioned a ‘discipline’ for governing Nigeria and the polity was still restive. They forgot that ethnic subjugation cannot be a cornerstone policy. Legacies of the tendency abound and most in the Nigerian leadership still drop the hints. We cannot afford that, as Nigeria is a Nigeria for all, though tribe and tongue may differ, The brotherhood must feel the love. With Buhari, parts of Nigeria did not feel the love. And the Northern leadership still acts as if they have an understanding with the South. What South? The truth is that Buhari has no plan for Nigeria. Regimentation has its benefits, but it does not create innovation sorely needed in the world marketplace for economic and political development. Submission may be a wrestling strategy, It is also a short-term move, and has always failed woefully in the annals of political strategy, as the welfare of the citizenry always drives any political attitude, and is recurrent in any political negotiation. Co-operation is everything in politics. Regimentation does not help with thinking outside the box, which is the basis of all current technological, social and economic advancement. Regimentation is all Buhari has known all his life. Being that presents him as a disciplined focused soldier. That is a good description for a soldier. It however does not fit anyone in the polity. This is not a one size fits all Nation, or World. Discipline would be good if all irrespective of trade are encouraged to focus on same and be the best they can be in it, the law of comparative advantage. Buhari has not said or alluded to that. All he wants is discipline. Buhari has not said what discipline means. Shut up and follow? Our commonwealth is very resistive to that. The Freedom of thought, speech and religion is very important to Nigerians. When a 72 year old man talks about discipline, it means reverting to the Status quo ante, the status quo world of the propagator, where Nigerians live in fear, as a result of a perceived backlash for disagreeing with Government. Nigeria cannot be that, or go back to that again. 1966, 1976, 1984 are a long time ago. 3 generations of Nigerians have been born since General Buhari started enjoying the benefits of Nigeria. These Generations cannot truly say what Buhari in his different presentations for Nigeria, has done for the country. They are supposed to be the beneficiaries, and really should know. Discipline cannot be used as a euphemism for stifling creativity in the social and economic marketplace. No matter what anyone may say about Nigeria, self-sustaining sectors are opening up in Education, Technology, Communications, and Transportation. These were areas which without Government support, would have withered and died. The Fashion industry has demonstrated resilience irrespective of the Government in power, or policies. Nigerians, who experienced Buhari’s discipline, saw the shutting down of sectors of the economy especially clothing, textile fabric and accessories trade, a staple of Nigerian enterprise across the Niger. The Buhari regime hardly paid heed to the suffering of those Nigerians affected by his massive banning and seizure of goods at the wharves, or the trickle down effects resulting from same in the tailoring and interior decoration industries. Nigerians, especially of South-East orientation openly witnessed their goods seized by the Government, bought by Alhajis, who with clearance from high-powered ministers, bid for and openly acquired their goods, which they had already paid for in hard currency, at the Lagos and Port Harcourt wharves. Most Nigerians watched in dismay as their containers were auctioned off due to a unilateral government policy. These goods were frittered away at little or no cost to favored ethnic Nigerians. That was no discipline. No apologies and no compensation. Pure bully! Family businesses vanished, incomes disappeared, Family Patriarchs were disillusioned and died, families fractured and poorly fed children bore the brunt of a Buhari policy. Nigerians watched as markets in Lagos, Aba, Onitsha, and Kano dried up. There were no goods to buy or sell. Despair crept into the populace, as Nigerians began checking out. Buhari was the beginning of massive disillusionment about Nigeria by Nigerians, initiating the foreign migration by Nigerians. Remember Andrew? Factories in Lagos, Aba, Onitsha, etc. began closing down. Aba in particular has not recovered from the Buhari menace as its Factories and Factory buildings were taken over by churches. The 3 mile stretch from Osisioma through Aba-Owerri Road to Factory Road, to Ikot-Ekpene Road, and the Ogbor-Hill section of this great city are littered with skeletons of massive factory buildings which are non-operational. Bank branches began closing and most fled from Aba City. The Entrepreneurial class migrated. They could not influence any policy regarding their business. The beginning of the death of any enterprise. Buhari did nothing to help this class. That is not the leadership and Nigeria of our dreams. We, at the APGA cannot afford an unreachable Government, when the issues of our populace are on the table. What Irony? People seeking jobs now turned Factory buildings which earlier had and created jobs into arenas for Prayer. Praying for jobs, in the same places they once had jobs. A pseudo enterprising religious class emerged. Nigerians resorted to only the staple. Food and basic household upkeep materials became the only visible business. Lever Brothers, Cadbury and Patterson Zochonis (PZ) became the premier industries. Everybody was a distributor and owned a supermarket. And The truth also is that the Buhari junta did not care, would not entertain any lobby from the South-East entrepreneurial class, under any guise. They thought the existing economic progress in this city, cities, the south-east, nay Nigeria was part of the Indiscipline! Buhari is not the messiah we need. Buhari is a jingoist using the supposed ethnic clamor by Northern elitists for Northern presidency, which has been given a righteous vent by the short-lived Yar’adua administration, to climb into power. That is only righteous indignation. It is not a master plan for driving Nigeria into the 21st century to compete within the comity of Nations. Discipline cannot be used as subterfuge to sustain a convenient civil war alliance which sought to enthrone ethnic vengeance and permanently distance other ethnic groups from the Nigerian conference table. They should know that the short-term convenience will implode sooner or later. Self-serving policies can only last for the short –term and exposes the mediocrity of its planners in the long run. That is happening as we speak. Policies made to disadvantage groups in Nigeria, cannot be continued including, population census manipulation, imposing economic conditions that make it difficult to import and manufacture raw materials used for the shoes, clothing and furniture industry, creating and sustaining a tense environment for Merchants at the Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, and Lagos wharves. Choking off much of economic activity in the south-east cities that entrepreneurs are forced to close and move to Lagos, abandoning ingenuity, and thriving cities. Buhari cannot be all clamor. 4 attempts at the presidency of Nigeria? One asks, what did he leave there? What epiphany suddenly crept into his subconscious? What is Buhari going to do that Tafawa Balewa, Aguiyi-Ironsi, Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Obasanjo, Shagari, Buhari 1, Babangida, Shonekan (If we must count him), Abdulsalami, Obasanjo 2, Yar’Adua, Jonathan did not do? Buhari must be better at stating his policies which must benefit the welfare of Nigerians individually, and as whole. Spearheading an Ethnic clamor for Nigerian presidency does not resolve unanswered questions and suspicions regarding how a Buhari leadership will impact the welfare of ordinary Nigerians, in helping them find a job, pay their rent, send their children to school, learn vocational skills, establish a business, sustain the business between Government policies and regime changes, advise the Government on social, economic, infrastructural trends, and how it may help the average Nigerian without the status quo feeling threatened, sustain free speech and freedom of the press, sustain a non-threatening environment to all Nigerians irrespective of ethnicity, devolve the perceived threat of a continued grudge and hounding of specific ethnic groups in Nigeria by the Government of Nigeria, clearly making the administration a Government of all Nigerians and making Nigerians feel the impact and ease in their daily lives (Kudos to Jonathan), Understanding religion tolerance and making comments regarding Sharia, which threatens the Nigerian Economic and social status quo. A Boko Haram Epidemic as a hidden threat cannot be used as weapon towards acquiring power. One cannot maim himself to attract sympathy. Pure psychosis. Nigerians cannot live in fear. Buhari must do his part to stop the trend. Most of his core supporters seem to quietly encourage the threat. Bullying cannot be part of the campaign. No bully has ever looked good in the long run. None One man cannot conveniently hold the balance of Nigeria in his hands and not know it. Nigeria cannot sustain or enthrone that ignorance. That is why at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), we encourage all to Vote for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for the good of our country – Nigeria. Because, at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), we remain our brothers and sisters
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 18:06:19 +0000
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