WEEK TWO (August 27 – September 2nd).
It truly has been an engaging second week of Campaigns, with the Cheerleaders and Agents of the Candidates troubling my Phones via calls and Whatsapp Messages… We’ve got interesting times ahead.
It is however, very obvious that the leading candidates and the others appreciate that the present Season Of Campaign MUST BE issues based, and nothing more… Darts, vitriols and empty propaganda cannot and will not take you there… Nigeria demands more, and that we SHALL and MUST ensure, the Almighty giving us strength.
The second week of Campaigns saw the Presidential Candidate of the ADC Citizen Abubakar Atiku coming out strongly to clarify his position on Why and How he will Return Subsidy.. He said he will subsidise Production. And that Nigerians have no reason paying so much for that which affects their well-being the most. That the economy will continue to atrophy and fail no matter the macro-economic figures if the masses continue to wallow in multi-dimensional poverty no thanks to the high cost of fuel.
The Publicity Secretary of the ADC Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was very active across the media space explaining the Hows and the Whys. And puncturing the argument of those insisting that the Petroleum Industry Act sealed the fate of the possible return of Subsidy. He raised the section of the Law that provides for Crude Oil for Local Refineries and tied it smartly to Atiku’s plan to subsidize production, and that way ensuring that the cost of production is less and the pump price of fuel lower, pretty akin to the American model, be informed that the US subsidizes Fuel Production to the tune of over $30 Billion Dollars per annum. And TAKE NOTE that an average litre of fuel costs less in the US today than it does in Nigeria, the US/Iran War notwithstanding.
Unfortunately rather than deepen the debate, the Director General of the APC Campaign Council and President Ahmed Tinubu’s lead campaigner Citizen Senator Yari arrogantly declared that Subsidy is gone, and gone for good, that anyone promising the return of subsidy is deceiving Nigerians. How that impacts the campaign and defends a government whose policies have seen more Nigerians in the poverty bracket is yet a wonderment. Is Yari and the APC telling Nigerians that their policies are beyond critical review and rework? I hope they understand what time it is.
Almost curiously, perhaps admitting that indeed more Nigerians are wallowing today in multi-dimensional poverty, The Federal Government through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs And Poverty Reduction launched a 1Billion USD Dollar Social Protection Programme For Approximately 7.6 Million Vulnerable Households Across Nigeria, with the intent of bridging the enormous poverty in the land. The question is… How does cash payouts and handouts cushion mass poverty in the face of high inflation, harrowing infrastructural decay, and unconscionable hike and spike in the cost of living? This is another serious campaign issue that must be debated by the Candidates.
On the flip side, the candidate of the NDC Citizen Peter Gregory Obi was busy attending to issues regarding his acceptability in the North, he was responding to those who alleged that he ill-treated Northerners during his term as the Governor of Anambra State. Quite curiously on Sunday he was in a Popular Church talking about Nigeria, Politics and the pathway to 2027, and the future we seek. Why does Citizen Peter Gregory Obi not seem to effectively grapple with the difference between 2023 and 2027, does he want to play the religious card and blame others when they follow suit? I hope he quickly returns to the fundamental issues that agitate the average voter. We shall call out everyone who panders to our faults lines ditto religion and region. We want an issues based campaign nothing more.
We want to hear in no uncertain terms what Citizen Peter Gregory Obi will do with the economy particularly with FUEL SUBSIDY TO BE OR NOT TO BE. We already know what Candidates Omoyele Sowore of the AAC, Hashim Gbenga Olawepo of the AP, Adewole Adebayo of the SDP, Peter Agada of the YPP and Donald Duke of the PRP think about the economy and about the Removal of Subsidy, and how they intend to return subsidy in a more practical, effective and accountable manner, they have told us that to them the primary responsibility of government is the welfare and the well-being of the masses, that you cannot subsidize the lives of the rich at the expense of the poor, that the economic policies and the trumped up macro economic gains of the incumbent are sexed-up figures calculated to deceive, and that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government is a collosal failure.
There are so many other candidates that are yet names on paper, we want to hear from them, we want to know what they intend to do with Nigeria. And to the Partisan Obscurantist out there, we are resolute and committed to this brief, we shall call out your candidate, there is no hiding place, so rather than cry or call us names, please take your candidate into a Study Room, teach and drill them, research the issues and sell us a workable and formidable manifesto, that’s the least we ask for, else una go cry tire.
DOWNSIDES: There were a few rough cuts, and lows… We insist however that issues must predominate the pathway to 2027..
- Atiku’s claim that Citizen Bola Ahmed Tinubu is 90 years old or more…
- Yari’s insistence that only desperate politicians with intent to deceive are talking about the Return of Subsidy.
- Obi’s tilt towards Religion and places of worship.
- The APC Presidential Campaign Council list as harbour for persons with corruption allegations and charges… notwithstanding the presumption of innocence, the optics doesn’t seem right.
- The President Traveling Overseas On Leave Whilst the Vice President was away attending AU meeting in Angola.
- The Presidential Candidates who are yet taciturn… We want to hear from you.
ADVICE: No leader who surrounds him/herself with jesters, yesmen and sycophants ends great. A True Leader must have within his/her circle of 5 (immediate circle) some stubborn research freak who debates, disagrees and argues with him/her, someone of ideas whose duty is to interrogate and bring the best out of the Leader, and the Leader knowing how invaluable such a person is, must shield the person from the darts and vitriols of sycophants and cheerleaders. Such is the crux of pristine leadership…. Go check out The Leadership Secrets Of Abraham Lincoln, if you must learn.
OUR DUTY: We are watching, listening, debating and tasking the Candidates and the Electorate alike because we shall not suffer fools gladly, we WANT A NATION that works for all, and such is the UNALTERABLE COMMITMENT of the COUNTRYFIRST Movement… We Belong Together, NIGERIA MUST WORK IN OUR LIFETIME.
Week Three Loading….
God Bless Nigeria.
Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr.
Convener COUNTRYFIRST MOVEMENT. A Good Governance Advocacy Group.