Politics

I’ve No Apology For Being ‘Mad’ About Nigeria ― Obasanjo

Published

2 years ago

May 19, 2022

Editor

Nigerian former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, declared that he has a “mad passion” for Nigeria.

Obasanjo, who stated this when he played host to a presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mohammed Hayatu-Deen at his Penthouse residence in the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential (OOPL) in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, said, he has no apology for being mad about Nigeria “because I have no other country I can call my own and I have no other country I can go to and say yes, I have come to live here.”

The former President lamented that the current situation in Nigeria is not only agonising for him, but for other Nigerians who also desire a better Nigeria.

He noted that, Nigeria requires a leader who has passion, innovation and vision for the country, adding that such person must possess adequate knowledge about the challenges confronting the country.

According to VANGUARD, the former President insisted that, Nigeria can overcome its security challenges within two years with the right leader who is willing to make tough decisions.

Obasanjo, therefore urged Nigerians to brace up and be ready to make sacrifices to put the country back on the right path.

His words: “Some people say the human memories are short, maybe they are right because if human memories are not short, some of the mistakes that we are making, we will not be making them”.

“Yes, we have a record which some people may find a little bit not what they want to hear, but whatever people want to hear, I believe like you (Hayatu-Deen) has rightly said, that this period is not like any other period in the history of Nigeria and you used two words, decomposing and dissolving. I can’t find any better words to describe the situation we have found ourselves”.

“It is an agonising situation for you obviously and also for me. I want to emphasise the point that the Nigerian situation, bad as it is, will only be put right by Nigerians at the forefront of our situation. So, Nigerians have to brace themselves up to do what needs to be done to put Nigeria back on the right path”.

“And you are right in saying that wherever you go now, one of the things you hear is that Nigeria is not on the table, but why shouldn’t Nigeria be on the table? What does it cost Nigeria to be on the table?

“I will say four things, of which I was reminded this morning. One is knowledge. If Nigeria is not at the table, maybe the knowledge that we should have of ourselves, of our situation, of our continent and indeed of the world is not that adequate, if that knowledge is adequate, we will do what is right, when it is right and how it is right.

“The second is vision, what is the vision that we have? And if you have no vision, you may have eyes, but you are blind. And I believe that is part of our situation.

“The third is passion. And when you said, that you are involved in this, with a passion and I was telling some people this morning that, passion means madness, that you are mad about Nigeria, I am and I have no apologies for that because I have no other country I can call my own and I have no other country I can go to and say yes, I have come to live here.

“Passion means being mad about Nigeria, having a touch of madness and I look at you (Hayatu-Deen) and say yes, you are mad about Nigeria too.

“Fourth one is innovation. We cannot be doing the same thing that we have done in the past that did not pay us and continue to repeat it and expect any change, we have to move out it, we have to innovate, we have to re-strategise.

“And you talk about security and people ask me about it and I said I know that we can put all insecurity in Nigeria behind us within a space of two years. That we have not done or that we are still in the situation we are in is a choice that has been made by our leaders, no the way God wants us to be.

“Like you said, I couldn’t agree with you more, that no individual in Nigeria, no political party, no smuggled person individual can make a critical mass that will resolve the situation that we are today. It has to be an all Nigerian hands on deck. No section of the Nigerian community should be left out.

“So, I believe you have knowledge, from what you have said you have the vision, also you told me that you have the madness and you have innovation, but let me add, Nigeria is a complex country. And we need to understand the complexity of Nigeria and that complexity if we take care of it Nigeria is not a difficult country to rule or to manage, but we must all be ready.”

Speaking at the State PDP Secretariat, Hayatu-Deen, said he possessed the capacity, experience and knowledge to govern Nigeria.

The aspirant, who said he had been to several parts of Nigeria, including South West, said he is a passionate and complete Nigerian.

He said “My blood is Nigerian blood. I had seen Nigeria with the eyes of a Nigerian and not from the perspective of a tribal man.

“I am prepared to govern Nigeria from the first day of inauguration on May 29, 2023.

“We are suffering from self-inflicted wounds. As an economist, I know how to fix the economy. I will provide social security, I will provide Energy Security, I will deal with the issue of national insecurity.”

While urging Ogun State delegates to vote wisely by voting for him, Hayatu -Deen, said the May 28, 2022, is not a tea party.

Politics

Edo Guber: We’ll Fight If… – Obaseki Threatens

Published

50 mins ago

May 4, 2024

Editor

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has warned members of Legacy Group within the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to state away from the party else they’ll face his wrath.

Obaseki gave the warning weekend at the inauguration of the state campaign council of the PDP in preparation for the September 21 gubernatorial election in the state.

Obaseki, who described the Legacy Group as disorganised, sheep without shepherd, alleged that they have collected money from the party, adding that is why they are fighting to disorganised the PDP in the state.

The Governor who expressed confidence in the 363-member campaign council, noted that the structure of the campaign council was rooted in all the 192 wards across the state, adding that every organ of the party was captured.

Obaseki, who noted that the PDP has the best candidate and programmes for the people of Edo, said: “The time table is out, can you see any of them (Legacy Group)? Can they organise themselves? PDP leads, others follow.”

Obaseki further said: “PDP is one. Those who are fighting PDP have collected money from the other parties, and they want to sell out, join me so that we can flush them out of our party. Because we are not going to allow anybody to divide us, we are one party; one indivisible party in Edo State.

“The money they have collected is enough, let them go and enjoy it; let them go and spend it outside. We don’t have anything to fear. I will fight them if they try us; we will fight them if they try us. They know us, we never fight and lose, let them come and try. They have collected money, let them stay outside with their money, and not disturb us, because this election is ours and we are going to win by the grace of God.”

Obaseki, who declared that the opposition has no space in Edo, boasted that the PDP has put together hardworking campaign council members who, according to him, were going to deliver 80 per cent of the total votes to the party.

He further said: “By the grace of God, this campaign council will deliver nothing less than 80% of our votes.

“We can’t find them anywhere. They have no place here. They cannot destroy us at the centre and want to still come and destroy us here. We will not allow it. The hunger is too much out there, we are preventing the hunger from coming to Edo.

“Everybody sees what is happening in Nigeria today. You can see the suffering in the land. You can see the struggle in Edo, but we pulled Edo out of those problems. So, our campaign is going to be based on the hope we will give our citizens in Edo State.”

Earlier, the State Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, disclosed that the campaign council consisted of 363 members, excluding the women and youth wings.

Politics

Edo Poll: PDP Inaugurates Campaign Council, Obaseki Mocks Legacy Group, APC

Published

1 day ago

May 3, 2024

Editor

By Joseph Ebi Kanjo

Ahead of the September 21 gubernatorial election in Edo State, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday, inaugurated a 363-member campaign council, with Governor Goodwin Obaseki describing the other faction known as Legacy Group as disorganised, sheep without sephard.

The governor who alleged that the factional PDP members fighting in the party have collected money from opposition parties to distabilise the party in the state, warned such persons to stay away or face his wrath.

Obaseki said: “PDP is one. Those who are fighting PDP have collected money from the other parties, and they want to sell out, join me so that we can flush them out of our party. Because we are not going to allow anybody to divide us, we are one party; one indivisible party in Edo State.

He further said: “By the grace of God, this campaign council will deliver nothing less than 80% of our votes.

“Everybody sees what is happening in Nigeria today. You can see the suffering in the land. You can see the struggle in Edo, but we pulled Edo out of that problems. So, our campaign is going to be based on the hope we will give our citizens in Edo State.”

He noted that the structure of the campaign council was rooted in all the 192 wards across the state, adding that every organ of the party was captured.

Earlier, the State Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, disclosed that the campaign council comprised of 363 members, excluding the women and youth wings.

In his acceptance speech, the Director-General of the state campaign council, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, thanked the governor and PDP faithful for the opportunity to serve the party.

Iduoriyekemwen, however, promised to lead the party to victory come Sept.

In his remarks, the PDP governorship candidate, Barr. Asue Ighodalo, who thanked party faithful and leaders for the confidence repose in him, said Obaseki had laid a functional foundation at every sector that he would build upon.

Politics

Edo Poll: LP Group Hails Tinubu For Adhering To Zoning, Says Party Has Murdered Sleep In The State

Published

3 days ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

A pressure group known as Shine Your Eyes Group, ( SYEG), Thursday, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leaders of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Edo State for adhering to the principle of fairness, equity in the choice of it governorship candidates and running mate.

The group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade Jonah Ifada and Secretary Osagie Omoregie, and made available to INFO DAILY late Thursday night, said the LP has murdered sleep in the state when the leadership of the party decided to go against the core principle of fairness, equity and justice by throwing a candidate from Edo South in a skewed primary.

The group members who are members of the LP in the state, was apparently reacting to a news report by the Benin Youth Council, (BYC), on Wednesday where its appealed to Barrister Ken Imansuangbon to sheath his sword and join hands with Olumide Akpata in his governorship bid.

Shine Your Eyes Group said Akpata should rather step down to a more popular Imansuangbon to avoid embarrassment at the September 21st governorship election in the state, noting that it is not the turn of Edo South.

The group argued, “Look at what President Tinubu and the leadership of APC did in Edo State. They decided to abide by the principle of fairness, equity and justice which are fundamental to any development just like what the PDP did. The Labour party should have taken a cue from the APC.

“Are you saying Olumide Akpata is more popular than great and experienced politicians like Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Lucky Imansuen and others who decided to drop their ambition in support of zoning? Akpata should do the needful and step down for Imansuangbon now and save the Labour party from shame. Imansuagbon has vowed to fight his case to a logical conclusion”, SYEG noted.

Recall that Imansuangbon had gone to court to challenge the emergence of Olumide Akpata as the candidate of the Labour Party.

Imansuangbon, in his petition, stated that Mr Olumide Akpata committed offences ranging from giving false information to the acquisition of citizenship of another country, which is a grand departure from the Nigerian Constitution’s accepted norms

The educationist wanted the court to determine whether Akpata “has not supplied or otherwise given false information to the INEC within the meaning or contemplation of the provisions of section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 read together with section 182(1) (a) and (j) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), among other allegations.”