daybreakdaybreaknigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2tititrim.pdf2019/02/02 · john obasi...

Atiku will tackle Nigeria’s poverty

– Titi Atiku Provide Employments Restructure Nigeria

DANKWAMBOSpeaks on

Atiku’s peerless eligibility for Presidency

EYITAYO JEGEDE

‘Atiku will unite Nigeria, end killings and manage the

economy better

EXCLUSIVEHow Atiku blew open the 53 suitcases currency scandal at Lagos Airport in 1984Why the then

military govt. unsuccessfully plotted his removal

TITI ATIKU‘My fight

against human trafficking,

prostitution is recognized by

United Nations’

PAGE 6

PAGE 14

PAGE 10

PAGE 18

DaybreakNIGERIA

www.daybreaknigeria.org

... an independent media group for Atiku

NOT FOR SALE

VOL. 02 ISSUE 003 JANUARY 2019

PAGE 10-11

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri of Adamawa, is the hope of Nigeria's future. He is in touch with time and in tune with today's digital world. Atiku is abreast of today's economic, social and political realities and will not be led by the nose by deceptive advisers.

He’s a man in tune with today's global best practices in business, governance and international diplomacy. Waziri of Adamawa is the man designed by fate to take Nigeria away from the obsolete analog, and slow pace of governance that is currently relegating Nigeria to the backwoods in the face of global advancement.

Atiku is the bridge between our yesterday, today and the glorious future Nigerians of this and future generations eagerly look forward to. We will come together as a people and a nation, speaking unequivocally with our votes; we will stand to ensure your mandate is emphatically pronounced and categorically ensure you take your time and God-given leadership of our beloved country, Nigeria on February 16, 2019.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa. Behold Our Digital President

DaybreakNIGERIA



Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri of Adamawa, is the hope of Nigeria's future. He is in touch with time and in tune with today's digital world. Atiku is abreast of today's economic, social and political realities and will not be led by the nose by deceptive advisers.

He’s a man in tune with today's global best practices in business, governance and international diplomacy. Waziri of Adamawa is the man designed by fate to take Nigeria away from the obsolete analog, and slow pace of governance that is currently relegating Nigeria to the backwoods in the face of global advancement.

Atiku is the bridge between our yesterday, today and the glorious future Nigerians of this and future generations eagerly look forward to. We will come together as a people and a nation, speaking unequivocally with our votes; we will stand to ensure your mandate is emphatically pronounced and categorically ensure you take your time and God-given leadership of our beloved country, Nigeria on February 16, 2019.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa. Behold Our Digital President

DaybreakNIGERIA



All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced in any form or stored in a computer without permission from the publisher or

the author.ISBN

© 2018Published in Nigeria by

Daybreak Media Limited

Lagos Address:D.I.W.A

196, Uno Plaza,Shop B15, Iju Road,

Lagos. Nigeria.

Abuja Address:Flat 1 Block 16, Akure Street,

Area 10, Garki, Abuja.

Ogun Address:Estanza Royal Hotel,

Ajuwon Road,Opposite Ajuwon Police Station,

Ogun State.

Tel: +234 903 845 9916+234 818 583 0376

Email: [email protected]

adRates(Full colour on art paper)

Full Page (ROP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550,000.00Half Page (ROP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350,000.00Inside Back Cover (IBC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450,000.00Outside Back Cover (OBC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700,000.00Inside Front Cover (IFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500,000.00Centrespread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5mBottom Strip (on Cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520,000.00Ear Piece (2 by 2 cols) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70,000.00Full Page Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300,000.00Half Page Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50,000.00

Public Notice & Announcement (BW) Full Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300,000.00Half Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200,000.00

Public Notice & Announcement (Colour)Full Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350,000.00Half Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000.00

Important InformationPlease, note that all booking must be prepaid

Social discounts negotiable from five insertions CDs, Flash, Disks are acceptable.

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA CELEBRATES 13TH ANNUAL FOUNDER’S DAY

HORSE RACINGHISTORY OF THE GAME OF HORSE RACING IN FOMBINA KINGDOM

CAMPAIGNPDP INAUGURATES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL

ATIKU PRESIDENCY THE MAKE OR MAR CHOICE BEFORE NIGERIANS IN 2019

Page26

DaybreakNIGERIA



NOT FOR SALE

VOL. 01 ISSUE 002 DECEMBER 2018

ATIKU INSTALLED

WAZIRI OF ADAMAWAPage4

Page45

Page51

Page34

SEVENTH

DAY B R E A KN IGER I A (3) JANUARY 2019 EDITION

editor’s note

It is with joy the entire crew of your favourite magazine, Daybreak Nige-ria, welcomes you to the new year. This is the year Nigerians will hit

the polls to elect new leaders who will paddle the affairs of this great nation for the next four years. Therefore, it is an important year for us all.

This edition, aptly captures the essence of the magazine as a scintillating work of journalism to inform and entertain the political elements while electioneering is around the corner.

In this edition, you will find a great exposé by the former second lady, Hajia Amina Titi Abubakar. For nearly two hours, she bares her minds on why she has contin-ued to midwife her pet project WOCLEF. Since 2007 when her husband left office, she has been advocating at least 30 per cent affirmative action for women to be appointed into political offices.

She succinctly spoke on her husband’s ambition to lead the country, explain-ing what Atiku’s presidency would offer Nigerians – economically, politically and socially.

Other juicy stories and interviews are carefully packaged in this edition that further reveal the essence of the man of the moment – The Waziri of Adamawa – a notable emirate in the Northern Nigeria. Enjoy yourself.

Akinleye T. BrightManaging Editor

Hope for Nigerians in Atiku’s Presidency

the teamE D I T O R I A L

Ayo Ayintete EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Akinleye T. Bright MANAGING EDITOR

Obazei Starrys GENERAL EDITOR

Toyin A. Babatunde EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Akpan Ojobio EDITORIAL BOARD CHAIRMAN

Elder Gideon Eneriene EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER

Timothy Akinleye G.M. ADMIN. & PUBLICATION

Hon. Shola Olumola EDITOR, SPECIAL PROJECTS

Muhammed Yusuf SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Onyeocha Ifeka Juliet STAFF WRITER

R E P O R T E R S

Amb. Emmanuel Gabari HEAD, NORTHERN OPERATIONS, KANO

Jonathan Benard REPORTER

CHIEF CORRESPONDENTS

Bimbo Ogunaike LAGOS

Charles Akinwon AKURE/ADO EKITI

Cyril Addy YENOGOA/PORT HARCOURT

C O R R E S P O N D E N T S

Gabriel Lokrit Gofor JOS/BAUCHI

Abiodun Ijawonye OYO

Comfort Adigo Muwa KOGI

Stephen Babatunde Ilorin

John Obasi EBONYI/ENUGU

Bright Sunday Macauley UYO/CALABAR

P R O D U C T I O N

Kingsley B. Michael HEAD, PRODUCTION

Akanbi Oluwaferanmi Esther COMPUTER OPERATIONS

Tolulope Suleiman ADMIN. OFFICER

DaybreakNIGERIA




GOVERNORFOR

OGUN STATE

2019

VOTE

LADO

Madam, kindly tell us about yourselfMy name is Mrs. Titi Abubakar, wife of

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar GCON, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nige-ria and the Waziri Adamawa. I am a native of Ilesha, but born and bred in Lagos. I schooled in Lagos, primary and secondary;

I attended Iwo Saint Mary’s Girls Grammar School. I also attended Kaduna Polytechnic for a certificate course at first, and later for Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and then my Higher National Diploma (HND) As a result of my high grades in HND, I lectured in Kaduna Polytechnic for a decade and later

ATIKU WILL TACKLE NIGERIA’S POVERTY, PROVIDE EMPLOYMENTS AND RESTRUCTURE NIGERIA – TITI ATIKU

Titi Abubakar, the woman behind the success of former Vice President of Nigeria and currently Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, in an interview with Daybreak Nigeria (DBN) team, described her husband as caring, loving and large-hearted entrepreneur with thousands of employees, educationist and philanthropist, who gives without looking back.

THIS IS TITI ATIKU, A FRIEND, A WIFE AND A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE BEHIND THE WAZIRI OF ADAMAWA: As a husband first, Atiku is a loving husband, he is kind-hearted and he is caring. Atiku has integrity.

BYDAYBREAK TEAM

COVER STORY


felt I had done enough and I left to go into private business.

When your husband was Vice President, you had a pet project, tell us about it

It all started when I was a teacher, I no-ticed that some of my students, especially the girls, were not looking well; they looked worn out and spent. When I asked them what was wrong, they told me they went on pilgrimage to Rome. And of course, as a lecturer myself, I had the opportunity to have gone to Rome and that was in 1996. The first thing that I noticed was that we (all those with the green passports) were put in a bus. When we got to the immigration office, we were the last set to be checked. I did not understand why, but I soon understood when we got to the streets of Rome, and I started seeing young girls on the streets. They were Nigerians and I learnt some unscrupulous people here in Nigeria were the ones who helped those girls with lira (the currency) they used in Italy which was flowing everywhere, and could even be picked on the streets.

The unscrupulous sponsors secured travel documents for these girls under oaths like taking them to shrines, killed a chicken in a

ritual to put fears in those girls. They con-vinced the girls that they would die like the chicken if they revealed the secrets of who got them to Italy. Those girls would have to serve these people for about ten years doing prosti-tution, and the money they earned would go to their madams.

I felt the pains of these children whose lives were being wasted and I said to my God that if and whenever I got to a position of author-ity, I would help them. So when my husband, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, became Vice President on May 29, 1999 to be exact, I remembered that I had made a covenant with God. So I started with a three-day workshop, where we brought wives of state governors, local government chairmen, public-spirited people and civil society organizations. I told them the story of what I had seen and my covenant with God to help those children when in a position of authority. Many people there said they have never heard that people were being trafficked and said I was telling fairy tales.

Three days after the workshop, the first set of those girls were repatriated to Nige-ria. They were 70 of them, and they were escorted by 140 policemen because the girls were reluctant to come home. They landed in Lagos and I asked that a handful of them

Atiku and Titi

OUR RELATIONSHIP: I have been with him now for a very long time and this is about our 50th year of marriage.


should be brought to Abuja. Some of these girls came back with HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and all kinds of deceases.

I did not have a rehabilitation centre, so they stayed with me at the Villa and I coun-seled them, sent them back to school and to-day, they are employers of labour while some are married. In 2002, I established a reha-bilitation centre. We went to Gabon, Guinea (Conakry) and so many other places and brought back more girls. I would not want to mention names, but there is one particular state where this problem is peculiar. We also set up a foundation - Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WO-CLEF), which we still run to date.

So far we have rehabilitated about 10,560 boys and girls, trained them from primary to tertiary level and gave them skills. You know, this trafficking is also internal; they bring children from the villages and use them for all sorts of things and even cases of incest. A few weeks ago, two of those we rehabilitated, graduated from the university. We have been doing all this, and like I tell people WOCLEF will outlive me

When the United Nations noticed what we were doing, they invited me that there was going to be a protocol signing in Palermo, Italy, and I went with Alhaji Lamido, who was the Foreign Minister then, and I presented a paper. When I got back home, I said to my God, now that I have started this we need to enact a law to back us, and I called on public-spirited and concerned people. Jus-tice Mary Odili, who is now a Justice of the Supreme Court, the wife of the former Rivers State governor, then was the head of the committee. We put our books together and sent the private bill to the National Assembly. After a rigorous process, they invited me and asked what I wanted and I told them I wanted the bill to be passed into law. It was finally done and that gave birth to the agency known as NAPTIP, the agency for the prohibition in human trafficking and other related matters.

Today, WOCLEF has a consultancy ar-rangement with the United Nations, and they call on us whenever there is anything that has to do with human trafficking. You know, I put

the issue of human trafficking on the front burner here in Nigeria and as such, we have a network of all the non-governmental organ-isations (NGOs) that deal with issues that border on human trafficking. WOCLEF is like the mother hen and they are all under us. So this is what we have been doing.

You are a very strong willed woman, what would you say is your driving force?

God is my driving force. You see, this proj-ect is a million-dollar project. As you know, those behind trafficking are a cartel, and they make millions from this illegal and inhu-man business. But since we started, nobody has written or called to threaten us. It is a God-ordained project and God is the force behind us.

Who is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as a husband, father and a family man?

Hmm, as a husband first, Atiku is a loving husband, he is kind-hearted and he is car-ing. Atiku has integrity. As a father, he is large-hearted, caring, supportive and generous

to a fault. He does not discriminate against religions; he tolerates people’s beliefs and opinions and accepts them. Atiku is entrepre-neurial, Atiku is a businessman and Atiku is a philanthropist. Looking at him from afar, he is a very quiet man; people think he is arrogant. They say he is full of himself and unapproach-able. But that is not true; if you get close to him, Atiku is very large- hearted and he is a very generous man. Atiku is so big-hearted that you cannot help but love him. He is a caring father, who does all he can for his chil-dren. You see, he often tells the children that he owes them the best education, to set them

Atiku, who is contesting for the fourth time, is eager to “get Nigeria working again. This is the perfect time God has ordained for Atiku. He will care and take care of Nigerians and see that they are comfortable,” she maintains.”


‘My fight against human trafficking, prostitution is recognized by the United Nations’

up in life. He makes them to understand that they should not look at what he has because he is not going to leave anything for any child, because he struggled to get to where he is today. He encourages them to do all they can to be a real man or a woman in life because that is the only way to success.

Atiku has helped so many people. I re-member when he was in the Customs, when he was in service he was bringing so many young boys and girls into the service. His contemporaries would say, ‘why are you doing this? Don’t you know you are bringing those boys and girls to measure up to us, and soon they will not respect us,’ but Atiku never cared, he never bothered. Atiku is a true philanthropist, who gives without looking back. You know the left hand and the right hand thing, when Atiku gives with the right hand, the left hand will not know what he is doing. You see, the politics Atiku is doing to-day, he started it when he started this student union thing, when he was in the university, in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and the thing became part of him.

Atiku has been in politics since the 80’s and has been doing politics. He has wanted to become the president of this country for a very long time, and I think this is the fourth time. And God in His Infinite mercy has said this is the time for Atiku. You see when he went to Port Harcourt for the Peoples Dem-ocratic Party (PDP) primaries, a lot of water passed under the bridge, but we thank God he was successful. Nobody was killed; there was no sad accident, everybody went and came back safely, and he is now a presidential candidate. Now we have to work hard, go to the grassroots to canvass votes for him so he can become president.

Atiku wants to get Nigeria working again; Atiku wants to give back to the society what the society has given him. You see, when he was very young, his father never wanted him to go to school; he wanted him to be a shep-

herd boy. And the local police had to send the father to jail before Atiku went to school. Even then, he lost the father when he was still young and the mother brought him up. She would sell her wrappers so Atiku could go to school. When he was in the secondary school, during the holidays, he went to offices doing menial jobs. He would go to the office of the Ciroma of Borno or I think Yobe, where he was working as a cleaner. And this little boy saved the stipends he was getting and built a mud house for his mother in Genyen in appreciation for the sacrifices she made by sending him to school.

That is why it baffles me when people say Atiku is a thief. I don’t see what he has stolen or taken from anybody. I have been with him now for a very long time and this is about our 50th year of marriage. I even remember how we met, I was coming from Cotonou and Atiku was in charge of the Customs at Idiriko; the men took some of the pieces of wrappers with me, saying I had to pay duty on them. We were talking when Atiku saw me. He told me later that immediately he saw me, he felt like God telling him, ‘that is your wife.’

He invited me into his office and asked me what the problem was. I told him his men said I had to pay duty on the wrappers with me, and that I didn’t have money. Atiku put his hand in his pocket, brought out two pounds and gave it to the officers, they went and paid the one pound, 70 shillings, came back and gave me my receipt with the change of 30 shillings. If Atiku was corrupt he would just have told them to let me go, but he chose to pay that money from his pocket. Later he came looking for me and as they say, the rest today is history.

You will also recall that Atiku was the head of the Customs’ when the famous 53 suitcas-es occurred. The powers that be then are still the powers of today. He insisted on searching those suitcases and they called his minister then Mr. Soleye Ladipo and they asked him to

You will also recall that Atiku was the head of the Customs’ when the famous 53 suitcases occurred. The powers that be then are still the powers of today. He insisted on searching those suitcases and they called his minister then Mr. Soleye Ladipo and they asked him to sack him.”


sack him. But Soleye said Atiku was one of the finest

officers he had and that very day; Atiku was transferred to Kano. Even recently, Atiku was coming back from Dubai and at the Airport here his plane was searched and nothing was found and I said to myself, even if Atiku had brought money in his plane, it is not Nigeria’s money; Atiku does not work for Nigeria so where will he get the money to steal.

Atiku has friends abroad who know he is contesting for president, so if they give him money and he decides to put it in his plane and come to Nigeria; I see nothing wrong with that, still they found nothing. It is just

a matter of giving a dog a bad name just to hang it. If Atiku was a thief all these would not happen. Like the issue of the suitcases, he would have gone into negotiation with the owners, and they might give him one suitcase and he would let them go. But he insisted on doing the right thing.

Atiku is an educationist, when he wanted to set up his first school, even his university, I told him, ‘Yola is a bush town, why don’t you set this up at Abuja?’ He said to me, ‘no, I want to put everything I do in my home-town.’ It actually started as a primary school called AKTI; from primary and kindergarten to secondary school and now a university. Atiku has a conglomerate of businesses. Aside from all we know, Atiku is into partnership with an Italian, they set up INTELS together. Atiku has shares in that company and as you know, this company is located in the South-South, employing thousands of people and putting food on their tables. As you know, there is dignity in labour and now the chips are down; people are really suffering. Many people are at home because businesses are going down, the government is not working. Atiku used to say he wants to get Nigeria working again. Many people are at home with no food to eat; their children are not in school. Atiku wants to change all that. That is Atiku.

What are the things you see wrong in the present government that you think Atiku will change when he comes into office as president?

You see Atiku has been talking of re-structuring even when he was in power with Obasanjo. Atiku knows that the centre as it is currently has too much power, and resources have been concentrated there. Atiku knows that there is no fairness in that. Atiku believes in the devolution of powers when all parts of the country will get their fair share of the na-tional cake. He wants fairness for everybody. Look at the issue of the minimum wage, after a lot of agitations, they arrived at a miser-ly N18,000, and many states still said they could not pay it. Now it is N30,000 labour is asking for, and some said they cannot pay it. Some are saying they will pay N25,500.

Titi


Immediately the Federal Govern-ment pegged the minimum wage at N30,000, Atiku raised his workers’ wages. Aside the government and maybe Dangote, Atiku is the highest employer of labour in Nigeria today. Atiku raised their pay to N30,000. He does not want anybody to be cheated; he hates cheating, that is the man Atiku.

On his table water project at Faro, we tasted the water and it was so pure and natural, why is it not distributed all over Nigeria

It is because of the bad roads. But they take them to Cameroun and Abuja. Lagos people have been yearning for us to be in the Lagos market, but for now we are not doing that because of the bad roads. You know, because of the quality of the products, the machinery cost money

but people love Faro because it is the purest and cleanest water you can ever have. I don’t know if they took you through the purification process, if you see all the filtrations they do, you will say you will never drink any other water.

As First Lady, what are the things you hope to do?

You see, even while not in office, we had been doing a lot, but if by God’s grace Nigerians give us the mandate, I hope to concentrate on empowering our women, especially those in the rural areas, who have been mostly neglected. We have to reach out to them, encourage and empower them economically. That is why I will advise people to vote right. They should not submit to those who will give them few cups of rice and salt to get their votes. If they do that, they have sold their birthrights. The

people in government will think they have given them what they demand-ed of them. That is why they just sit down and do nothing for the masses. When people come with these small gifts, they should know that they have come to deceive them. People should vote their conscience. They should vote the man who can bring them out of poverty. In the rural areas, many of them have never seen electricity before; they don’t know what it is to drink good water. The water they wash in, even defecate in, is the water they drink and use for their domestic purposes.

These are the things Atiku is going to change. You see, Atiku has made it in life; there is nothing material Atiku is looking for anymore. He has made it and he is a household name anywhere in Nigeria. This is the perfect time God has ordained for Atiku. All I have said, he is going


to do it, we are going to make all Nigerians feel they are part of us. We will care and take care of them and see that they are comfortable. We will make those in the rural areas feel they are living in towns. Those in the cities don’t demand too much from us as they are comfortable. Our focus will be in the rural areas, we will do more for them. I am going to push and push to do more for them even if they are easily contented with the little they get.

Atiku himself has said that he is going to give women and youth 40 per cent representation in his gov-ernment. He is going to do all that for them. It will not be like the last time when women were confined to just the kitchen, everybody will have their rightful place. The last elec-tions, practically all the women had their mandate taken from them. The Beijing Conference we were part of countries that demanded a 35 per cent women representation as the af-firmative but where is the affirmative.

Nigerian youths are very vibrant, intelligent and resourceful. Atiku intends to have one youth and one from the older generation. The youth will understudy and go through the tutelage of the elder and learn so they can be ready to take over leadership. They don’t even have to sign anything to make it happen; it is the trend globally. Look at Macron, even Austria where we have the youngest leaders. It was when Micron came that they all stated to agitate, ‘I want to be president,’ that gave birth to the not-too-young to run bill, and they want

to be president by all means. But you cannot be president over night, they have to learn. Macron through a se-ries of stages was this and that in their cabinet before he became president. And they say behind every successful man there is a woman. Don’t forget Macron even married his own teach-er, so that woman, that teacher of his, has been guiding him on what to do.

In Atiku’s time, it is going to be one elder, one youth for every office so that they will learn and be ready to take over from the older generation. Our Nollywood actors and actresses are invited. We know our artistes sing well and Nigerians love to dance, but let them now think of coming into politics and leadership.

Lastly, what message do you have for Nigerians concerning the 2019 elections?

Ninety days to the elections, I will appeal to all Nigerians, men and

women, to come out with their Per-manent Voters Cards (PVC). INEC has been shouting that there are so many uncollected PVC in their custody. They should go and collect their PVC because these are their tickets for electing the man they want, Atiku. In every household you go today everybody is ‘Atiku-lated’ As they know the man they want, they should come out and make it happen. Soon we are going out on campaigns to canvass votes and educate the grassroots. After voting, they should stay and make sure their votes count. They should thumbprint properly at the centre and not between the margins which will make that vote invalid. Every vote counts. If it is the symbol they are going to use, it should be the umbrella, let them thumbprint it properly at the centre and inside the box.

If they do that, and the Atikulat-ed presidential candidate wins, he will fulfill all his promises, especially restructuring. As an educationist, he will see to it that our educational system competes with best in the world. Atiku wants to give back to Nigeria and Nigerians. After they vote, they should follow their votes to the collation centres. The beauty of the whole thing now is that the Electoral Act that has been passed into law and awaiting the President’s assent, demands that result will be announced at each polling booth, so Nigerians should know that once vic-tory is assured, we will not fail them. And God bless Nigeria.

Nigerian youths are very vibrant, intelligent and resourceful. Atiku intends to have one youth and one from the older generation. The youth will understudy and go through the tutelage of the elder and learn so they can be ready to take over leadership.”


“MY DEAR COMPATRIOTS, let me start by saying that contesting in the primaries for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) was an experience of a lifetime for me and I must add this: I am grateful to Almighty God for making me a Nigerian!

Nigeria is real, Nigeria is one and Nigeria is united!

“To Tede and Idere in Oyo State, Igumale and Lessel in Benue or Atiku Abubakar’s hometown of Jada in Adamawa State, Isan and Iyin in Ekiti, Igan-Okoto and Ofada in Ogun, Dass in Bauchi,

DANKWAMBO SPEAKS ON ATIKU’S PEERLESS ELIGIBILITY FOR PRESIDENCY

IBRAHIM HASSAN DANKWAMBO: Governor of Gombe State, chartered accountant, economist, former Accountant-General of Gombe State and the Federation, gives his unflinching support to the Wazirii Adamawa’s presidency.

“With Atiku Abubakar, the ship of the Nigerian state is sure to anchor at the harbour of peace, progress, unity and prosperity,” Dankwambo writes.”


Wurno in Sokoto, Itu and Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom, Abonema in Rivers, Ek-inrin-Adde and Iyamoye in Kogi State, Fugar in Edo State and to all the small towns in Nigeria, the statement our party made from our convention is that the people of Nigeria are not forgotten; that Nigeria is not just Abuja or Port Harcourt, not just Lagos or Calabar, not just Maiduguri, Damaturu, Jos or Lokoja; that our country is much more than Ibadan, Abeokuta, Uyo, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ilorin, Kano, Yola, Benin, Jalin-go, Owerri, Enugu, Umuahia, Abalaliki or any such big towns and capital cities. Nigeria is an aggregation of all towns and villages, cities and hamlets. Nigeria encompasses us all, however remote our places of origin may be.

“On my part, serving my community, my state and the great people of Nigeria has been a joy and a privilege for which I have been grateful every single day of my life. Right from my days as a student leader, down through my professional life both in the private sector and in public service, I have been shaped by experiences that prepared me for ser-vice to the people.

“I have heeded all calls with humility and with every sense of responsibility. I have always devoted my entire being to the work at hand and my entire life to the service of Nigeria. That was the spirit that informed my participation in the presidential ticket exercise.

“As a party, the PDP was in power for years. We made our share of mistakes. But we were succeeded; it has turned out to be a band with no standards, a group of accusers without ideas. They are adept at only one change: a change of the subject once service to the peo-ple is in discussion. With the emer-gence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as our party’s flag-bearer, the real change for the better is now around the corner, and the future we have al-ways dreamt of is rapidly emerging.

“My humble plea is that, the same unity, commitment and sense of pur-

pose that saw us through to his victory at the convention should be intensi-fied to carry our great party to glori-ous victory in this year’s elections. We are not in this simply for the desire to clinch power for its sake; neither is it for intimidation of opponents or sup-pression of political adversaries. We are in this for the progress and prosperity of Nigeria.

“Our country faces many challenges that test the quality of its leadership. But only in challenges does a good lead-ership find opportunities. That is the test the current leadership has failed. And that is the test Waziri Atiku will not fail.

“For years, the Nigerian people have been hopeless, hungry and thirsty. They are hungry and thirsty not only for food and water, but also for education, for better housing, for power, for securi-ty, and for an enabling environment to productively realise their possibilities.

“PDP is returning to assuage the peo-ple’s thirst. We are here to put an end to the people’s hunger. The dryness of a season provides the opportunity to make a balm and the process of making the balm has just begun with Atiku’s nomination!

“The people of Nigeria will rule. The PDP, with Atiku at the helm, will lead. APC has proved incapable of running Nigeria. Nigerians have been poorly served by a leadership that has not only created wedge between compatriots, broken their spirit of brotherhood, the people have been subjected to the worst kind of insensitivity and psycho-logical trauma by those in whom they entrusted their sovereignty. The result is that our people have never been as divided as they are today along the lines of tribal, religious, political and other primordial divides. The end has come to all that! Grinding poverty must come to a halt soon! Injustice in whatever form must come to its end! Economic mismanagement must come to its end! The end has come to empty promis-

es and brazen impunity! The Nigerian people will rule!

“I believe that the hallmark of quality leadership is in its ability to surmount challenges and solve problems, rather than engaging in blame game and rev-eling in the grandiloquence of empty rhetoric or the promise of change that is meaningless even to its protagonists. The hallmark of good leadership is in concrete action on behalf of the people and not in a body language that says nothing other than confounding the masses.

“Enough is enough! Enough of weak-ness arrogantly dressed up as introspec-tion! Enough of cluelessness sold as thoughtfulness! Enough of mediocrity paraded as integrity!

“What is beneath Nigeria is beneath Nigeria! The current leadership is weak, de-energized, incompetent and far beneath Nigeria. It is time to move forward and in the right direction!

“The end must be put to the phe-nomenon of showmanship as states-manship, deception of the masses as fight against corruption and incompe-tence compounded with ignorance as old-age wisdom.

“Nigeria’s problems are many and real. Such can be solved only by able, prepared hands, critical thinkers and people with strong character. Let all hands be on the plough to make Nigeria a super power it ought to be.

“We must remain committed to the principle of inclusive and integral de-velopment. I trust that Atiku Abubakar and the PDP will put in place a gover-nance structure that will foster the spir-it of co-operation, consensus and unity in a nation of diverse ethnic groups, cultures and religions like ours. He will turn our diversity into our abiding core strength. This is not only desirable, it is required to establish, nurture and sus-tain a strong and effective democratic government.

The PDP’s symbol was not lightly picked and should never be viewed


lightly. Ours is an umbrella under which peoples from all walks of life, irrespec-tive of ethnic affiliation, economic sta-tus, educational background, religious leaning, age or sex, can take refuge and make sense of existence.

“Nigeria is a blessed country. Our abundant resources must, however, be properly harnessed by a visionary leadership to make Nigeria a great and prosperous nation.

“Atiku has what it takes to provide that leadership. Unlike the present leader-ship, he will leverage on his democratic governance experience to work harmo-niously with the other organs of govern-ment to effectively harness the unique skills and abilities, the personal quali-

ties and motivations of all Nigerians to unleash their creative and productive energies to make this country great.

“A leader who wants to achieve results must be visionary, must demonstrate a high degree of rational judgment and maintain a high sense of responsibility to the people. Like the good shepherd, he must be trustworthy; he must lead by example and forsake all other inter-ests for the common good.

“With Atiku Abubakar, the ship of the Nigerian state is sure to anchor at the harbour of peace, progress, unity and prosperity.

“The APC has been a night we have only endured so far, a lie we have lived for so long. The jinx of poor leadership

over Nigeria must now be broken.“As the prospect of a new daylight

beckons, we must all go back and begin the work of re-building Nigeria. Nige-ria, which has been the foot soldier in the battle for the liberation of Africa and its peoples, the foremost combat-ant in keeping the continent’s peace, must cease to be a sad footnote to its story of progress.

“I am convinced that with Nigerians’ support and patriotism, Atiku Abuba-kar will be the president who will make Nigeria the strong leg on which Africa, indeed the black race, will stand on.

“Under his leadership and under the canopy of the PDP, we shall all together re-build the crumbling Nigerian house.


This is 2018, two years after, what has really changed in the PDP, talking about your home state, Ondo?

Well, of course, you know following the 2016 election, a new master on the bloc in Ondo State, the APC, occupies the govern-ment currently. The PDP has to learn from its mistakes and hopefully come back again with a renewed vigour, energy and focus to be able to demonstrate that as a party that we are prepared to take over the leadership again both at the state and at the federal levels.

In 2016 you contested as a governorship candidate of PDP, and

with high hopes, people expected that you would be elected, but unfortunately, it went the other way. What are those things you might have learnt in politics even as a legal expert?

Indeed, politics is a very complex game, very, very complex. You deal with a lot of issues; you deal with matters that are very complex. For a person who is a professional really, who occupied the office of the Attorney General of a state for almost seven years, my perspective and focus were little bit different from what obtained in the field. In the field you have a lot of things that you will not be

2019 POLLS: GOD’LL USE ATIKU TO UNITE NIGERIA, END KILLINGS AND MANAGE THE ECONOMY BETTER – EYITAYO JEGEDE (SAN)

Within Nigeria’s legal profession, Eyitayo Jegede, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, is among the outstanding learned minds. This, he brought to bear as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice with the longest reign in Ondo State [2009-2016] during last PDP administration. This was the position he quit to contest the 26th November, 2016, governorship election in the state, though he lost to the incumbent. In an exclusive chat recently, he bared his mind to the Daybreak Nigeria team of Akinleye Bright, Queen Sunday and Ayo Ayintete inside his cozy law firm in Abuja. Excerpts.


able to explain and quite difficult to believe, these are issues I understand and I found out and fully understood that one plus one does not equal two in politics. And a day in the life of politician can make a lot of differ-ences. I also know that going through an election is not a tea party, because you face opposition from outside and sometimes from within, but the most dangerous one is always the one from within.

It is the one that can prove chal-lenging, because a person who wants to slap you will have to get closer to you before he can slap you, some-body who is very far away cannot slap you. That’s why I say politics is a very complex game. And I’d learnt a lot of lessons. I’m now a skilled sailor in the murky waters of politics.

Sometimes you just have to wait and watch, but you know there is nothing that is hidden in politics. It’s just a matter of time. So ultimately, the Ondo State that appears buried, in a matter of days, in a matter of time, in a matter of years, in a matter of hours will come alive. My expe-rience is such that, if I’m to write a book, it’s going to be a voluminous one… that’s what I can say.

The 2019 general elections are a few weeks away, in your own estimation do you think PDP is ready to take over the reins of governance again?

I believe so. Yes, Nigerians are the best judge. Forget about rhetoric pol-itician play. We talk about sufferings people face. Talk about challenges we face. Talk about the econ-omy, Talk about unemploy-ment. Talk about security sit-uation. Talk about the level of decadence and impu-nity that are on-going, and you can come to the conclusion that, it’s a

matter of time, PDP is coming back to power; that’s my honest feeling.

Do you still have your eyes on Alagbaka Government House; will you contest in 2020?

We are political animals and then you know some of the things, you don’t do it for yourself again. You see, it gets to a time in life of a man it’s not about you anymore, you leave your comfort zone and face the challenges that exist outside there. And when you take a step; it’s not a step you take because of your person-al interest, it’s a step that you move on because of others, the lowly ones, middle ones and the high ones. If you believe that you can impact positive-ly then you know you really have a little choice. And don’t forget, in this country, we keep complaining that things are not going on well and you do not show interest in the affairs of your community, in the affairs of your nation. To that extent, yes; we are all political animals.

All said and done, when we get to the bridge, we’ll cross it, we see into the future. The elections that are due now in the country are the presiden-

tial, the Senate, the governorship, the House of Reps and the state House of Assembly. There is no governorship election in Ondo State for now. We’ll wait till 2020, God spare our lives.

You are a top politician and a frontline lawyer; holistically tell us what are those things the APC-led administration is not doing currently and you believed if PDP gets there, they will address or correct it?

I think more than ever before, we need unity in this country. You need to go to our institutions; you need to check what is going on, like someone had said, this county has not been more divided as we have now. It’s not a thing that you see in open places. You see it in our institutions; you see it in our agencies. And I believe we need somebody who can unify the entire country. That’s very import-ant. It’s only when we have a country that you talk about progress. If you


don’t have a country I’m afraid now. I believe all of us know the security situation in this country. When the former president was there, yes, of course, there was the challenge of Boko Haram in a section of the coun-try. We are made to understand that section has been taken over complete-ly by Boko Haram now, even though as we speak, there has been some progress; in fairness, there have been some gains on the part of our military on the challenges of security in the North-east zone. We have killings ev-ery day in Zamfara, they kill every day in Benue, killings every day in Plateau. We have killings every day in Taraba, and people are afraid. You travel these days if you don’t see oncoming ve-hicles on the opposite direction, you slow down, fearing some carnage may be going on that same road.

These are the challenges we face each day. Yes there are the security challenges. Tell me what has changed between then and now, can we say that we are safe, can the people in Benue say that they are now safer than they were when the former gov-ernment was there? Can the people in Pleateau, Taraba and Mambilia, who are killed every day, say they were not safer when the former gov-ernment was there? Can the people of Zamfara say they are safer than they were five years ago? These are the questions we should ask our-selves. Those that have left their jobs, are they better off? These are the issues we have to address and I’m not saying these because one belongs to a particular political party.

I’m saying these because as a pa-triotic citizen of this country nobody

can claim monopoly of knowledge, if you have challenges tell us you have challenges. If you don’t have say you don’t have, and then we’ll continu-ously measure your effectiveness, by what we see. If they think that, yes, they are better off today than they were before, then there is no prob-lem, but when the former govern-ment was there, it appeared ordinary things were okay, and when the new government came, they began telling us things were not okay. The can of worms is opened; it would be a worse story than what it was before. And I think that is reality what we must all face. We must all strive to ensure that we have a better country, and that should be a genuine intention and motive that we all aspire to attain in this country.

I will tell you much I know about Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adama-wa, the former Vice President of this country, He is an extra-ordinary man. And if you go by his history, which I’m sure you must all have read how he built himself from young poor chap of Jada Local Government in those days, to a person who by dint of sheer hard work, focus and God’s blessings, I emphasize the word God’s bless-ings, has made it to the top.

Here is a man who had a success-ful career in the public service - the Customs. Here is a man who is also an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur because he has successfully managed a wide range of businesses. It’s anoth-er thing to establish a business, it is another thing to establish a successful business. The Waziri I know has gone into manufacturing, he has gone into farming, he’s gone into industry, he’s gone into communication, he’s gone into education, he’s gone into the level of having food outlets.

In all these, between you and I, let’s be serious, he has created employment for a good number of Nigerians, now tell me how many

Jegede


of those who are aspiring for the position of leadership have impacted so positively to the economy of this country by sheer entrepreneurship and private initiatives; I checked but found none. Here is the person that has made a success in the field of agriculture. He has a factory that pro-duces animal feeds, food nutrients in Adamawa State. He has a water plant, that produces water and beverages in Adamawa State, he has a univer-sity that is fashioned after American system of education, and at inception controlled and supervised by Ameri-can scholars, in Yola, Adamawa State.

Here is a man who has established a media outfit, a television station, he’s still running it successfully till today. All these enterprises I’ve mentioned to you are not enterprises that are sustained or run by government patronage. They are businesses that are initiated from the scratch, up to that successful level, by sheer hard work and knowledge in business. For me, we are searching for somebody who has clear business initiatives. He is not a person who is just coming to learn. We need a person who has acquired experiences, so when the time comes, and he faces those who want to run the government, he’s sufficiently knowledgeable in business of government and business itself. That is why I think at this point in time a person that we need in this country is a bridge builder; a unifying factor, an en-trepreneur, a businessman, and a man who has a large heart. He must also be a man who has the love of people at heart, a man who is not submissive to divisive tendencies; that panic the governance of this country today.

He must be man who goes to the north, to the south, to the east, to the west of this country and he has friends all over the places. A man who all of us can trust, not a man who only a section can trust. A man who Igbo man, Hausa man, Yoruba man, Benue man can trust, that is the per-

son we need in this country. We are so divided; time has come now for us to be united, so that other things like economy, development can now come to play. We don’t need a person that knows it all: I’m not saying Atiku knows it all, but he’s a man that can search for those who are skilled and those who are competent. He’s a man who is not pressured by ethnic tendencies, a man who is not caged by religious affiliations, a man who is not confined to his immediate envi-ronment or to his family. He must be

a man who is global in his perception and a man that is prepared to lead and is prepared for the job. That is why at this point in time we have not seen a better candidate.

All of us know except for those whose only goal is to destroy. Those who have not seen anything good in those blessed by God, are those who will ascribe negatives, insinuations, to those who have made success in their careers and businesses. Politically, Atiku has come a long way; he won a governorship election in Adama-wa State before he became the vice president. He was a vice president for eight years, despite the hostilities at that time in the presidency. And some of the things we ascribe as achieve-ments in this country, I mean in the communication, we have to ascribe to him even as the vice president. That is why some of us will believe, and I’m saying so with genuineness that at this point in time Waziri is a person this country needs.

What is your message to

Nigerians?The message is: I think the time

has come for us to do what is right. What we need to do is to trust for the first time, somebody who is ready and prepared for the job. And I do hope we get it right. My prayer is that we get it right. You see, when the time has come there is nothing anybody can do about it, and I believe the time is here.

Your last line on Daybreak Nigeria Magazine

I want to encourage you: this is a brilliant concept. You would have noticed that when you first spoke to me, I was reluctant, but given your persistence and your clear focus, Daybreak Magazine is for now and the future. I’m sure the sky is not even your limit: all the men of good-will will support you.

We all pray for God’s blessings, we must be able to clearly at any point in time believe that some people are blessed. For the fact that you are hardworking and blessed does not mean you are corrupt. If you claim that somebody is corrupt, when he left Customs, he was in private business for so many years, where was the corruption then. He was a vice president of this country and left gov-ernment since 2007, 11 years now out of government, yet those who are vindictive in their heads would still ascribe corruption to a man whose businesses have grown more outside government than within government.

So we hope that we should get it right and I pray we would.

We need a person who has acquired experiences, so when the time comes, and he faces those who want to run the government, he’s sufficiently knowledgeable in business of government and business itself.”


TWO BROTHER UNDERTAKERS OF APC

Fire-brand ex-labour leader, Adams Oshiomhole, became the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress because many thought Chief Odigie Oyegun was rather slow.

IT HAS NOW APPEARED that the fear of Tinubu which to most political office holders and seekers is the beginning of wisdom has ironically turned around at the APC Head-quarters and the Presidency to make one recoil that the fear

of Tinubu has become the APC death knell. At the first elec-tive national convention of the APC, the standing order that saw the party zone the chairmanship position of the party to the South-South zone had thrown up two heavyweights

Oshiomhole Oyegun


Asiwaju Tinubu

from the zone, Chief John Odigie Oyegun a for-mer governor of Edo State and the fiery Chief Tom Ikimi, a former National Chairman of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in the aborted third republic.

At the time, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos governor and undisputed political leader of the South-West Nigerian progressives who had championed the merger that brought up

APC was said to have been disposed towards Oyegun who he was said to have preferred to the fiery, independent and sometimes even con-troversial Tom Ikimi. Towards this end, he had worked assiduously and ensured that Oyegun defeated Ikimi who had been largely supported by those close to the Presidency who saw in Ikimi, the person and opportunity to checkmate Tinubu’s rising and all pervading influence in the party. However, Tinubu who was the de facto National Leader of the party had his way and Oyegun became the first elected Chairman of the party.

The emergence of Chief John Odigie Oyegun was to work against Tinubu and water down his influence in both the party and the Presidency. Oyegun with the support of the same elements in the Presidency who had feared that he will be a Tinubu stooge made sure they wear down any influence Tinubu might have had in the party and the APC Federal Government. They openly and and actively checkmated Tinubu’s influence and choice of electoral candidates even in the South-West which is Tinubu’s stronghold. The first instance was in Kogi State when former Governor Abubakar Audu the APC gubernato-rial candidate died tragically on the threshold of victory. Honourabe Faleke, the deputy desig-nate who was regarded as a Tinubu’s candidate was denied the chance of stepping into Audu’s place as governor as Oyegun and the presiden-cy apparatchiks ensured Yaya Bello who had came second in the APC primaries was declared governor.

At the height of these struggles, an alarm was sounded from the most unlikely quarters; Aisha Buhari, the outspoken wife of President Muhammadu Buhari has cried out that strangers who had played no part in Buhari’s victory in 2015 had hijacked the president and the Pres-idency. Based on the role Tinubu had played in making sure Aisha was not confined to ‘the kitchen and other rooms at the beginning of the

WHEN A PLOT BACKFIRES: The emergence of Chief John Odigie Oyegun was to work against Tinubu and water down his influence in both the party and the Presidency


presidential campaigns, many believed she was talking about the ill treatment Tinubu was receiving from Buhari’s kitchen cabinet at the time.

Another case that was a direct affront on Tinubu by Oyegun was the Ondo State governorship election where Oye-gun worked hand in hand with former Tinubu protégés and loyalist like Baba-tunde Fashola, John Fayemi and others now known as Abuja Clique by virtue of their position in Buhari’s cabinet en-sured that Tinubu’s candidate did not emerge the party’s candidate.

So, when it was time for another constitutionally mandated elective con-vention for the party, Tinubu took it as pay back time for Oyegun’s betrayal. Though Oyegun fought with all he had to stop the convention and extend his tenure, a lethargic President Buhari thinking of the impact the legal impli-cation the issue will have on his second term ambition had suddenly woken up from his slumber and called for adher-ence to the party constitution and or-dered the convention. Oyegun retreated and the maverick Adams Oshiomhole,

former labour leader and immediate past governor of Edo State with the open and active support of Tinubu was elected Chairman of the party.

However, Oyegun’s serpentine, ma-nipulative, dangerous scheming style of leadership had already polarized the party and had laid the background for the mass exodus of the members of the New PDP bloc who had helped ensure the victory in 2015 from the party back to the PDP. This group was led by the Senate President Bukola Sara-ki, Speaker of the House Dagora and a host of members from the Senate and the House of Representatives. Adams Oshiomhole whose mission was well cut out before him to rescue the party has not helped matters so far.

Instead of using dialogue and com-promise in allaying frayed nerves, the fiery former leader decided to be asser-tive and combative so has to regain the party discipline that has been eroded during the Oyegun years. Ironically, this has further torn the party apart as ev-idenced in the fall-out of the party’s nationwide primaries. At the moment,

APC is now a house divided against itself with two prominent governors’ Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Ibi-kunle Amosun of Ogun State one leg in, one leg out of the APC due to what they say as Oshiomhole’s actions of denying them and their anointed candidates the party’s gubernatorial tickets ahead of the 2019 general elections.

With a resurgent PDP and their widely accepted Presidential Candidate, former Vice President ATiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa now on rampage, it appears the days of the President Mu-hammadu Buhari led APC Federal Government are numbered. Should the likely victory of the PDP in the 2019 elections be perfected, this automati-cally means the end of the All Progres-sives Congress as a party and it will be-come the case of two Edo brothers, as successive Chairmen of the party being ingloriously remembered as the under-takers of the first Nigerian opposition party to have defeated an incumbent administration. So sad! But to many Nigerians, this will be good radiance to bad rubbish.


INDEFATIGABLE CHAMPION OF GOOD LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA

The man Aremu Okiki Mathew Obasanjo is a name that has refused to depart from the political consciousness be it here in Nigeria, Africa and the global stage ever since he emerged as the abettor to solve the logjam between the General Aguiyi Ironsi Federal Military Government in Lagos and the Major Kaduna Nzeogwu led coup plotters in Kaduna in the ill fated January 15 coup.

CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO:

OBASANJO RISKED HIS LIFE, leaving Lagos for Kaduna to meet Nzeogwu who was his former flat mate and friend and persuaded him to lay down his arm to avert what could have been the early and more complicated beginning of the Nigerian civil war.

In the civil that finally broke out as a fall-out of the July 1966 counter coup by aggrieved Northern officers who saw the first coup as targeted against the North, Obasanjo was to later emerge the Nigerian war hero in the civil war that followed when General Philip Effiong surrendered to the victorious General Obasanjo with the surrender of the Biafra forces after the Biafran leader Colonel Emeka Ojukwu fled to Ivory Coast in January 1970.

The Ebora Owo was to crown those military exploits by emerging the Nigerian Head of State on February 13, 1976 after the unfortunate assassination of General Murtala Muhammed the then Head of State to whom Obasanjo was second in command. This opportunity to become the Ni-


gerian leader offered General Obasanjo another opportunity to enact yet another heroic feat when he chose to be the first Nigerian cham-pion of democratic rule when he midwifed the democratic process that returned Nigeria to democracy in 1979.

Out of power, Obasanjo’s love and passion for his beloved Nigeria did not wane as he remains on the sidelines offering incisive and useful comments on issues on the Nigerian body-pol-itic and development. This posture almost cost him his life during the despotic terror reign of General Sani Abacha when he was arrested on trumped up charges of spearheading a phantom coup. This near death experience was followed by the release of Obasanjo from prison after the death of Abacha to yet again play the role of national reconciliation to contest and win the 1999 general elections that gave birth to the present Nigerian democratic dispensation.

Today, almost 11 years after handing over power to successive elected administrations, Obasanjo is still a very crucial factor and vocal voice in the run-up to the upcoming 2019 general elections.

Many, especially critics of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, arguably most influential Nigerian leader of all times accused Obasanjo’s continu-ous concern, passion and involvement in Nige-rian politics as an ego trip and self serving. But those people for lack of objectivity fail to see Chief Obasanjo’s actions as solely patriotic and borne out of the burning desire to see to the development of Nigeria anchored on good and people oriented leadership. Some even claim that Obasanjo’s choice of Umar Musa Yar’ Adua and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to succeed him in 2007 as an altruistic choice and a back door at-tempt to secure his alleged bid for a failed third term. But this claim is not only fallacious but an outright disservice to the two men be-cause it tends to undermine the leadership qualities and achievements of the two men as respective governors of their states, Kastina and Bayelsa

states and the uncommon development they achieved that informed Obasanjo’s choice at the time.

It is on record that Umar Musa Yar’ Adua was the most if not still the most prudent man to have governed any state in Nigeria. The late Yar’ Adua was reported to have met an empty treasury but as at the end of his four years ten-ure, he left nothing less than N11 billion in the state’s coffers. The developmental stride of this man still remains unrivaled in the governance of the state till now. Banks were reported to

Out of power, Obasanjo’s love and passion for his beloved Nigeria did not wane as he remains on the sidelines offering incisive and useful comments on issues on the Nigerian body-politic and development.

Chief Obasanjo


reach over themselves to give out loans to any contractor working for Kasti-na State under Yar’ Adua because his word was good and sure as he would never renege on payment for any project. Pray, compared to the spree of looting by state governors of that era, how could Obasanjo not choose this honest and hardworking man with impeccable democratic credentials as his successor?

As for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, his choice as Yar’ Adua’s Vice President was informed not only by his unprec-edented achievements after emerging as an accidental governor after the im-peachment of D.S.P Alamieyeseigha as well has his impeccable character. It is on record that Jonathan remained

loyal to Alamieyeseigha all through his travails and log absence in the U.K. For those who saw the rancour and squab-bling between governors and deputies at that period coupled with the rivalry between Obasanjo and his Vice Presi-dent then, one can only conclude that Obasanjo’s choice of those two men was purely logical and patriotic.

It is funny to see men who are nor-mally logical and positive in national discourse invent fables and go over board to disparage Obasanjo only be-cause he will never keep quiet and see the Nigerian ship of state hit the rocks through bad leadership as it is currently. A Yoruba adage says an elder cannot be in the market and watch a baby tied to his mother’s

back strangled. While it is true that Obasanjo like

many Nigerians was disillusioned with the Jonathan administration and vo-cally and actively supported Buhari prior to the 2015 elections, it is also true that like majority of Nigerians, Obasanjo is currently disappointed with the poor showing of the Buhari APC administration that has visited untold poverty, loss of lives and to-tal insecurity on Nigerians in the last three years. Nigerians must accept the fact that Obasanjo is the most patriot-ic pan-Nigerian alive today who wants to see Nigeria settled on a progressive developmental path of good leader-ship before he takes his most deserved rest when God calls him.

SECURING THE ELDERS’ BLESSINGS: Recently, the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, received the endorsements of Chief Obasanjo and some notable religious leaders.

Atiku in a warm handshake with Chief Obasanjo, when he came visiting his former boss.


What is your take on presidential candidates of the two major political parties?

When I heard that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conducted a very credible pres-idential primary that produced former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar as its candidate, I felt it was a good start from the fact that they had a very successful outing. Atiku is a credible alternative from our experience with the ruling party. Although he is a chip off the old block, he

has consistently for more than three years been hammering on restructuring Nigeria and mak-ing it a true federalism, which is the only recipe that can save Nigeria. He has courageously stuck to his guns on this issue. As a man of age, who has watched Nigeria’s political destiny, I feel that he is honest. The Yoruba earlier on were championing this restructuring, but I didn’t know what happened, they seem to have fizzled out on the issue.

However, Atiku has been consistent and I

ATIKU HAS BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF NIGERIA THAN BUHARI – OKPALA

Businessman and public affairs analyst, Chief Joseph Okpala, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has a better grasp of the enormity of Nigeria’s problems than President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) He also speaks on Atiku’s running mate, Mr. Peter Obi.


think he has done his homework well, and it agrees with my own thinking that this country needs restructuring and we can operate better if we can revert to the old regions. Now, it can be seven or six zones, and each zone can leverage on what they have and control their resources and pay commensurate tax to the Federal Gov-ernment.

What advantages does Atiku have over Buhari?

The advantages are numerous. Buhari, as far as I’m concerned, all that I said in 2015 to Nige-rians is what’s happening. I remembered when the Economist of London endorsed him, I wrote the magazine, asking them whether they didn’t know his antecedents before the endorsement. Buhari was once here and, barely one year af-ter, had his close allies chased away. The same situation we have today was on ground then, intimidation everywhere; people were hound-ed here and there. And he and the late Tunde Idiagbo introduced War Against Indiscipline (WAI), but nothing was really happening. People were living in fear; the same thing is happening today; nothing is working and in every positive index, Nigerian is scoring negative in compar-ison to other nations. We are ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the World Bank, over 86 million Nigerians are living below poverty level. Insecurity is more on the high side now; bitterness amongst ethnic groups in the country is now more than it used to be, not even during the civil war. There is so much bitterness; you leave people roaming about, destroying other people’s means of live-

lihood, harassing them. That is not the way to live. The president does not care about what is going on; people are slaughtered, and the Boko Haram they boasted of defeating is still there. Anybody, who tries to vote for Buhari, again is either very wicked or is a fool, devoid of good reasoning.

Okpala


Buhari is banking on his integrity and fight against corruption to get re-elected. You think it won’t work?

What integrity? You chased away your coun-try’s elected president at gun point, is that in-tegrity? And you came back to seek election, is that integrity? Of all the presidents, he is the only one with certificate problem; problem of qualification that he couldn’t just produce School Certificate that qualified him. He hired his retinue of (Senior Advocates) to represent him instead of presenting his School Certificate like others did. Does that confer integrity on him?

Within his cabinet, there are scams bandied around, and we know corrupt characters that are closely working with him that he confides in, is that integrity? I don’t know in what areas he scored well from my calculations.

But APC is also accusing Atiku of carrying a heavy baggage of corruption?

Like I said earlier, Atiku is a chip off the old block, but a sinner can repent. In the Bible, a woman caught in the very act was cleared by the perfect man, Jesus Christ. For Atiku to start sell-ing the idea of restructuring now, confers some degree of honesty, integrity and repentance on his side. Atiku, married to the north, married to the west and married to east, shows that he will be fair to all sides. One of the main problems of

Nigeria is being fair to all Nigerians. When you say you are fighting corruption and you don’t clean up the civil service, the bureaucracy, which is the engine of administration, you are doing nothing. Every office in Nigerian is stinking, go to every local government, and go to every ministry, the person that opens the door for you is corrupt.

Buhari is fighting corruption yet electricity companies are not functioning or giving light, yet people are made to pay for what they didn’t consume, even when they are ready to pay for prepaid meters, the meters are not supplied. They prefer to choke people. Energy is what carries any meaningful development in any country, but look, Nigerian is totally sick.

What is your message to Nigerians on 2019 elections?

Nigerians should vote out Buhari because he has failed us in every sector. At my age as a sep-tuagenarian, if I should not talk straight, then I must be an idiot. What am I living for again, if God gives me another ten years, glory be to his name. I want my children and generations to come to try to live a much better life than what I passed through. Nobody prays to be better than his generations to come. The president is trying to reduce every Nigerian citizen to herdsmen’s lifestyle or standard.

Culled from The Sun

Buhari Atiku

Buhari is fighting corruption yet electricity companies are not functioning or giving light, yet people are made to pay for what they didn’t consume.”

DaybreakNIGERIA

219 Reasons

Deserve Your Votes in 2019ATIKU/OBIWHY THE NIGER DELTA YOUTHS WILL VOTE ATIKU − Ebis Orubebe

A detribaized Nigerian

Will stop senseless killings

Not imprisoned by religion

Will unite divided Nigerians

Sees all ethnic nationalities equal as equal

Not bugged down by nepotism

Has a doable Action Plan to tackle poverty

He’s an international business man and entrepreneur

Will fix the ailing economy

Will create jobs through private initiatives

Committed to restructuring Nigeria





DaybreakNIGERIA

219 Reasons

Deserve Your Votes in 2019ATIKU/OBIWHY THE NIGER DELTA YOUTHS WILL VOTE ATIKU − Ebis Orubebe

A detribaized Nigerian

Will stop senseless killings

Not imprisoned by religion

Will unite divided Nigerians

Sees all ethnic nationalities equal as equal

Not bugged down by nepotism

Has a doable Action Plan to tackle poverty

He’s an international business man and entrepreneur

Will fix the ailing economy

Will create jobs through private initiatives

Committed to restructuring Nigeria




PREVIEW OF NEXT EDITION

IT WAS RATHER HILARIOUS to read the reactions of the chieftains of the ruling Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Con-gress (APC) The party, most Nigerians, now see as the outgoing ruling party. The APC lost in the cocoon of self-induced illusion, and was flabbergasted by the outpouring of affections and support for Atiku Abubakar, at the kick-off of the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential campaign in the North East. This is a region the APC had taken as President Muhammadu Buhari’s traditional stronghold.

With the mammoth crowd embodied by the sea of red fez caps, symbols of the Kwakwasiyya Movement that came out to show their support and readiness to make the Atiku Abubakar pres-idency a reality on May 29 2019. It was clear that the APC was jolted back to reality. Instead of coming to terms with the fact that Nigerians

are totally disenchanted with the lugubrious, undefined and lethargic style of governance they had visited on Nigerians for the last three and a half years, the APC and its chieftains resorted to meaningless rhetoric and started spinning fables.

Most comic of all their reactions was that of the rabble-rousing governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, a man whose political fortune was made by the PDP, but who today has forgotten his roots and benefactors to dance to deceptive bandwagon lyrics that lead to no-where. Well, say what they may, the APC must come to terms that Nigerians are tired of them and cannot wait to see their back as was exhib-ited in the North-West’s embracing of Atiku and the PDP presidency in 2019. Nigeria is set to be ‘Atikulated’ and no rhetoric will stop this idea which time has come. On May 29 2019, Nigeria must be ‘Atikulated.’

APC HILARIOUS REACTIONS TO MASSIVE SUPPORT FOR ATIKU…AS PDP CAMPAIGNS KICK OFF


THE GENERAL OVERSEER of the Redemption of Christ love for All Nations, Pastor Akinyemi Akinwumi Philip has revealed God’s intention to install a leader that will stop the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, and usher in an era of peace and tranquility.

The cleric in his message -God’s Agenda for the 2019, revealed that God is utterly angry with the terrorists under the cloak of politics, ethnicity and religion tormenting the Christian faith in the country, stressing that the next pres-ident will be Christians-friendly and the teeming Christian faithful should open their eyes, shun political and ethnic sentiments and in capable leaders. This will help deal deci-

sively with the spate of killings that have continued unabated for some time now,

The Akure based fiery cleric said the contest is between right and left candidates, so Christians could decipher who to follow. He however admonished Nigerians irrespective of religion to pray fervently for the smooth conducts of next general elections, though sounding the note of warning that God will disgrace anyone that may want to pervert the will of the people.”The next president will surprise skeptics as he’ll provide answers to some debilitating issues confronting Nigeria almost immediately on assumption of office because he ‘ll be emboldened by Jehovah God” he concluded.

2019: GOD WILL CHOOSE A LEADER WHO WILL GUARANTEE CHRISTIAN-MOSLEM PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

Pastor Philip


Comedyof

CHANGE

Com

edy

ofC

HANG

E

DECEITS SOLD TO NIGERIANS IN 2015

COMPILED BY DaybreakNIGERIA

CO

MPI

LED

BY

Da

ybre

ak

NIG

ERIA

Coming soon...produced by

ATIKU LANDS IN USAAmid much controversies regarding Atiku’s eligibility to visit United States, the dust finally settled down yesterday as the PDP Presidential aspirant finally landed in God’s own country accompanied by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Senator Ben Bruce, among others.


Emai

l: i

nfo

@ad

amab

ever

ages

.co

mA

dd

ress

: Yo

la, A

dam

awa

Tel:

080

3 06

8 44

83

Women are the hearts of our families, businesses and communities. This is why, one of my first exclusive events in this campaign was with women of our party today, to discuss my policy and plans for them. Mothers are most concerned about the direction of our economy. If our children cannot get jobs, mothers cannot sleep. My job as president would be to bring peace of mind to mothers all over Nigeria, by ensuring their children can find jobs.

― Atiku Abubakar Waziri of Adamawa

Atiku’s Reassuring Plans for Nigerian Women

daybreakdaybreaknigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2tititrim.pdf2019/02/02 · john obasi...

Documents