History was made in Abuja on Thursday
when the leaders, chieftains and
members of the fast growing party, All
Progressives Congress, during a national
summit, presented the parties “Code of
Ethics and Roadmap to a New Nigeria” to
the public. On the occasion, many
speakers discredited the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), accusing it of
wasting the mandate given it in the last
15 years.
The APC, a merger of some leading
political parties in the country registered
on July 31, 2013, has become the greatest
threat to the PDP domination of the
political theatre.
"APC considers the Nigerian people as
our nation’s greatest assets, and will do
everything to protect and preserve human
life and dignity; upholds a Nigeria bound
by the principle of freedom, justice,
peace, unity and the rule of law; upholds
and respects every individual’s choice of
faith under God; has no tolerance for
corruption, and will manage Nigeria’s
resources responsibly, with a commitment
to accountability and pursuit of the
pursuit of the greatest good for the
greatest number of people, and APC is
committed to a strong system of
government at the federal, state and local
levels as the most effective vehicle for
harnessing the diversity and preserving
the unity of Nigeria.”The party’s leaders
used the forum to present the mission,
commitment, the history of the party and
the Code of Ethics to the public with a
view to presenting a platform better than
the ruling PDP. Speakers urged Nigerians
to seize the opportunity provided by the
failure of PDP to effect the much-awaited
change come 2015.
Presenting the mission, the chieftains
said, “The All Progressives Congress is
committed to a Nigeria that achieves its
full potential and promise. We work
towards a nation that is economically and
socially vibrant, peaceful, just and secure;
a nation where the blight of corruption is
no longer tolerated in our political,
business or civic affairs; a nation that
invests in improving the livelihoods of its
people and the places where we live; a
nation that recognizes strength in its
diversity. A nation where all citizens can
earn a respectable living, provide for their
families and contribute to the betterment
of their communities and a nation of
progress.”
“The APC”, as presented by its leaders,
“rests on the foundation of democracy,
fairness, and the pursuit of opportunity
for all citizens, predicated on economic
productivity, fair competition and bridging
of inequalities; pursues its objectives of
increasing economic opportunity, social
welfare and progress through a
government-led and private sector-driven
economy; upholds and respects the
interest of one person, one vote
grounded in free and fair elections at all
levels; upholds and respects the interests
of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic groups that
constitute our nation and recognizes
Nigeria’s strategic role on the African
continent and commits to the pursuit of a
foreign policy that promotes peace,
security and our national interest.”
All these were presented by APC
chieftains including interim national
chairman Chief Bisi Akande, former head
of state Gen. Muhammadu Buhari,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu,
Senator Alimodu Sheriff, Senator Chris
Ngige, Chief Audu Ogbe, former vice
president Atiku Abubakar, Mrs Sharon
Ikeazor, Hajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu, Alhaji
Mohammed Garba Gadi, Chief Tom Ikimi
and Chief Segun Osoba.
The “Draft Code of Ethics” of the party was
presented by all the 16 APC governors
with the exception of Governor Kashim
Shettima of Borno State who was
represented by his deputy. They also
talked about the “Roadmap to a New
Nigeria”.
The party, according to the “Roadmap”
presented, will create jobs, fight
corruption, free relevant quality
education, restore Nigerian agriculture,
housing plan, healthcare plan for children
and adults, social welfare plan for the less
advantaged, build roads, power and
infrastructure, better manage the natural
resources and strengthen peace, security
and foreign policy.
Below are excerpts from some of the
speeches:
Akande: The future of Nigeria with APC is
the future for the Nigerian youths. We will
give good education that will make the
youth employable.
Buhari: There is no future for Nigeria
without addressing the problem of
insecurity. Nigeria must be secured.
Nigeria must be efficiently managed. The
No. 1 problem of Nigeria is insecurity.
Tinubu: APC is not just a party; it is a
contract with Nigerians… The PDP should
be voted out of power come 2015 and
there will be a new Nigeria when APC
comes to power.
Onu: Nigeria under APC will be able to
play her rightful role which all nations will
respect.
Tony Momoh: Freedom is the dividend of
democracy. Hospital, good roads and
water are expected from any government.
Tom Ikimi: Obasanjo weakened the
opposition during his time. He was a
dictator who declared in 1999 that he
won’t tolerate any opposition party in
Nigeria as long as he was president.
Atiku: All ourr efforts to establish a two-
party system had been undermined. The
PDP government in the last 15 years has
failed Nigeria.
Ogbeh: We don’t have problems that are
insurmountable. What we want to do now
is to do it the best way, which is fixing
problem the confronting the economy…
APC is set to create employment
opportunity for the teeming youths who
are being wasted in the labour market.
Sheriff: When APC say that the PDP is
bad, then APC has to do well; otherwise
what happened to PDP would happen to
APC. It is dictatorship that kills PDP; we
should avoid dictatorship if we don’t
want what happened to PDP to happen to
APC.In APC, we speak of a new Nigeria
where our God-given human and natural
resources are fully harnessed for the
greater good. Every time I remember the
words of the great Bob Marley, I wonder
if he had Nigeria in mind when he sang,
“In the abundance of water, the fool is
thirsty.”
Gbajabiamila: We speak of a new Nigeria
that can truly be called a federal republic
practising a federal system and not a
unitary system. We speak of a new Nigeria
where other arms of government are truly
independent and where the rule of law
reigns supreme. We speak very
expectantly of a new Nigeria where no
child will be left behind and education
will be a right and not a privilege and
where being shoeless will no longer mean
being clueless. A new Nigeria where the
word impunity will become a thing of the
past and 16 will no longer be greater than
19.
Ngige: Bad judiciary, bad education and
so on are the bane of Nigeria. The PDP
has nothing for Ndigbo. It is only in the
APC there is hope for us.
Gov Ibikunle Amosun: What PDP says is
not possible, we APC will make it
possible.
Gov Rochas Okorocha: The PDP has
written us a cheque that can’t be cashed
in any bank of progress.
Gov Oshiomhole: We are committed to
build a Nigeria that is economically strong
and provides security for the rich and
poor. If it is true that we’ve sustained
growth over the years; how do we explain
the number of the poor? The challenge
we face is that we are being fed with the
statistics that this country is one of the
fastest-growing economies, yet there is
nothing to show on ground. APC believes
that we must reinvent the industrial base
of Ikeja, Apapa, Port Harcourt, and Kano
textile industry. There are no miracles in
the lives of nations. Nations are built by
meticulous planning.
Gov Kwankwaso: We need to train and
retrain our security, stop corruption. I
don’t know where I would be today
without APC, but definitely not in PDP…
Nigeria has the potential to stop
insurgency but lacks the leadership to
effect it. The APC government will put an
end to the Boko Haram insurgency.
Poverty, Corruption Rob Nigeria Of
Integrity, Greatness – Ezekwesili
Former minister of education Oby
Ezekwesili has said corruption and
poverty are two factors that have robbed
Nigeria of its dignity, integrity and
greatness, despite its huge potential at
independence.
Speaking in Abuja during the All
Progressives Congress (APC) national
summit, Ezekwesili blamed corruption for
Nigeria’s inability to achieve its potential
despite its 100 years of existence.
She said Nigerians are in no way
celebrating centenary because Nigerians
feel a sense of disappointment.
She said as a result of corruption, despite
large revenue accruing to the federal
government from the oil sector, Nigeria’s
human development index is at the same
level with Chad Republic, while its
maternal mortality rate is the same with
Afghanistan.
She said: “Some people say poverty and
corruption are not really a big problem;
after all, other countries had corruption
and they still developed. I don’t know
what script they are reading from. But the
script that I read from has clearly shown
that poverty and corruption are the two
things that rob Nigerians of their dignity.
“Poverty deprives one of the basic
necessity and basic services that they
need in order to preserve their self-
dignity. Poor governance on the hand is
what poverty helps to breed.”
She said Nigeria has in the last 50 years
earned more than $600 billion from oil
revenue, yet more than 60 per cent of its
citizens live below poverty line.
She said: “What are the greatest indicators
of failure? For 69 per cent of our people
in our land to be in the class of poverty is
the greatest failure of a country that has
inconsiderable revenue from natural
resource endowment with its attendant
cancerous wasting away on what would
have legendarily been the best potential
realized economic development.
“The truth is that our country is engulfed
in systemic and endemic corruption.”
She blamed the political class for some of
Nigeria’s problems, saying the country
has been short of leaders who will render
selfless service to the country.
She however expressed optimism for the
future, saying the level of failure being
expressed is not sustainable.
“We shall stop failure at some point. Why
am I optimistic? There is a rising
crescendo of dissatisfaction with failures
among the youth of this country and that
gives me some sense of optimism,” she
added.
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