THESHIELD Garkuwa
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Upon inauguration on 29th May, 2015, the APC unveiled a package of roadmaps for the liberation of Kaduna state and for the development and empowerment of the masses of our population.
The agenda was well thought out and signals the depth of reflection which the then leadership of APC has exercised about the predicament of Kaduna State and what it will take for a complete sustainable transformation.
Unfortunately, given the floundering, hit or miss, haphazard nature of governance over the last seven and the half years, especially under Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufai, citizens of Kaduna state were beginning to wonder whether this democracy thing was all it was cracked up to be or another grand deception set up to swindle the people and perpetuate their impoverished state of existence.
When we were in the opposition, we had accused the PDP saying that all PDP administration have given to the people of Kaduna state are despondency, deprivation, degradation and demoralization, which have festooned into various forms of reactions, such as apathy, lawlessness, criminality and terrorism in the form of Boko Haram.
We can argue that Boko Haram was tackled by the APC central establishment to an extent upon inception but seven and the half years down the line rather than end Boko Haram; the security challenges facing the entire nation is on the increase especially the issue of banditry and Kidnapping in Kaduna state coupled with the ranting’s of the governor on issues of security which has made Kaduna state the epic Centre of kidnapping, banditry and killings of innocent lives.
While we recognize that the leadership at the Centre in Abuja may be willing to deliver, but the cabal operating from within have made things difficult and therefore responsible for the devastating insecurity, unemployment, disempowerment and disillusionment of the masses of Nigerian youth, which made it easy for the radicalization of the youth, the fact of the matter is that democratic governance is designed to address the needs of the masses of the people. In other words, what is being urged here is that having granted the failings of previous administrations to address the growing restlessness of our youth population in Kaduna state, 7 years is enough time to begin to make a difference which gives the youth a sense of belonging, direction, vision and purpose in life in a state that is as blessed as Kaduna.
Let me illustrate: First, the educational system in Kaduna state today needed an overhaul to ensure that the masses of the youth are given free, compulsory education, infused with skill training, empowerment opportunities and carefully streamlined orientation to lead to the transformation of the state from one of mere potential to one of fulfillment.
Secondly, the massive resources of the state needed careful harnessing to provide employment opportunities for the teaming youth population. Thirdly, the agricultural, animal husbandry and agro-processing capacity of Kaduna state needed visionary management to enable it provide food for the rest of Nigeria and the West Africa sub region. And finally, social welfare, safety nets and life security provisions are necessary to carry the youth in Kaduna state into the 21st Century.
Even while having such mileage and influence in this administration, the leadership of government in Kaduna state has been selfish to a point of absolute irresponsibility. There is no doubt in our minds that the selfishness of the leadership of Government in Kaduna State, sustained in extreme greed and perfected in feudal patronage and corruption has created two different worlds where there is little middle ground. The extremely rich and their hangers on, and the extremely poor who have nothing to gain or lose from the current arrangement of the All Progressives Congress in Kaduna state and who would wish to have another kind of arrangement, even if poorly conceptualized.
It is this kind of arrangement that breeds hopelessness and the desire for revenge by any means necessary. And when you bear in mind the barefaced impunity that parades the highest corridors of power in the wake of the congresses and the so called primary elections not only in Kaduna state but across the nation, and the manner in which people of very questionable social morality who would have been long disposed of legally and otherwise in saner environments are the darlings of the leadership in APC, then you can see why the larger percentage of the membership of APC in Kaduna state in disaffection cares not a hoot if they die in the process of protesting what they see as gross, ungodly and inhumane degradation of their humanity and their right of choice.
As it is now, APC did not only fail as a party but has also failed to implement its constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and properties of the citizenry. It has also renege on the first main item on its agenda – provision of electricity that is regular, continuous, undisrupted and national in coverage – the stage would have been set for the take-off of the country on the path to development. Nigerians are only waiting for the leadership to do what is expected – truly, genuinely and unselfishly led in order to unleash the lurking energies and creativities of the masses of the people of Nigeria.
Nigerians are not born beggars and they are only waiting to be encouraged and when the right mix of policies are implemented, they would do the rest and transform the society by themselves.
This is why I moved to the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) as its candidate for Kaduna Central Senatorial District seat with a view to doing the needful to transform education, create employment opportunities for the youth and arrest the drift brought about by insecurity which the leadership of APC government has shown apparent inability to tackle with the seriousness it deserves.
It is important at this juncture to let the world know that the masses of our constituencies are watching carefully to see that the People’s Redemption Party they waited so long to see its resurrection, for which so much obstacles were placed on its path to create abortions of the dream and which start up challenged the creative minds of the best among us, is now ready to take charge of the reins of government not only in Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Kaduna state but Nigeria in general by the special grace of Allah come 2023.
Fellow Citizens of Kaduna State, we are glad to inform you that our entry into the PRP marks the beginning of the process of rebuilding Kaduna state and Nigeria in general. We want to use this chance to promise you a clean break from kleptocratic representation/governance that has sent Nigeria into the colony of failed states.
We want to place it on record that PRP will begin a process of reorientation of its leadership, vetting and retraining in order to let all and sundry understand that Project Nigeria is greater than individual “Project Dubai property” or “Cayman account number”. It is in this respect that we want to assure citizens of Kaduna state that PRP leadership will not be deceived into squandering the political capital it will build over time.
Finally, We call on all and sundry to bear in mind that a PRP government is not just about gaining political power at all cost, and that our agenda is not idle vote catching propaganda but it is serious about emancipating Nigerians from the shackles of APC slavery and that care is being taken to ensure that nobody brings shameless greed and profligate lifestyle into PRP to mar its effective implementation of its agenda in the interest of the masses of our people in Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Kaduna State and Nigeria in general, regardless of clime, faith, gender, age or other proclivities.
SIGNED BY
HON MUHAMMAD ALI
