Good morning all. My name is Uche Secondus, the National Chairman of the
People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria
Let me start this conversation by welcoming and appreciating you all for
honouring this invitation.
We have called you to discuss our nation state which is at a very
critical condition at the moment and requires not just the correct
surgeon to keep her alive but a critical surgery that must be performed
quickly.
We have themed today’s discussion “Nation Building: Resetting the
Agenda”. There are certain circumstances that make nation building top
priority. It is often contemplated after a country has gone through a
war, just gained independence or there is a total collapse of its
economy.
We are certainly not at war in the conventional sense of it. Neither
have we just gained independence. Rather we are almost 58 years as a
nation but you will agree with me, that our dear nation, Nigeria is in
very dire straits.
Our economy has been under immense pressure especially in the last
thirty four months of governance by the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC).
Not even during the fratricidal civil war has this country been so
divided along ethnic and religious fault lines. When a country is in
such precarious situation, nation building becomes absolutely
inevitable.
The Economist’s Glossary of Terms describes nation building as ‘Creating
a country that works out of one that does not – because the old order
has collapsed (as in the former Soviet Union), or been destroyed by war
(Iraq), or never really functioned in the first place (Afghanistan)’.
The same Economist explaining further on the goal of nation-building
said that it is to unify the people within the country so that it
remains politically viable and stable over the long term. But it warned
here that “Nation-building is a very difficult and risky undertaking,
especially in countries with deep religious, ethnic and/or political
divisions within the population.
Soon after independence in 1960, our forefathers set out to build a
nation worthy to be proud of, but early internal contradictions
engineered by tribe and religion truncated it, using the military. For
over 30 years, the military in league with some politicians led this
country until 1999 when they were pressurized to return to the barracks
through combined democratic effort from both within and outside the
country.
For the first 16 years of this milestone political transition,
legitimate power rested in the domain of the People’s Democratic Party,
(PDP), a party baked in the nation’s oven of democratic struggle. Its
founding fathers set out very lofty dreams for the nation’s economic,
social and political emancipation and development.
Within those 16 years, the party which I now have the privilege of
leading was able to lay the founding blocks of our nascent democracy by
setting up and nurturing vital democratic institutions that will ensure
its survival. Ultimately realizing the critical importance of credible
elections in the life of any democracy, the PDP government embarked on
massive electoral reforms that ensured the conduct of free, fair and
credible elections and saw a ruling party loose an election and
successfully transited power to the opposition.
This was the first of such in the democratic life of this country and an
example for the entire continent. Even though sad about our loss, we as
a party are immensely proud of what we consider our most significant
achievement of willingly transferring power to opposition when the time
came, thus giving a lie to all predictions that Nigeria will break in
2015 . Let me alert the current ruling party, that no less is expected
from them.
Only a party like ours truly founded on strong democratic principles and
ideals ultimately drawing its inspiration from the people hence its
motto- Power to the People, could have submitted to the superior will of
the people. This was despite the dire consequences to our continued
existence. Prior to the transition under our then leadership, Nigeria
emerged as the largest economy on the continent recording notable
strides in agriculture and the creative industries. We piloted Nigeria’s
banking sector to show resilience, deepening its capitalization and
offerings in line with global practice. We also led an encompassing
privatization programme which in itself is a reference point.
But three years down the line and about 12 months to the next general
elections, what is the state of our country? All gains have been clearly
eroded through an acute lack of the understanding of the intricacies of
governing a complex state like Nigeria. It has quickly become apparent
that propaganda and unrealistic promises that helped the current ruling
party to power could not and cannot deliver the much needed dividends of
democracy. You need competence and capability to do that!
The three major planks that our opposition sold itself to Nigerians are;
combating corruption; tackling insecurity especially the Boko haram
terrorist sect, and revamping of the nation’s economy. Today, the
scorecard of the ruling party on all scores, is embarrassingly abysmal.
On corruption, I need not go into details except draw your attention to
the latest Transparency International Report that shows that the
corruption index under the watch of the so called anti-corruption
government has worsened.
Today there is often swift action occasioned by extensive media trials
when it comes to investigating opposition leaders all in a desperate
move to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. But Nigerians are
witnesses to this government’s inability to extend same courtesies to
its own members. It is a clear case of selective fight against
corruption. Feeble attempts to slap accused members of the ruling party
on the wrists are engineered through unending probe panels that lack
legitimacy or are incompetent to effectively investigate such
allegations. In the unlikely event that the panel concludes its work,
the reports are never made public.
Our party does not and will not condone corruption in any manner. We
wholesomely condemn it in its entirety. As a matter of fact, it is on
record that it is only PDP that has willingly given up for prosecution,
its members accused of corruption. Furthermore, the EFCC and ICPC are
all organs of anti-corruption established by our government. We insist
and demand that the fight against corruption cannot and must not be
selective. After all, he who comes to equity, must come with clean
hands.
On security, Boko Haram has not only remained alive despite several
political claims of decimating it but is even now spreading under a new
name and nomenclature called herdsmen, that have been tormenting,
maiming and killing hundreds of Nigerian children, women and men across
the country with the government of the day offering feeble responses.
Everyday our media is awash with the staggering number of wanton
killings raising questions about the value of human life in Nigeria. It
is an endless stream of bloodletting directly or indirectly fueled by
incompetent leadership.
Only recently the Federal Government tried to arm twist state governors
to take from the common purse, the sum of $1billion dollars about N365b
for the tackling of Boko Haram they claimed they defeated two years ago.
The climax of the APC government politicking with security was the
recent abduction of over 100 School girls from their college premises in
Dapchi Girls Science and Technical College in Yobe Statewith government,
military and police authorities contradicting each other as to who did
and didn’t do what. President Buhari’s response to the distraught
parents of the abducted girls and their colleagues when he ostensibly
went on a very belated compassionate visit, was to claim that his
government’s response was swifter than that of the previous one. How
thoroughly embarrassing for this government?
On the state of our economy the story is equally unpalatable. This
government has through incoherent and inconsistent policies and actions,
dragged us into an unnecessary recession and it is patting itself on the
back for getting us out of where we ought not to have been in the first
place. The hardship currently faced by Nigerians is unprecedented.
Across the length and breadth of this nation, citizens are faced with
abject poverty with no clear path of alleviation.
Our currency has been recklessly devalued from N199 in 2015 to nearly
N500 a dollar before it came down to about N365 only due to an increase
in oil prices and not any significant thing done by this government.
Fuel prices rose from N97 to N145 yet the nation experiences unabated
scarcity with its attendant long queues and suffering by the Nigerian
citizens.
From friends and members of this government, we learnt that while in 16
years PDP government was able to borrow N6trillion and had some projects
commissioned for it, in just less than three years, APC regime has
borrowed N11trillion and has not commissioned a single project.
Rather than creating jobs as promised, the ruling government has
accounted for over four million job loses according to the National
Bureau of Statistics. A weak attempt through a faulty and corruption
prone social intervention programme which in itself is anchored on an
original concept of our party while in government, subsists by this
current government.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we have not invited you here to
regal you with the woes and disaster advented by the ruling party.
Things cannot and must not go on like this. We are here to reset the
nation building agenda for our dear country.
The renowned American author Richard Norton noted correctly that “Every
sunset is an opportunity to reset.” The current situation we find
ourselves in has provided us with an ample opportunity to reset the
button. If things are not positive and the mindset appears negative,
then it’s time to reset. Someone needs to push the reset button and we
as the leading opposition party under a new leadership, has chosen to
just do that.
Many will expectedly doubt our moral competence and compass to reset
this agenda. Since it is said that charity begins at home, I am the very
first to admit that our party the People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria
made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by
Nigerians occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015. Let me seize this
opportunity to apologize to Nigerians unequivocally for the several
shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all part of
an evolution process without which there can be no maturity. In the
words of May Sarton occasions such as this “gives one a chance to look
backward and forward; to reset oneself”
Therefore to begin with, under our watch, there will be no imposition of
candidates and no impunity. My colleagues and I at the National Working
Committee have vowed to uphold the rule of law as enshrined in our party
constitution. Power has been devolved to the zonal, state and ward
levels. PDP national headquarters at Wadata House will only co-ordinate
affairs. There are no votes to be solicited or won at WadataHouse. We
are committed to the respect the Rule of Law and assure you that not
only will your votes count in our primaries across the land, Iassure you
that your voice will be heard.
We are evolving from who we were to who we ought to be. A principled
party of avowed democrats who are committed to building a virile strong
nation whether we are in government or opposition. As a party, we
havebeen through various challenges, ups and downs, good and bad,
failure and success, promotion and demotion and yet we are still
standing. We are a party that despite our differences possess a strong
unity of purpose. We are a party that has lost and won; celebrated and
mourned. We spot talent and nurture them and our track record speaks
eloquently for us. Our appeal is universal regardless of age, gender,
ethnicity, creed or religion. We are a truly democratic party that is
not ruled by ‘cabals’ or even a ‘lion’!
Yes, we certainly have our work cut out for us in representing ourselves
and our new thinking to Nigerians. But we are most ready to regain your
trust, Nigerians. We have heard your cries in Dapchi, Yobe, in
Kafanchan, Kaduna, in Lagos, in Ilorin, in Enugu, in Benin, Yola, in
Benue, in Taraba, in Ebonyi, on the Plateau and we are morally bound to
respond accordingly.
It based on the overwhelming cries that we have actively and purposely
activated an aggressive and urgent process of resetting the agenda for
nation building in a multi-pronged initiative tagged ‘Rescue Nigeria’
which I present to you today. It’s a collective effort. On our part, PDP
will serve as the rallying point for a new socio-political order.
We will lead the charge by using our elected representatives and organs
to boldly address critical national issues like restructuring,
devolution of power, ‘not to young to run’ gender equality, economic
advancement, corruption, insecurity, unity, and good governance to
mention but a few.
Over the next few months leading to our party primaries, we will drive
the narratives and take actions that will set the framework for a
strongvision into which all those seeking elective offices under our
party colours must key into. We are rebuilding trust and belief in our
party, promoting its supremacy and strengthening it as a vital organ for
good governance. We have put in place a robust social listening
mechanism to adequately feel the pulse of Nigerians.
But we cannot do it alone. Rather Rescue Nigeria is a collective effort.
On your part as responsible and responsive citizens you must do the
following inter alia 1. Register to vote 2. Hold all your elected
leaders accountable 3. Seek for only candidates that will deliver 4.
Vote & vote right 5. Support the Rescue Nigeria initiative in its
entirety.
I urge you distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the good people of
Nigeria, beloved leaders and members of our great party to join in this
vital rescue operation. We extend our hand of fellowship to other
political parties, groups and organizations that share in our passion
and desire to Rescue Nigeria from inept leadership. Our party being a
home for all is open to the idea of working with other stakeholders and
those of like minds.
Nigeria needs us now more than ever. We essentially do not have anymore
time to waste. The RESCUE NIGERIA train is on the move and Iurge you to
get on board. We will embark on a national sensitization programme
shortly, so expect us to visit your locality very soon. Should you wish
to Volunteer to Rescue Nigeria, please visit …..to register. Or Visit
the Rescue Nigeria Registration Desk in the foyer.
As I conclude, I leave you with these golden words that always tugs at
my heart. They are found in the second stanza of our national anthem. It
goes thus;
