You’ve never been good at keeping your word, ex-VP responds
Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday made a subtle jab at his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Atiku Abubakar, saying that he would not be a part-time president who would split his time between living in Dubai and Nigeria. This is the epitome of a campaign gaining traction.
However, Tinubu stated that he will focus his attention and energy on facing and overcoming Nigeria’s pressing problems at an interactive session with followers of the well-known Tijjaniyyah sect in Kano.
But like what the powerful media trolls refer to as “clapback,” Atiku too quickly retaliated, telling the people of Kano State to disregard the “fluke promises” Tinubu had made to them because he and his party, the APC, had never been known to keep their word. He also said that he had been away from the country for the majority of the time for reasons that have not been made public.
Atiku is reported to have made Dubai his second home since then and is said to spend more time there than he does in Nigeria, a personal choice that has turned into a joke in the country’s political community.
However, Tinubu, who made a covert allusion to this in a statement released by his media office and signed by Tunde Rahman, stated that the improvement of Nigeria’s quality of education, security, and access to better energy were at the top of his list of priorities.
“I pledge to give Nigeria my full attention and all of my resources. Not 50% in Dubai in the United Arab Emirate, but 50% in Nigeria, you’ll have it better with me, he assured her.
Members of the Tijjaniyyah sect, led by Sheikh Bashir Tijjani Usman Zangon Bareebah, submitted a long list of concerns to the APC presidential candidate at the meeting.
His running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, and about six governors of the party, including Atiku Bagudu, chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and governor of Kebbi State, Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara, and governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-olu, were present at the meeting, which was held inside the African Hall of the Kano Government House. Also present were (NWC).
The sect demanded that the Tinubu administration guarantee its members’ involvement in cabinet and other government jobs, a reduction in the cost of the Hajj, and support in completing the Tijjaniyyah University project that was under construction in Kano as a framework for interaction.
In response, Tinubu stated that some of their demands were addressed in his platform, which President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled last week. He emphasized that he was running for president because of his dedication to improving the lives of all Nigerians.
A better business environment would be created through the implementation of well-thought-out policies, according to Tinubu, who also met with business leaders from Northern Nigeria on Saturday night in Kano. These policies would revive struggling and dead manufacturing companies in Kano and all over the nation.
Business executives and captains of industry from all over the North publicly supported Tinubu and his running companion, Senator Kashim Shettima, at the meeting to share insights with the Northern business community.
Tinubu connected the dots between Kano as a hub of trade and his economic plan for Nigeria, assuring the northern business leaders of a better business environment with well-thought-out policies that would revitalize industries and offer up new opportunities.
“There is a significant connection between Kano’s status as a center of prosperity and my agenda for Nigeria,” he declared. I promise to overhaul the economy, which will give our people newfound hope. Our nation requires a number of prosperous regions, and through generating value for all of our economic sectors, we hope to do just that.
“Nigeria is sitting on a goldmine, as I remarked during my speech at the Arewa House on Monday. In Nigeria, no state lacks either a certain resource or the other.
In order to transform the state of Kano and the northern area into industrial hubs in sub-Saharan Africa, the APC flag bearer stated that Kano’s arable land and comparative advantage in agriculture would be further expanded.
“Kano will become a force to be reckoned with in the sub-Saharan African agro-market if its population is combined with the state’s large fertile land and other agricultural potentials. My proposal for agriculture was discussed in my address in Kaduna, which was heard by many people. We will ensure that all types of farmers have simple access to capital through suitable government and private sector initiatives, in addition to working with the private sector to make input available that would guarantee increased output, among other incentives.
“The CBN Anchor Borrowers Program and the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative have worked wonderfully. We will build on those successes. My government will pay particular attention to Kano’s well-known dams, such as Tiga, Chalawa Gorge, Thomas, Kusalla, etc., that are not being fully utilized. We’ll make investments in projects like water channelization and irrigation land expansion to make sure we can cultivate these lands all year long.
We will continue to invest in and improve our agricultural potentials, adding value at every stage of the value chain. By connecting local markets like Gujungu in Jigawa and Dawanau in Kano with global markets through commodity exchange platforms, we would increase the return on investment for our farmers. The ultimate goal is to transition the country from an economy that is based on imports to one that is based on exports, where grains from Kano will be exported to the global market rather than being purchased from other nations.
“I am aware of some of your commercial endeavors as traders and businesspeople at the Kwari Textile Market, Sabongari Market, Singer Market, and the renowned Dawanau Grain Market, which conducts commerce with the rest of West Africa. With the proper support and regulations, these economic enterprises alone can give the state enough IGR to sustain itself. Beyond trading and business, I am particularly interested in solving the issue of the once-thriving Kano industrial estates in Sharada, Bompai, Panshekara, Jogana, etc. that are now dead or paralyzed. We know why those businesses failed, and we have a strategy to bring them back to life and make them competitive.
Through organizations like the Bank of Industry, we will offer incentives for industrial development across the country. A planned program will be implemented to establish industrial clusters and free zones unique to each location. In accordance with the state’s competitive advantages, we will focus on agro-allied industries for Kano, including textiles, tomato paste, rice processing, animal feeds, etc.
Atiku: Tinubu has never kept any of his promises.
The Kano State people have been instructed by the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organization to dismiss any erroneous promises made to them by Tinubu because both he and the APC were not known for keeping their word.
The Atiku Campaign, however, said that its candidate, Atiku, and running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, were promise keepers who had always and would continue to fulfill all the pledges they had made to Nigerians in a statement by one of its spokespersons, kola Ologbondiyan.
Rejecting Tinubu’s claim that he gives Nigerians his full attention, the Atiku Campaign argued that Tinubu has shown himself to be untrustworthy and unfit for office because he spends the majority of his time away from Nigeria for unknown reasons.
The PDP, on the other hand, said that its candidate was a full-time personality who had proven himself both within and outside of office.
“The people of Kano have not forgotten all the fake promises made to Nigerians by the APC, where Asiwaju is national leader, including bringing the naira to parity with the US dollar, building one refinery each for the first four years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, giving loans to undergraduate students, and paying N5000 to aged men and women,” the Atiku Campaign stated, highlighting that almost eight years down the tenure, not the least of these promises have been fulfilled.
The Atiku Campaign continued by saying it was heartbreaking that Tinubu could go back to Kano and make more false promises, despite the fact that his campaign pledges between 2015 and 2019 were like water poured into a basket.
We are not shocked that Tinubu simply makes vague commitments without describing how he intends to carry them out. Tinubu has failed to offer solutions to rising costs and the exponential inflation that the APC that he led had caused, the Atiku Campaign said, adding that Tinubu wants to boost agriculture and link global markets with commodities without addressing the troubling issue of insecurity, which is at the top of Atiku Abubakar’s list.
“Beguilers and rent-seekers who are now posing as managerial experts must be avoided by Nigerians. Why didn’t Tinubu present President Muhammadu Buhari with his sugar-coated remedies to our country’s problems during the previous seven years is the issue that requires a response. Is Tinubu claiming that he purposefully set up President Buhari to fail for his own benefit? said he.
In yet another state near Ologbondiyan, the PDP presidential campaign claimed that the large turnout during the party’s presidential campaigns in the states of Edo, Niger, and Katsina indicated that the APC was doomed to lose the general election the next year.
Ologbondiyan claimed that the deserted streets in Kano that were staring at Tinubu on the weekend were a signpost pointing in the direction of extinction for the APC ahead of the 2023 election.
On the other hand, he asserted that the sizable turnout of Nigerians at Atiku’s campaign rally in Benin, Edo State, as well as the two distinct rallies held in Bida and Jibia in Niger and Katsina States, were clear indications that Nigerians were adamant about electing Atiku Abubakar as the country’s next president.
The “thoughtless display of grandeur” by Tinubu during his disastrous visit to Kano, according to Ologbondiyan, was absolutely revolting and offensive to the people of Kano State, who were not persuaded by useless material showboating.
Nigerians in Kano watched in wonder as a convoy of cars toured the streets of Kano Municipal without drawing any attention from spectators, who went about their daily operations, Ologbondiya stated in advising Tinubu to immediately apologize and rescind from such visits and actions.
“In an audio recording of a popular video, a spectator is heard stating, ‘God has showed them clearly that people aren’t supporting them. Nobody worries about them. The Kano people are not with them, which is quite disgusting, he stated.
Ologbondiyan added that Atiku’s campaign was gaining ground nationwide due to his determination in addressing the problems and difficulties the APC had caused for Nigerians, unlike the APC’s disgraceful outing in Kano.
“Nigerians respond favorably to his commitment to rebuild the economy while elevating the importance of maintaining our nation’s unity. When he takes office on May 29, 2023, he has also vowed to make insecurity a thing of the past by making state police a cornerstone of the security measures he would put in place. Atiku is shedding light on our shadowy side. In our depressed situation, he is instilling optimism, according to Ologbondiyan.
