07/11/2022
AFTER THE FAMILY DINNER AT TRANSCORP HILTON.
I think it’s a known fact already that there was a PDP reunion dinner yesterday at the Arise TV event in Transcorp. Even the moderator, Reuben Abati was so happy to meet his Comrades.
Despite being a reunion, one would have expected some frank talks among brothers at this crucial time, like Yorubas have a saying in that regard. But it was just the expected lackluster, unmotivating, un-engaging, same of same rhetorics. No surprises anyways.
Nigerians must understand that there’s no difference among these guys and their philosophy on economy and governance has failed and will keep failing. We must understand that a new turn must be made for us to have any meaningful progress.
It is only a foolish person who would employ the services of a renowned burglar to repair his door. We can’t keep supporting criminals to help keep the treasury.
There were no frank talks yesterday at the reunion. People were talking and even smiling in an Abuja that is already surrounded according to several intelligence reports. There was no sense of urgency in all that was said. I love the scene where Okowa of the PDP told Obi not to deceive Nigerians anymore. He alleged that Obi is flying private jets yet claim he’s not spending shishi. Many do not know that Obi spent over 10 million on logistics and camera man, just to go donate 5 million to victims of flood. So much wisdom from a man posing as a frugal person.
That part was the highlight for me.
It was supposed to be a debate (forget the whole semantic twist with the phrase “town hall series”), which means that there must be opposing ideas. For those who listened yesterday, what opposing ideas did you hear? They were saying the same thing, just with different accents and tones. Some loud. Some tiny. Kwankwaso was the comedian of the night.
Debates are what they are. They are mainly performative. Useless BAT won’t attend any. He believes he has a base, the “cassava , gaari, ewa” and he’s working on them. The traditional politicians believe in bases and they do everything criminally possible to keep their base. Kwankwaso was making those remarks yesterday to paint Obi as a South East candidate. Many did not understand the narrative behind those “you are doing a good job in the South East” jibes. It’s their trade.
However, these traditional politicans and their mercenaries in the media and INEC, now understand that in 2023, there seems to be a pool of undecided voters and those voting for the first time. These are the ones debate can sway and their plan is that Sowore must be hidden from those who can be won over by intellectual engagements.
They claimed they conducted a survey and Sowore came 5th with 20.7 percent (very arguable). But they went to bring someone who scored 6.9 percent to replace the absentee candidate. This is a game we understand so well.
The opposition to the philosophy sold to Nigerians yesterday, is Sowore of the AAC.
Instead of those beating around the bush and at best, telling us what the problems are , Sowore would have once again, told Nigerians in specific terms the solutions; that
- we shall run a public-sector driven economy with private participation. There is a salient difference between Private Sector driven economy and private sector participation in an economy. Private sector should participate not drive. Private sector is about profits and anything to make profits, including hoarding, market inflation, environmental degradation, cheap labour viz a viz casualization of workers, cronyism are what they do.
Our own government of the AAC will have business doing business. Government should be the biggest employer of labour in the real sense of productivity, not employing people to carry files from 9am, so they can go home by 12 noon.
But all the family members in that reunion yesterday (Okowa was the most articulate though) will tell you that government has no business doing business. Why then do we spend billions to conduct elections to put in government? Just to regulate or to “create an enabling environment for profiteers”? If that’s the case, can we just make Dangote the CEO of Nigeria Ltd and stop wasting money and other resources to put in government?
- we shall reverse privatization of national assets that were done. How assets worth billions were sold for peanuts, would be investigated. How a bank that was bailed out with 1 trillion almost 4 years ago, is now being sold for 40 billion to Babangida’s relative. Market forces of the Private sector!
- what they call entrepreneurship today is not entrepreneurial. Real entrepreneurship comes from research and innovation which will come from massive investment in real education. Not by some boring lectures they call SAED at NYSC camps. People who have spent 4/5/6/7 years in institutions are now being taught tie and dye, sewing, importing etc. If that was what they needed, why didn’t you provide such education for them in schools and award a degree for that?
Entrepreneurship is not N-Power. That’s bu****it.
Entrepreneurship is not buying underwears abroad and selling in Nigeria. That’s trading.
Entrepreneurship is seeking what’s our biggest problem today- Security and opening a challenge that Engineering students in Nigeria must work out how we can use technology to solve the problem.
- they killed public education, so that private can thrive. They starve public healthcare, so that the hospitals of their friends can thrive. Even national security has been decimated, so that a Tompolo (private sector) can get over 4 billion Naira to help secure pipelines. Shame!
- GDP does not pay debts. Revenue does. So the GDP to Debt ratio argument for more borrowing is lame.
- you don’t measure the success of an economic model by the number of billionaires the economic philosophy created. Large market should not be the same as largest economy.
- they maintained public refineries with 26.5 billion dollars with no result. But are now jumping because of Dangote Refinery and are planning to buy 20 percent equity in it- an amount experts said can build us a new refinery.
- a lot of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the state would have to go. There are a lot of duplicity in “service delivery”. There are a lot of ministries that are not ministering into the lives of Nigerians.
For example, what’s the specific significance of the National Orientation Agency? where there is still Ministry of Information? Can information not do orientation?
- we can’t afford a bicameral legislative system. That he would work to scrap the Senate and make House of Reps part time.
- there’s no need for Minister of State. It’s just waste of resources to pay someone can call the person a Junior Minister.
- we are going to work with the people to create a brand new constitution that would reflect our realities and would ensure peace, collective prosperity and progress.
- we won’t spend billions on pilgrimage. That people who have the means should go. That’s what the holy books say anyway. We save cost for social services.
- we won’t spend 16 billion Naira to generate private sector darkness. Yet subsidize the players.
- technology should come in at this time. We must try as much as possible to reduce casualties as we fight terrorists. It’s costing us too much. Morale is very low.
There are AI-powered drones that can help with intelligence and even warfare. Drones don’t have human feelings that can be compromised. Drones would steal ammunition and sabotage fellow soldiers.
- as a journalist and also from the Niger Delta, he knows where the militants are. Sowore has visited and interviewed a militant (one of the most feared in Ondo State) some 8 years ago. He would call them out for talks.
- on IPOB. While all of them were maintaining criminal silence, he’s been the only one publicly advocating for Kanu’s release. That the man even from his region, Obi, was first who attacked MASSOB in Anambra. That he’s lying that he would talk to every aggrieved persons. He didn’t do that in Anambra as a Governor.
- He met with Nnamdi Kanu in New York and discussed how he sees the struggle. That it should be collective, instead of sectional.
Sowore won’t say some of these things and not rattle the statusquo. They know.
Do Nigerians want the statusquo rattled?
Do the enablers of the statusquo want it dismantled?
Your answers to these questions are the reasons why it was a family dinner.
Vote for
- Adeyeye Olorunfemi
