The political sphere in Nigeria remains charged,
leading up to apparently, the most expensive heated elections in the
history of the nation. Most analysts would say prior to the postponement of
February 14, the All Peoples' Congress was charging to the finish line like
Usain Bolt. But the shift in the checkered line, has helped the Peoples'
Democratic Party, regain some stamina, and giving a push to the line.
To this end, a group of young party loyalists,
aligned to the incumbent, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a.k.a. #GEJ
decided to put together an event, to tell party stalwarts why GEJ wins it.
According to them, the President's achievements are under reported, so
Nigerians don't know on what premise they are lobbied to return #GEJ for a
second term by constitutional right.
So, even though the organizers screamed and shouted that the
event was a formal one, and there shouldn’t be jeans and sneakers, trust
Nigerians now… Anyways, I called up a darling friend, and she was my date for
the evening. They were economical with time, as they indeed said the event will
go live by 6pm, and at around 6pm, they were set. See ehn, I was VERY impressed
by the set up. From the stage, to the seating, to managing the movement of
cameramen, to the speakers, sound, montage… See, they bettered the PlayForum
guys a bit. I can beat my chest anywhere and say Naija Boyz can “did it”. At
the heart of the technical setup was the “kekere ekun”, Segun Awosanya a.k.a.
Segalink. Even though he had a resplendent seat in front, and he was dapper as
always, he was ducking from the view of the cameras, darting across the entire
space, and ensuring the whole thing thick.
In my mind of minds, I saw the name of the convener as “Karo”,
and thought of only one twitter handle I know with that name - @karo_orovboni,
and I went burst with it, as the convener delivered his welcome address. But indeed,
it was @karoagono. Thankfully, I was promptly corrected, and the barrage of
questions in my mentions stopped.
Mr. Agono insisted in his welcome speech, that you may
differ in ideas with him (irrespective of what part of the country you live
in), yet to him, you remain brothers and sisters I wonder if this holds sway
across board though.
And in the next 5 minutes, Karo adulated GEK in
bard-like rendition, citing why to him already, “GEJ wins it”. Above all, he reiterated
his angst on being told by friends in the opposition, that he had indeed taken
money, to give his support to #GEJ (Countfreemont’s tweet). Again, he said you Yes,
you have told him that if you support the opposition, you’re intelligent
and cool, but if you support the government, you are intellectually deficient.
Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim then proceeded with the first keynote,
and dropped a couple of subs for the 1st family, the opposition
candidate – Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and a host of others. His first sub though,
was for Mama Peshe. Because only a few days back in Akwa Ibom and then in Edo,
she said it was constitutionally a right for her husband to get 8 years in
office. Oga Anyim said instead, that #GEJ was not even concerned about being
reelected… Itumo
Again, he delivered a master of subs, when he
proclaimed that #GEJ’s is the first administration where power is not
concentrated at the centre, in reference to statements by one agile retiree,
that there are indeed 5 Presidents ruling the country (sic). According to
Senator Anyim, “Mr. President has no need to keep all the power, he’ll rather
strengthen the relevant institutions”. He also said that #GEJ’s administration
has guaranteed the stability of the national legislature, and it is not as
volatile. Well, maybe Senator Anyim was asleep when recently, there was rancor at
the national assembly
He also went on
about the rebasing of the economy, and said it wasn’t really for bragado
projecting Nigeria as the largest economy on the continent, but for it to
capture the relevant sectors of the economy which were hitherto neglected, for
the sake of national economic planning for the future. Again, he delivered a
sub, this time to the party itself, when he said, “We are not working for
reelection, but for the next generation”.
After his speech, an army of young, intelligent and daft
Nigerians took to the podium, to espouse the achievements of this
administration, from corruption *swallows flagyl for my running stomach* to
SURE-P, 10 million increase in school enrolments even though UNICEF says
Nigeria has about 11 million out of school children and even the small
matter of the number of Nigerians – 44 million plus – now using the internet
thanks to this administration.
Anyways, I was dazzled most by the speech of
Toyosi Akerele (@toyosirise), and no wonder everyone else was – she’s a
Jossite, like Mike Omeri and Labaran Maku *covers face* and myself. She touched
me, when she hammered on the truth, that even though young Nigerians are now
taking the handouts because if we don’t, the old generation will still pocket
it, or dash oyinbo PR firms, we can now negotiate on our terms, because we
are trailblazing across the globe, making Nigeria proud, even more than the
government is (yet another sub).
With all the adulation coming in, Eghes Eyienyien gave a strong speech, thrumping up the achievements of #GEJ, but ended it all with a massive sub:
The evening petered in to one of adulation and reiteration
of the same facts and figures of achievements we have seen on twitter,
facebook, on television and even on newspapers. And then, the lie called
Bala Mohammed happened. He claimed that there have been massive road expansions
in his administration, with plans to develop new districts in the FCT, via
public-private partnerships.
Oga, didn’t mention that his administration like
those before him, have neglected the development of Idu/Karimo Industrial
District, which will have been the nerve center for small businesses and
industries living in the FCT. For him, developing primed areas in “our own
Dubai”, were key projects for his administration. And I dare to add, even the illegal
conversion of about 20ha of designated green areas in Asokoro to residential
quarters, without adhering to requirements of the Abuja master plan, is a part
of it. Oga Minister also mentioned that they were working birthing a tax body
for the FCT, to generate N300bn in revenue for the Territory, so that it can
exempt itself from the national budget and be self-sufficient.
Wont for time, the compere took a couple of questions from
online viewers and from the audience, with most of them focusing on the issue
of power. Venerable Professor Chidenu Nebo reiterated that the power sector
doesn’t work akin to “plug n’ play”. It takes time to run feasibility and
evaluation studies, make procurements, import and install, but promised that
power will be a demon of the past soon, especially if #GEJ is reelected. Oh,
and he said, “#GEJ has overworked and over performed, but under appreciated”.
As
the evening grew older, the speakers and the audience had the look on their
faces that said one thing – “#GEJ will win it”.
The event came to a prompt conclusion with the national
pledge: I pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faith, loyal and HONEST; to serve
Nigeria with ALL my HEART, to DEFEND her UNITY and uphold her HONOR and GLORY;
so help me God.
