Nigerians have continued to adopt the “wait and see” posture since the successful merger and registration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) last year. The questions on the lips of many people has been, what is APC going to do differently from the ruling party, and what is new on its programme?
Traumatised by many years of failed promises by successive administrations, Nigerians may have developed strong cynicism over government policies and activities, even when they are well intended.
But the APC has insisted it possesses the answer to the country’s many problems. Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of the party, said this much in an exclusive interview Wednesday with BDSunday.
Mohammed said the party had programmes that would radically change the face of governance in the country if voted into power in 2015.
According to him, the import of the “Roadmap to a New Nigeria”, launched penultimate Thursday in Abuja, was to unveil to Nigerians the good plans of the party and to offer them the opportunity to make the right choice next time around.
When asked what is new in the proposed offerings of APC, the national spokesman, said: “The question on the lips of many people is, what new things are you bringing on board or what are you going to do differently? By that roadmap to a new Nigeria, we say when we come to power, we shall create job, fight corruption, we shall improve the welfare of all Nigerians, and return Nigeria to the path of a greater nation; that’s what the road map entails. And everything in that roadmap, every policy there must be tested –will it create job, will it cater to the needs and interest of every Nigerian? Whether we are talking about job creation, fighting corruption, healthcare, education, agriculture, housing, social welfare, peace and security- that is what the roadmap is all about, and that’s what APC has rolled out for Nigerians.
“What we have done through our roadmap is to identify that the major problem of Nigeria today is job, job, and job. We have been able to identify through our research that one in four Nigerians is unemployed; that half of our youths are unemployed; we have 10 million children of school-going age out of school; we have half of our primary school leavers unable to read. So, what is our answer to this? We are introducing one meal a day for primary school pupils. We are going to have a scheme for quality education for all primary schools. As an incentive, anybody pursuing sciences, technology or mathematics will be entitled to scholarship at tertiary level, with special attention to education of women. We shall encourage people who are majoring in Education by giving them scholarships and stipends while doing their service.”
He also explained that the party was ready to tackle unemployment, if elected into power.
“We would create 20,000 jobs in every state immediately subject to the willingness of the people to subscribe or enroll in vocational training or technology. Every year, we are going to have a guaranteed free medical care for our people; we will ban any expenditure on the part of government for anybody to go abroad to seek medical help, we will encourage our medical partners abroad to come and set up their practice here with good incentives. We may not be the messiah, but I, tell you that we are prepared to make life better for every Nigerian.”
On the insinuation by many pundits that the party will most probably face its toughest challenge at the point of sharing the “spoil of office”, the Kwara State-born politician responded thus: “The toughest test of APC we have passed; that was during the merger. Many people, including some of our members, never believed we could even agree on a common name; or on a common logo, not to talk of the registration. Many people predicted the death of APC within six months. It is only those who do not understand the moving story of APC that will think nomination will tear APC apart. No. Those who were present at the Abuja summit saw the discipline, the organisation, egalitarianism and orderliness that were displayed.”
Many Nigerians have also expressed concern about the gale of defections by politicians, expressing fears that those who had polluted the air in the ruling party may have found their way into APC to do the same. They had also accused the broom party of throwing its doors open for politicians that lacked ideology. In clearing the fog over the above observation, Mohammed, who directed our correspondent to the website where he could have access to the Roadmap, said those defecting to APC were not capable of causing any harm to the party since there were already laid down rules and regulations to which such people would be bound to adhere.
“Why are people very simplistic? For example, if in your church, or if you are a pastor of a church and you have been preaching to a group of young men living a dangerous life. They smoke, drink and engage in gambling which you preach against. After sometime those boys decide to join you in church, are you going to throw them out; are they polluting your church? Don’t forget that we already have our constitution, a roadmap which everybody has to subscribe to. In politics, a thousand friend is not enough, one enemy is too many. What are they talking about? Who have PDP pushed out from their own party? Are they not poaching back their members in the House of Reps? Why didn’t they say they are conterminated? Please it is not an issue at all.”
In its mission statement for a “New Nigeria”, the party said: “The All Progressive Congress is a new party for a new Nigeria. The APC’s philosophy is the welfare of the common man, the assurance of a great future for the youth, and a decent quality of life of all. The APC is determined to give a voice to the youth, mekunu, the umu ogbenye, and the talakawa. The test we have adopted for all our policies is: ‘Will this policy create jobs and benefit the youth and ordinary Nigerians?’
“We are committed to a nation where every citizen has the opportunity to work and earn a decent wage, and where the disadvantaged elderly, the disadvantaged disabled and the unemployed are assisted by the state; a nation where the curse of corruption is no longer tolerated in our political, social and civic affairs; a nation that is economically and socially vibrant; a nation that recognises our diversity as a source of strength. A nation we can all be proud of.”
Listing the priority areas, perhaps, in the order of importance, APC said its focus shall be to: “create jobs, fight corruption, free relevant quality education, restore Nigerian agriculture, housing plan, healthcare plan for children and adults, social welfare plan for the less advantaged, build roads, power and infrastructure, better manage our natural resources, strengthen peace, security and foreign policy.”
In the roadmap also, the party observed that it was time for Nigeria to move forward.
“Nigeria is changing. We are a young and dynamic nation, where individual citizens strive hard to improve their lives and those of their families. Yet, a culture of greed and corruption is holding us back, with trust in the government’s ability to create jobs and address basic needs at an all-time low. The disappointment of people in their national governments is understandable, as more than 100 million Nigerians are forced to live on less than N160 per day.”
Zebulon Agomuo
