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Well if you
ask me this question one hundred times, my answer will be yes, because we have
a very good product, and APC has delivered their campaign promises in 2014/2015
to 2019. Already we counted our achievements as championed by President
Muhammadu Buhari, and all his ministers including but not limited to Babatunde
Raji Fashola (SAN) and the rest of them. We talk about insecurity because
everybody is talking about insecurity. When you look at the whole world, there
is security problem everywhere. In America they are talking about security, in
Britain they are talking about security, in African countries they are talking
about security. It is a world problem which didn’t start today, and it cannot
stop immediately. You can see the amount of money being invested in security,
and you can see the effort of all the security agencies, at least we don’t hear
about Sambisa Forest again. You don’t hear about the Northeast being taken over
by Boko Haram and the rest, they changed pattern, started banditry, kidnapping
and all that; the Federal Government is working seriously, even though we have
not gotten it, it has not been nipped in the bud, we must admit, but we believe
in the capacity of Mr. President and his team. I touched this because I know
you would always go there as if that is the only problem.
Coming to
your question, I have said it time without number, APC is the party to beat,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the candidate to beat. You see, his campaign
pattern is quite different from others, he is meeting the real stakeholders,
holding town hall meetings, holding meetings with the real participators and
creators of the economy across the six geopolitical zones of this country. Then
look at his campaign rallies, people gather like sand, the whole house of APC
are behind him, following him, all the governors, senators, members of House of
Representatives, State Houses of Assembly. Then stakeholders like us, and our
supporters, wherever he goes, we go without minding the distance, without
minding the financial implication and the risk and all that, he is going to
win, and win free and fair, and he is going to get 25% of votes cast in almost
all the state.
Do you think Asiwaju has finally
penetrated the heart of Ndigbo, considering what happened in Owerri where about
2000 businessmen and women raised N1billion to support Asiwaju’s aspiration?
You are
coming to ask me as an Igbo man and a southeasterner, I know you will come to
that. And I will tell you that it is a misconception to feel that APC and
Asiwaju will not perform well in those areas. Look at what happened in Imo
State, when Tinubu went to Owerri for a town-hall meeting, Igbo traders and
businessmen, about 2000 of them levied themselves N500,000 each and raised
N1billion to support Asiwaju/APC project. And more people are coming to do more,
all the party hierarchies were in Owerri, from all the states in the southeast.
He came out from Owerri and went to Ebonyi State, where the performing governor
there, just like Hope Uzodinma did in Owerri, made sure that Ebonyi State stood
still for him, look at the crowd, massive intimidating crowd, all of them
Igbos, southeasterners, and you could hear Governor David Umahi proudly
eulogizing the party, eulogizing Asiwaju and he was proud that he left PDP for
APC. The time he was living the people were calling him all sorts of name, but
he saw what is happening today, like he said when he went to commission a road
in Port-Harcourt, he told Wike, I saw today that was why I left. So what
happened in Ebonyi, what happened in Imo State, these are the two Southeastern
parts he has visited, would show you that our people are solidly behind him.
And by
January 31, going by our timetable, you will see what will happen in Anambra;
that of Ebonyi and Imo will be a child’s play, forget about blackmail, forget
about all manner of propaganda, we know the truth. So with all these and many
more to come, APC will win, Asiwaju will win.
You have seen the support Ndigbo gave
to Tinubu in the southeast, in what way do you think Ndigbo in Lagos can
collaborate and ensure huge support to guarantee victory for Asiwaju and
Sanwo-Olu
Good
question. Where you live, you must protect, where you live by all means, I have
said it time without number, Lagos is the Centre of Excellence and Lagos is very
generous to non-indigenes. Lagos accommodates a lot, in short the entire
southwest accommodates visitors, and give them the enabling environment to do
their businesses. But Lagos is the epicenter of all these, as a result of
Asiwaju’s generosity and large-heartedness when he was governor of Lagos State;
and his successors maintained the policy, maintained the lane, at least in this
business complex where we are, which we started at the twilight of Asiwaju’s
Administration in Lagos State, he handed us over to Fashola, and Fashola
embraced us like his children, like his brothers, like his sisters, and gave us
approval to develop this complex which is now housing and feeding over 5,000
people in Lagos. Any slightest problem, we called and he would step in as our
father and brother. Yes there are Yorubas here, but the majority are Igbos. You
can see our people erecting buildings here and there in Lagos, buying land and
doing all sorts of genuine things, because Igbos, and that is why I am proud of
my people, and anything that concerns them concerns me, and that is why I keep
talking, let nobody rubbish them in any part of the country, because they are
developers and explorers, once they support you, they support you, if they
don’t support you, they don’t support you. And you can see in Lagos they are
supporting the government. When Fashola left, Ambode embraced us. When Ambode
left, Sanwo-Olu embraced us, and he is still nurturing and harbouring us like
his brothers, therefore, this is the time to pay back them back.
When you
look at what is happening in Lagos you could see that Ndigbo have taken a
position to support Sanwo-Olu and Tinubu. The Igbo apex body in Lagos, Ohaneze
Ndigbo, they have different branches, different strategies they are using to
achieve this project. We have APC Ohanaeze Lagos, we have Ohanaeze Political
Forum; there are so many splinter groups of Ndigbo in Lagos working seriously
to make sure that Asiwaju and Sanwo-Olu win this elections. They are not going
back, they are not relenting. Why we are doing this in different ways it is
important, and I want to advise seriously that what happened in Imo State
should be replicated in Lagos, and I am calling on the apex body of Ndigbo in
Lagos, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to wade in and organize credible businessmen and
women in Lagos to follow suit what happened in Imo State, apart from individual
efforts we are making, talking to people, campaigning, issuing press releases
and all that, granting interviews, like the one we are doing, which is over one
hundred and something publications I have done on my own without collecting a
dime from anybody. You know the quantum of money that is involved, but apart
from that, the apex Igbo body in Lagos should as a matter of urgency organize
credible men and women to do what was done in Imo State to raise money in order
to support Asiwaju/Shettima and Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat project. It is very important
they do that despite what we are doing on individual basis.
So I am
calling on senior citizens of Igbo extraction in Lagos to come out and organise
all these young men and women to kindly donate seriously for this
Asiwaju/Shettima and Sanwolu/Hamzat project, it is very very important. And
once we are able to do that, in addition to whatever we have done in our
individual areas, this election is a sure win, and I believe that by the time
we go in, Ndigbo will have a better place in administration as we are having now in Lagos.
What you are saying is like saying,
don’t think of what your country can do for you, but what you can do for the
country. Many people believe in what they can get from the party, but you are
talking about what you can give to the party. How can these splinter groups of
Ndigbo come together to translate this idea of your into reality?
It is not
issue of coming together, they are not at war, you see some inside Lagos, there
are some in remote areas, some in Ikeja, some in Ajamgbadi, Ekpe, Ikorodu, and
all that, but the apex body, is the easiest way to organise them. Individually
they are doing something, on our own here we are doing something, like I have
told you, I have taken this project on my own, doing what I think I can do in
my own little way because people have areas of specialization and I think
explaining APC, marketing our candidates through the print media, not social
media, it is my area of specialization, and I have never for one day, gone to
Sanwo-Olu or Asiwaju or any group to request for money for all these
publications. So what I am saying is that there are other people doing this
type of thing in one way or the other; that are Igbo people. Let our apex body
organize, sieve where they are, apart from what they have done individually,
let us have a collective pool to support what we have done, and nobody is doing
this thing for personal gain, but I believe in the ideology of Lagos, I believe
in the ideology of APC, I believe in the political sagacity of Asiwaju and his
group down the line, I believe in the government strategy in Lagos as a centre
of excellence, as home for all, so to say, not
even in Lagos alone, the entire southwest, let our people sit up and
make a pool of fund to support this election, it can be in terms of materials,
campaign materials, providing vehicles, there are a lot of things we have to
do, apart from what we are doing as individuals or as groups, not only in Lagos,
even if it is a PDP state, it doesn’t matter. Let our people rise up, because
the road is very clear. We have only one formidable candidate, and that is
Asiwaju Bola Ahmedd Tinubu. And that is why I keep thanking APC governors by
insisting that this thing should go to the south; they have done a marvelous
job, I don’t want to mention their names one by one, but I want to thank
President Muhammed Buhari for giving unfettered hand during the primary, it was
very clear, we watched it, people were stepping down for Jagaban of Africa,
this political colossus, talent developer, great achiever, detribalized
Nigerian, exceptionally intelligent political giant, we can’t afford to miss
this opportunity.
Forget about
blackmail, you see when Tinubu cracks joke in any campaign ground, you know he
cracks jokes, whenever he cracks jokes, the opposition will interpret it to be
another thing, we know all those things. When he wants to tease you, he will
say something, they will just misinterpret it, we know all these things, it is
a sort of chasing shadow. They are chasing shadow. The grass-cutter has left
and they are chasing grass, it has moved from the spot and they are chasing
grass. And I want to advise Asiwaju not to stop cracking jokes, you must keep
on cracking jokes. He is a very jovial man, very free, very generous, and a
game changer. So let the opposition continue with their blackmail, let the
disgruntled continue their blackmail, those things are neither here nor there,
in fact they are dead on arrival; they are not the determining factor in this
election.
Do you think there is need for Ndigbo
to be included in Sanwo-Olu’s Campaign team?
Yes of
course, yes. Igbos should be properly integrated in the Sanwo-Olu’s Campaign Council
and Tinubu’s Campaign Council. There are so many Igbos that are interested,
they should be sieved out, some people may be playing to the gallery, as you
know in everything there are some people that are dedicated and committed to
this project, those people should be searched out wherever they are, some
people are shy to talk, not many people can talk the way I am talking, they can
be used in door to door campaign, market to market campaign, where they will
use their own language to talk to their people, not just in Lagos but the
entire Southwest. Yes Igbos should be properly integrated, if it is not done,
they are not being fair to Ndigbo.
Your advice to Ndigbo in Lagos
My advice is
that I want them to be proud of themselves, any Igbo man should be proud that
he is an Igbo person because God made it so. Let they continue in their
self-struggle to be somebody in whatever genuine business they find themselves,
let them make genuine demands wherever they find themselves, it will be
granted. But I must advise, let them not get involved in any violent act of any
kind because violence does not pay. I know that some people will try to annoy
them, to drag them into something, they should try to dodge those things
because violence cannot give us anything, Igbos are very peaceful, very
enterprising, they are travelers, and wherever they settle, just give them one
week, you would know that they are there, they turn that place to be a home,
and any person that is known in building home is known for peace. I want to
congratulate them for being peaceful.
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