The Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has called on Nigerians to rise up and redefine the country for good governance to be enthroned.
According to Kachikwu, Nigerians must promote competent and not primordial sentiment adding that he hopes to build a Nigeria not based on tribe and religion.
Speaking at a Town Hall meeting with the FCT residents, Kachikwu said Nigeria will no longer be associated with mediocrity adding that the youths must dictate what happens in the country.
He said it is sad that millions of Nigerians still live without water and power adding that there is no magic in providing such social amenities.
The presidential candidate who said Nigerians kept having different roles for different criminals, said If he emerged as president, he will send the Nigerian Patriots Act bill to the national assembly for passage adding that public servants can not use the same amenities they can’t provide for the public.
According to Kachukwu, if he emerged president, there won’t be generators, no boreholes in Nigerian homes adding that light and water will be provided to all.
“We can’t borrow to build bridges that lead to nowhere. The internet is the thing that we can compete with the world,” he said.
“I now realise that I must be in the driver’s seat to make the changes needed in Aso Villa. I now understand that merely proposing and complaining are not enough: it is time to sit on this table. It is a table of inequity, injustice, iniquity and intolerance but when you sit at the head of the table you get to decide what the menu is going to be. This is the seat I seek to occupy so that together we can chart a new course for our nation.
“Together we can design a new menu for our people. We will rebuild Nigeria from the ground up and do away with the faulty and archaic colonial foundation that now characterises our current existence. We must define our common charter as Nigerians and constitute a new nation that is not only inclusive for all but guarantees equal rights and expressions to all irrespective of tribe, tongue and religion. This new Nigeria must come first before any other identification. It will be our common bond as we do away with all colonial mistrust of division, and hatred.
“No longer will we engage based on Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba or North and South but on the basis of Nigeria, our only fatherland. We will resist all those who make religion and tribe their mantra. It will no longer be business as usual. We will zone out all proponents of zoning and usher in a Nigeria that promotes merit, character and know-how above primordial sentiments.
“Every component of Nigeria is blessed with those who have the talents and abilities to pilot the affairs of Nigeria and we must create the enabling environment for these people to emerge in government and governance. Nigeria will no longer be associated with mediocrity as we will invest in our citizens, our greatest asset. The toga of lazy youths won’t stand as we build the greatest workforce on earth. We must build a workforce that knows today and understands the demands and dictates of tomorrow. We can no longer be in conflict with what we don’t know as we make policy somersaults over modern age financial instruments like bitcoins.
“We cannot be seen to be banning and unbanning platforms like twitter that define the expression of the modern man. No longer will our citizenry be driven to the dark web and unconventional means of communications as they seek to hide from a repressive Government. Government is and should be a big brother and not a big bully. Millions of our citizenry still live without light and potable water in the year 2022. This is unconscionable.
“There is no rocket science to generate power, nor is there magic in distributing power. Our debilitating challenges are man-made and we must use an iron fist in crushing those whose decades of evil practice in our public service space have led us to the brink. We will treat those who sabotage our nation and way of life as saboteurs.
“We can’t have different rules for different criminals. If you do the crime, you do the time. If given the privilege to lead you, my first executive interface with the National Assembly will include a bill I have dubbed the Nigerian Patriot Act. It is a bill of equality and fairness. It is a bill that says we are all in this together. It is a bill that ensures that public servants cannot use the privileges they cannot provide to the common man.
“If you desire to be in the public service, you must use the same services the masses use. No private or foreign schools for our families, no private or foreign hospitals for us or our families, no generators or boreholes in our homes. If we desire efficient and effective education, healthcare, utilities, etc we must make it available to all so that we may all equally benefit from it. This is how we will build a nation that works for everyone.
“We must resist the wicked urge to take on sovereign debts that benefit a few but repaid by all. We can no longer borrow to build bridges and highways that lead nowhere when the internet is the highway of the future. Borrowings must satisfy the criteria of commercial viability while providing much needed basic amenities.
“We need governors who understand that the internet is the highway of the future. As you build roads you must build critical broadband infrastructure. We will make broadband available and affordable for all because this is the only leverage our kids have to compete in the new world. I will work with the State Governors on a plan that sees the Federal Government investing in national trunks for power and telecoms while the state governments and private sector participants focus on state distribution. We will harness all sources of energy to provide power to our people while giving preference to clean energies.
“We must replan our cities and build-out modern infrastructure across our country so as to reverse the rural urban migration that threatens most of our communities. It makes no sense to allow the brain drain occasioned by the migration of the middle class when all they seek is security, jobs, good and affordable homes, healthcare, constant power, etc. I will make these a standard in all our cities.
“Visionless leadership cannot continue to lead our people astray. We must elevate our millions of farmers to agripreneurs and transition farming to agribusiness. We will secure our farmlands and protect our men and women from those who seek to do them harm. Our farms will no longer be known as killing fields but as the food factory of Africa, providing millions of good paying jobs for the middle class.
“For too long our people have cried. Men and women are being butchered, orphans and widows created by the minute by a war sustained by the greedy who profit from defence contracts and the bloodthirsty, who seek to destroy our way of life. We will confront them headlong and destroy them. This war will be fought on our terms. We will arm all the willing and able to rid our nation of foreign invaders. We will take the fight to their camps as we arrest and prosecute their sponsors.
“We will no longer close one flank and leave another flank open for further incursions. The full might of the Nigerian army and the united will of the Nigerian people will confront our enemies. Our army will have clear instructions on what to do to the enemy. Our borders will be closed to all those who seek to harm us because we now know the enemy is the enemy irrespective of religion, tribe and tongue. War is war and Nigeria will win this war.
“My administration will avenge the lives of all soldiers and civilians killed. They will pay a huge price for their folly and be told in no uncertain terms that Nigeria is not a no man’s land. This is my promise. The sanctity and dignity of life will be restored under my watch. Ritual killings, trade in body parts and kidnappings have no place in civilised society. We will rid our forests of scam artists masquerading as native doctors who promise riches to the weak and lazy. We will protect our young men and women from these predators.
“I do understand that the APC government has succeeded in weaponizing poverty and hunger, but we mustn’t let our basic decency as human beings be eroded. If you can use the internet for Yahoo, you can use the internet to trade. We will guide you and teach you the rudiments of digital commerce. We will build technology parks in every senatorial district in Nigeria that will serve as incubation centres for digital jobs, research and development. We are an English-speaking nation, and we will use this to our advantage to provide services to people all over the world from the comfort of our homes.
“We are the technology generation; technology will be used to leapfrog Nigeria from third world to developed nation. Nigerians are the brains and engine rooms of most nations. Why can’t they do the same here? No sensible nation allows their best and brightest to leave. We will reverse this ugly trend. Nigeria will work again for everyone.
“We will turn our hundreds of kilometres of beach front land to international tourist destinations providing jobs to our people and bringing much needed foreign exchange. We will build first class hospitals not just for our citizens but for foreigners desiring first class medical services. We will defend our future by sufficiently investing in education. If this generation has missed it, the next generation must get it right. We owe this to ourselves. Our schools will have modern teaching aids and learning systems and our kids equipped with smart devices. We will retrain all our teachers and pay them better because they are our first line of defence. Our women will join us on the table of equality. They will be respected and promoted. They will be afforded the same opportunities men have. If they can do it, they will do it,” Kachikwu added.
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