Brief Remarks by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu at the Public Presentation of the
“2015 Manifesto of Nigerian
Opposition Politics” by Salihu Lukman. Yar”adua Center, Abuja. January 15,
2013
It is a double pleasure to join you
today to celebrate our friend and brother Salihu Lukman as he celebrates his 50th
birthday and launches a valuable contribution to our political discourse
through his book entitled 2015: Manifesto
of Nigerian Opposition Politics.
A 50th birthday marks a
milestone in the life a man. So my younger brother, I salute you and welcome
you to the club of those whose time on earth now moves closer to 100 years than
it is to the day of their birth. This birthday symbolizes the accumulation of
experience, accomplishments and of wisdom. We are grateful God gave you to us.
We are thankful for your life and ask that He provide you many more years so
that you may continue to do important work for your nation and her people.
This brings me to the meat of the
matter. While your birthday is a personal
milestone, your book is a political milestone and thus a national one. I commend you for having the courage and
spirit to write it. You are a patriot whose
service is not to curry favor from those who could enrich you. Your service is for the greater good of the great
mass of struggling Nigerians.
If you wanted, you could have become one
of the well-paid scribes of those in power. If so, you would have earned
handsomely the coin of the realm for you have shown that you are talented and
able. But you would have sold your soul in the process and you are too
principled a human being to turn yourself into a commodity for such an
exchange. That you stood for your principles when it would have been more
profitable to have pocketed the ruling party’s and its decrepit government’s
“pieces of eight” makes you are rare breed. If but for this reason and this reason
alone, we are proud of you. If but for
this reason and this reason alone, we should all take notice and soberly
reflect on the ideas expressed in this manifesto.
The basic theme of the book is
unassailable. The national government and the ruling party that spawned it are one
large infinite mouth. All they can do is eat and consume. They never give
anything except to give orders to bring them more to eat. They are ruptured promises that have become
heavy yokes on the neck of the people. They have taken us from bad to worse. To
show that this is no fluke, they now want to take us from worse to far worse
come 2015. At least, we can say one thing about them. They are meanly consistent. Everything goes
downward. Nothing upward.
As Salihu identifies, the opposition
has not been able to persuade the electorate that we are a better
alternative. Sadly, too many of our
fellow countrymen see the opposition as merely a different face of the same
dragon. This is tragic because we truly
offer a better vision and will give more faithful service to the nation than
the ruling party.
However, we have not convincingly
stated our case. Thus, we must begin to draw a clear distinction between the
conservative elitism of the current government the progressive reform we offer
to the people. We must do more than criticize the PDP failings. The people
already know them for they suffer under these failures and mistakes every day.
What the people need from us is the assurance that we have an intelligent,
attainable vision for reforming our political economy.
We have to do much better educating
the people about the social and economic policies we will implement to put the
nation on its feet, to provide our able-bodied citizens with meaningful jobs
and labor, to offer essential support to those who cannot work through no fault
of their own, to educate our children for the future instead of miseducating
them for the past, to provide basic health care for families and care for our
elderly who have given so much and now all they want is to live with some
dignity and comfort in their golden years.
We must tell the people how we intend
to light this darkened nation and how we intended to build a magnificent
infrastructure so that the economy can expand into it. In short, we must
convince the people that the political contest is not a battle between
competing factions of the same elite. We must convince the people that we
represent a fairer day for the majority of Nigerians.
This book offers some insight in how
to accomplish this mission.
The book is a thought-provoker. It is
not important that you agree with every idea in it. I do not agree with
everything in it. But the book does an invaluable service by raising core
issues for fair debate and thus cordial resolution.
To some degree, I believe the book
harbors too much on the alleged competing personal ambitions of General Buhari
and myself. This is understandable. It
is part of our political parlance to focus on leaders. However, I tell you,
that if General Buhari and I do our part to cement an opposition alliance, but
everyone else takes a holiday thinking the hard part is over, we will be in a
worse position by 2015 than had we not created an alliance. Thus, everyone must
assess their role in the coming alliance and identify how they cannot only help
bring it into existence but give it the fortitude, strength and ballast needed
to navigate the difficult waters to electoral victory.
Here, I can say for myself and I am
sure I also speak for the general in this regard. It is not in our hearts to
sacrifice the national wellbeing in order to fulfill any personal agendas.
Whatever responsibilities that need to be assumed or sacrifices needed to be
made to consummate a progressive alliance, we shall do.
Let me end by saying, happy birthday
to our brother, friend and accomplished political advisor, Salihu Lukman. You
have advanced the cause of justice, development and peace with this book.
Although it is your birthday, it is you who have given us a great gift. Now it is incumbent on those of us gathered
here to show our appreciation. With great pleasure, I present to you 2015, Manifesto of Nigerian Opposition
Parties.
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