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Confessions of a Yar’Adua Boy’ |
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By Festus Eriye The Nation
Sunday June 14,2009 |
Sadiq Yar’Adua Ten years ago,
Sadiq Yar’Adua, 49, sought to be the
Speaker of the Fourth Republic’s first
House of Representatives but lost out -
in what ultimately became a two-man race
- to Ibrahim Salisu Buhari. After his
tenure, he would later serve as Chief of
Staff to former Speaker Aminu Bello
Masari. Today he is one of the leading
lights of The Restoration Group – a
pressure group within the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) pushing for
electoral reforms. The former executive
director at the Nigerian Maritime
Authority (NMA) and chairman of the
Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation
(NTDC) says he used to be an Umaru
Yar’Adua boy. Now he is one of the
President’s most vocal critics. In this
interview with Managing Editor, FESTUS
ERIYE, he paints an intimate and
revealing profile of the man he has
known and associated with for over 30
years.
You share a common surname with the
President but obviously you’re not
related…
No, we are not. We are from the same
locality. We are all from Yar’Adua
quarters in Katsina.
How long have you been associated
with Umaru Yar’Adua?
I have been close to him for more than
33 years; I have been one of his ‘boys’
even before he went into politics. We
saw him as a kind of inspiration. He was
a leader of the Katsina Province
students association at that time. Every
holiday we used to meet; they would call
us and the way he spoke was quite
inspiring. There was this revolutionary
fervour in his speeches. So that is what
made us to come close to him. We said
‘this man has some good ideas let’s
follow him’. He contributed in a lot of
ways in making us enlightened about
society, about human relationships and
even the meaning of existence. Ever
since I have been quite close to him,
like I said, as one of his ‘boys.’
During the SDP (Social Democratic Party)
time I was with him – even though I was
in government. In fact at that time I
was the highest political office holder
in Katsina State that was supportive of
the SDP - because I was Chief Press
Secretary to Col. John Madaki. At that
time the entire government machinery was
for the defunct National Republican
Convention (NRC). So you can understand
how committed I was or how close I was
to him. But I made it very clear to my
governor, that I had very long relations
with this man. Apart from that,
ideologically we saw eye to eye. There
was no way I could go to NRC because I
was not an NRC man. So I would hate to
disappoint him. I would not come out and
campaign for him, or be seen at rallies
and so on, but I would give him all the
necessary support – which I did. I
coordinated the press for him and there
are witnesses. Abdullahi Tasiu who
reports for the BBC currently is aware
of that. He was part of us. We were a
two-man team, but I was the one who
coordinated because I had links with the
press. I also handled all the background
things you needed to do because at that
time it was real politics, not all these
arrangee things. I was also a kind of
back office support for him. During the
UNCP and DPN time (under Abacha) some of
us were a bit interested; he said no we
shouldn’t play politics, that the
transition was a sham. We followed his
advice and didn’t participate mainly
because he said we shouldn’t. In 1998 I
was in Lagos when he sent somebody who
is late now to me; somebody who was
quite close to me and very close to him
came to me up to five times and said
that Umaru needed to see me. So I went
to Kaduna and saw him and he told me
‘look you know what is happening.’ I
said I don’t know. I pretended as if I
didn’t know. He said you know. I said I
understand that you are going to contest
for the governorship of Katsina State.
He said for now he had not made any
decisions but was trying to create a
political group, and we would need to
participate. We chatted for a long time
and he said he needed me to do one or
two things to support him – which I
started doing. Then I told him ‘sir
there is need for me to resign my
appointment with the National Maritime
Authority and come and do active
politics’. He said no – why should you
do that? I told him ‘sir there were many
problems which I observed during the SDP
days.’ You lack people who could assist
you and would not wait for you to bring
anything to campaign for you; people who
are educated. I told him I possess some
of those qualities, and this time around
we really need to come and give you all
the support because we had the
wherewithal to come and assist.
Money-wise we do not need to wait for
you; in terms of political thinking we
do not need to wait for you. We equally
have some ideas which you imparted into
us. We argued and he said he would think
about it and that I should come back
after two weeks. After two weeks we met,
he said what have you decided and I said
I still want to come. He asked me a few
questions which I answered and he said
it was all right. So that’s how we
started the campaign. As we were doing
the campaigns my mind was telling there
could be problems, so try and be
independent. That was when I decided to
contest for membership of the House of
Representatives. Something told me you
need to be on your own. Don’t try to
wait until government is formed and then
somebody will provide you some work to
do. That is basically what happened.
ABANDONED IN RACE FOR SPEAKER
In 1999 you were elected into the
House and decided to contest for the
position of Speaker. How much support
did you receive from your mentor?
He didn’t give me any support. I went to
him and told him ‘sir from the look of
things the PDP is going to zone the
position of Speaker to the North West. I
believe that out of the PDP members from
that zone – if we are all going to be
put on a scale – I don’t think anybody
would have more weight than myself in
terms of exposure, skills, education and
so on.’ I did my own homework; I got a
list from INEC of all the members-elect.
I said I want you to look at this list,
and I even want you to start from
Katsina State – from the six that were
members-elect from Katsina State I feel
that probably I am the best. So I need
your support. He said there was no
problem. He said he was about to call me
to tell me to go and contest, and that
once the PDP had decided he would talk
to Turaki (meaning Atiku), he would also
go to Ota and see Baba. But he said I
should go round Nigeria so that by the
time they take a decision it would not
appear to people as if I was being
imposed on them. So I said I don’t know
how to thank you sir, but may God bless
you. I will go all out and start
campaigning but I believe that nobody
will beat me. He wished me well. I
started going from state to state; and
every time I came and briefed him –
saying ‘this is what happened but we
need this and that’. He never gave us
anything. In fact there was a time when
he wanted to go and collect his
certificate of return as governor-elect
of Katsina State, we arranged with media
men to ask him questions about whether
he was supporting me or not. The press
men asked him specifically who he was
supporting. He kept quiet and said the
one that God chooses. He never came out
categorically to say he was supporting
my candidature. It was later when we
left the place that he said ‘look we
can’t come out to the market place and
say this and that. This is why I
answered the press like that.’ He wanted
to assuage whatever matter, but I was
not a small boy at that time. I knew
that something was amiss. Anyway I knew
its God who gives and takes power. So in
answering your question - no, he didn’t
give me any support despite the fact
that he made a commitment and a promise
to me that he was going to support my
candidature.
HOW RESTORATION GROUP’S PLANS LEAKED
How did you come to be involved with
The Restoration Group?
What happened was that some people who I
consider elders called me and said they
wanted to see me. I saw three of them
together and they told me ‘look we have
a very bad situation in the country. The
president is from the North and there is
need for all of us to try and see how we
can give support to the President so
that he will not fail. But that they had
tried using various means to get to the
President to let him understand what was
happening in the country, that things
were going bad in the country and they
needed to alert him.’ When that failed
they felt it was necessary for them to
organise. One of the issues that they
wanted him to address was the report of
the electoral reform committee because
they had a copy of the report even
before it became a public document. They
said one of the reasons they wanted to
see him was for him to implement the
recommendations of the report, but it
appeared from the way he was going that
he may not implement it because it would
become an albatross to him; that there
is no way he could win an election. They
know him - he is going to try and
deceive Nigerians; he would not
implement it. That was the beginning of
the thing. It was important for us as a
nation, and even as Northerners to
respect the wishes of Nigerians. What
are the wishes of Nigerians? It is for
us to have free, fair and credible
elections – that is the starting point.
All the other social ills that confront
Nigeria begin and end with a
non-transparent electoral system. So
that’s what happened. It was one of the
things that actually worried me because
I was also – at least on one occasion -
a victim of that flawed electoral
system, and I believe that there is need
for us as Nigerians to rise and insist
that our votes must count.
There have been one or two comments
regarding your group from PDP officials,
but as an insider what has been the
attitude of the party leadership to your
initiative?
What happened was that as we were trying
to organise, expanding and trying to
contact people - important political
players especially within the North,
suddenly Dr. Bello Haliru, the deputy
national chairman, came out and said
some people were interested in
destabilising the government, and that
we were already meeting. He mentioned
some of the venues where we had
meetings. Obviously somebody – a kind of
fifth columnist – was giving them this
information. He came out with that and
said what we were doing was tantamount
to sedition. We felt that our objectives
are quite clear. We were not trying to
destabilise any government, we were not
trying to do anything that is not
democratic. All we are saying is let’s
have a fair and credible electoral
system. When he came out with that sort
of thing, we felt that the best thing
was to make it public. So we rushed to
the press and said this is who we are:
we are the Restoration Group and these
are our objectives. We want to want to
restore the faith and confidence of
Nigerians in the political and electoral
system. That is our sole objective. If
today the government says we are going
to respect the votes of people, we will
say thank you very much and clap for
them. We will support whatever
initiative they would come out with
because there’s no way Nigeria can
continue like this; when elections are
fought and won in Government Houses or
at local government secretariats.
Somebody will just sit down and write
fake results and say this is the winner
and this is the loser. We can’t continue
like that as Nigerians; this country
belongs to all of us. It doesn’t belong
to a particular clique. So there must be
respect for the wishes of Nigerians –
not for a cabal of people to just take
decisions. That is why we are where we
are.
Let me understand, the Restoration
Group is not just a Northern initiative…
No, it is not. What we were trying to do
was to organise first along regional
lines – to have Northern and Southern
groups and then merge. But circumstances
change things. When Dr. Bello Haliru
came out with that kind of statement, we
said the best thing is let us react and
let us all come together. Already he had
mentioned the venues where we held
meetings in Kaduna and Abuja, so we
decided there is no need for us to go
the way we wanted to go – coming from
the regional groups. It is better for us
to start nationwide. We were still at
the planning stage; it was not our
intention to come out at the time we
came out. But we were forced to do just
that because of the allegations levelled
by Dr. Bello Haliru.
PLATFORM FOR DISGRUNTLED ELEMENTS?
Now someone like you is there. Aminu
Masari is there, Lawal Batagarawa is
there …
Go ahead.
Ken Nnamani is there. Surely there
will be the temptation to say these are
people who have an axe to grind with
Umaru Yar’Adua. So it is just a platform
of people who are disgruntled against
him. How do you respond to that kind of
charge?
If that is true is it wrong if I have an
axe to grind against anybody? Is it
wrong for me to come out against him? It
is not. This is politics. In any case,
that is not the issue. I want you to go
and check my background right from my
university days till today. Ask anybody:
I am a very principled person, once I
believe in something I am ready to go
for it. So even if I have anything
personal against the President that
shouldn’t make me not to come out and
fight for something. Just because
someone would say I have an axe to grind
against the President, it does not mean
that I should abandon my people. We may
have our own personal problems with the
President, may be, but what is important
is that the system is wrong and all
Nigerians are witnesses to what is
happening. You don’t need a soothsayer;
you don’t need a prophetic vision to
know whether the government is doing
well or not. Assuming the government is
doing well and we came out and said it
was not doing well, you can say these
people have something against the
President. But the truth is that the
President is not running this country
the way it should be run. It’s a fact.
So why shouldn’t I come out to fight
that? He taught me to fight injustice,
and right now what he is doing to
Nigerians is injustice. I should fight
him – even though he is my teacher.
THE UMARU YAR’ADUA I KNOW
For many Nigerians Umaru Yar’Adua is
a mystery. You have associated with him
for over 30 years. Can you tell us what
you know about his personality and style
of leadership?
He’s still a mystery to me because I
can’t understand some of his actions.
He’s someone who is unforgiving; he’s
someone who is selfish, who deceives
people. He’s someone who says what he is
not; he’s someone who is unreliable. In
fact I can go on and on. When you meet
him you’ll get the impression that the
man knows what he’s doing, but no matter
how long it takes he will disappoint
you. He talks less – as result you can’t
understand where he’s coming from or
where he’s going to. He’s a mystery. I
have always told people that I think
there is something that is mentally
wrong with him. I was a founding member
of K34…
What is K34?
It is the group he formed in Katsina to
grab political power: K meaning Katsina
and 34 meaning the 34 local governments
in Katsina State. I was in the apex of
decision-making of that group. He formed
the group and tried to make us believe
that he was not doing anything for his
own personal advancement, but there was
need for us as young, energetic,
principled people to intervene and stop
the conservative elements in Katsina
from capturing power. That was in 1998;
we believed that and gave him all the
support as our leader. But among all
those who supported him I can tell there
are may be only two or three that are
still with him till today. Only 10
years! It means something is wrong with
that person. All those who were the
drivers of that particular movement, in
one way or the other Umaru has nothing
to do with us today, after helping him
to become governor of Katsina State. But
like I said there’s nothing personal, if
he had done well the way the media was
claiming he had done, I wouldn’t come
out and say I don’t want to identify
myself with him. But some of us know he
never did anything for Katsina. The
thing is that he performed poorly in
Katsina – poorly. Certainly he
intervened in the educational sector,
but what he did was to renovate schools
and build their classrooms and so on. We
didn’t have qualified teachers and never
had teaching materials. So it’s like
building castles in the air. Coming back
to the issue - I cannot understand why
you’ll start something with people as a
movement with ideological vision and
then, suddenly, you abandon that
particular vision. Also, all those who
came to support you to ensure that
vision is realised you abandoned and put
yourself as the main beneficiary of
their struggle. I think something is
amiss. So it is very difficult for me to
tell you that this is the real Umaru. He
is still a mystery to me. I cannot
understand. This is somebody who will
not visit you if you are sick or
hospitalised, and you are his associate.
He will not come and condole with you
when you have lost someone. When your
wife delivers a baby he won’t come and
congratulate you. He’s somebody who does
not want any other person to be anything
– except him. He’s somebody also with an
inferiority complex – and I cannot
understand! This is somebody who comes
from a family background that is very
good, that is wealthy or well to do, and
somebody who is also very intelligent
and brilliant, and then suddenly he’s
not comfortable amongst people. Once he
sees that you have potentials to rise to
be anything, he will do everything
within his means to ensure that you
don’t become anything. He will sabotage
you; he will create hurdles for you. So
I believe there’s some kind of mental
imbalance otherwise I can’t explain… I
should be happy when my other
associates, those people who share my
vision and worldview… I should assist
them to rise to become something, but
he’s not that kind of person. So it is
very difficult for me to tell you that
this is the Umaru that I know.
I WARNED EL-RUFAI AND RIBADU
Two of the most successful young
office holders under Obasanjo were
former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu and
former FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai.
They were thought to be largely
supportive of the emergence of Yar’Adua
but their stock has plummeted rapidly:
one is on the EFCC wanted list and
another is out of job. From what you
know of the personalities involved what
is responsible for the predicament of
these fellows?
El-Rufai is my friend and has been my
friend for a very long time. We do
discuss and whenever we met we talked
and exchanged ideas – especially when he
was in BPE and even as Minister for FCT.
I do remember when this idea of bringing
Umaru to come and contest for the
presidency was being mooted. We
discussed for over three hours from
London to Abuja; we sat together with
Nasir. There was nothing I did not tell
him about having Umaru as president of
Nigeria. I told him not to support it. I
told him ‘I know this man more than you
do. I know him very well. Don’t support
him because Nigeria would suffer for
it.’ He dismissed all the reasons that I
gave to him and said (at that time he
was calling him Mallam) ‘We believe
Mallam Umaru is able because he has
achieved in Katsina.’ I said what has he
achieved in Katsina? Tell me! He said
that’s true, it’s in the records. I said
which record? He doesn’t have any
record. This is somebody who will sit in
Katsina when the National Council of
State is meeting in Abuja. This is
somebody who does not have the telephone
number of more than one governor out of
the 36 governors of Nigeria. This is
somebody who apart from the ministers
that come from Katsina didn’t know any
minister. This is somebody who apart
from the names of the national chairman
and may be secretary of the PDP didn’t
know any other executive of the People’s
Democratic Party. There is no way
somebody who has kept himself as a
provincial person, someone who only
knows his environment… and then you go
and bring him as president of Nigeria. I
said if you are not careful what would
happen to Nigeria would be like what was
happening at that time to America with
George Bush. George Bush never went any
where and became president, and his
presidency was a disaster for America.
That’s what I told Nasir but he did not
listen. So that’s what I know about
that. But like I have told you Umaru is
not comfortable at all with people who
know what they are doing. Nasir was one
of the principal pillars of the Obasanjo
administration, and he made a lot of
noise. Umaru doesn’t like people like
that; he doesn’t like achievers.
Similarly I told Nuhu… because there was
a time when Nuhu had a case against
Umaru and I was telling him don’t leave
this thing not for the sake of any other
thing, but for the sake of Nigeria. He
never took me seriously. I later
understood that it was General Aliyu who
intervened and said he shouldn’t pursue
Governor Umaru. But I know he had a
case; I don’t have any information as to
the extent of the case, but he told me
that Governor Umaru Yar’adua had a case
to answer. So I encouraged him but for
whatever reason they dropped those
issues.
For several weeks now the Internet
has been agog with a piece by El-Rufai
tracing the process that led to
Yar’Adua’s emergence. How much of what
he said regarding the Katsina period of
the president’s political rise is
correct?
I was going to talk to Nasir about it
unfortunately I can’t get across to him
because I don’t have his numbers in
Europe. There are factual distortions as
they relate to our group K34 – even
though most of them are minor. He
mentioned some people who he said were
part of K34 who were not. For example
Aminu Masari was never a member of K34;
he joined us later. So also Lawal
Batagarawa was never a member of K34.
But Nasir claimed that they were members
and that they were dismissed from that
membership. He also said that the name
of the Deputy Governor to Umaru was
Tukur Bakori, but actually the name is
Tukur Jikamshi, and he was one of us in
K34 – even though he joined later. There
are also other misrepresentations like,
for example, saying that Umaru comes
from the royal family of Katsina. As far
as I know his grandmother – his father’s
mother - is from the Dikko dynasty. But
Katsina is not a matrilineal society; we
are a patrilineal society. You don’t
claim royalty just because your mother
is from the royal family – because as
much as you aspire to be emir, you
cannot be. Also about the formation of
K34 he mentioned that some people who
made money from PTF (Petroleum Trust
Fund created by the Abacha regime) were
part of us, but he never said why they
were with us and what role they played
in Umaru’s government because it is very
important for us to know all that. He
needs to talk to people who were part of
that movement for him to understand the
intricacies and even the man Umaru –
because there are things that happened
within K34 which we know, and which we
have refused to talk about. I believe
his article will one day become a
historical document and it is important
for us to get the facts rather than
muddle up things. I have no quarrel with
the way Umaru emerged and what they gave
to him and so on, but like I said we
told them long before and they didn’t
understand. I also think that is the
kind of situation Nigeria would be in.
Today some of us are saying this man is
not right for this country but Nigerians
may not understand what we are saying.
They may think it is something personal,
but the truth is this man is not fit for
this country; he is not the right
person. He doesn’t have the right
understanding. This is somebody who does
not have three friends in Anambra, Ogun,
Delta or Ekiti State. As small as I am I
can tell you go to Awka – I know so and
so, or go to Ogwashi-Ukwu. This man has
never been exposed; he’s always kept
himself to his local environment. Above
all he’s somebody who is not even
worried by public opinion. So if the
entire 150 million Nigerians do not
think he’s doing well, he believes that
he’s doing the right thing and nobody
can tell him anything. He is somebody
who doesn’t like challenges, who doesn’t
like to be criticised. He can take
serious actions against those he
perceives as his enemies even if what
they are saying is the truth. He looks
at the messenger, not the message.
ON LOPSIDED APPOINTMENTS
One major criticism of the President
is that most of his key appointments
have favoured people from one or two
localities – either Katsina or Katsina.
The Central Bank Governor, Minister of
Finance…
Exactly! Exactly!
This a major issue and people have…
It is a major issue and these are the
kinds of issues that Nigerians should
understand. We are all Nigerians and we
have a stake in Nigeria. There were
certain actions during Obasanjo’s
administration that I was against, not
because they affected my own side of the
country. For example, the movement of
the Nigerian Railways headquarters, or
the NPA or NMA… I felt it was done out
of sheer ethnic jingoism. Right now I
cannot understand why the nation should
keep quiet when all the economic
ministries and departments of government
are being handled by people from one
particular zone – that is the North West
zone which is my own zone.
Zone, not region?
No! It’s the North West – not even the
North. There are three zones in the
North and we are talking about only the
North West, and even in the North West
we are only talking about Kano, Katsina
and Kaduna. The Minister of Energy,
Rilwan Lukman is from Kaduna, Minister
of Finance is from Kano, Minister of
National Planning is from Kano, Minister
of Agriculture is from Katsina, the
Chief Adviser to the President on
Economic Matters is from Katsina, the
CBN Governor is likely to go to Kano,
the Managing Director of PHCN is from
Katsina, the MD of PTDF is from Katsina,
so many of them… Why should it be that
way? These are positions that should be
shared. Even the Minister of Power is a
nominee of the Chief Economic Adviser to
the President. So he who pays the piper
dictates the tune. There is now way that
the Minister of Power would do anything
that is not sanctioned by the Chief
Economic Adviser because he was his PA
before he became minister. And
Nigerians, especially the media, are
keeping quiet over all these. Nigeria
belongs to all of us; it doesn’t belong
to only a section of the country.
A TRANSFORMED TURAI
Nigerians are now used to wives of
public office holders being overtly
political. The likes of Maryam Babangida,
Maryam Abacha, late Stella Obasanjo and
others come to mind. Initially people
perceived Turai Yar’Adua as retiring but
over the last two years that image has
given way to that of someone who is
given to wielding influence. Is this a
correct impression given what you know?
This is part of the contradictions of
Umaru. I do remember vividly during the
Babangida and Abacha periods, whenever
we were speaking about the role the
First Ladies were playing, Umaru was
always condemning them. And he was
always saying that the husbands lacked
morality that’s why they were allowing
their wives to be in the public eye. But
today look at what is happening. Turai
is doing more than what Maryam Babangida
or Maryam Abacha put together did. So it
is part of the contradiction. The Turai
I knew is not the same Turai of today.
The only time she started campaigning
for Umaru was in 2003. 1n 1998 she was
never anywhere, she was always at home.
In fact she was in Kaduna, we were in
Katsina. I was the one that was always
picking Umaru to travel to Kaduna. She
was never a political person or figure.
It was only in 2003 that she started
attending some women’s rallies in the
evenings and going from one local
government to another – because at that
time as First Lady she had something to
do with the local government chairmen’s
wives. I have always known her to be a
retiring person – someone who was not
exposed to politics or the public. So I
am surprised really and cannot
understand the sudden change and
transformation.
OBASANJO DIDN’T KNOW THE REAL YAR’ADUA
Obasanjo was severely criticised for
handpicking a successor whom many said
would be his puppet. Even today many
insist that the former president still
manipulates things in the background.
But from what you know about Yar’Adua
after over 30 years of associating with
him, is he the kind of man an Obasanjo
can manipulate?
I think Obasanjo did not actually know
Umaru very well. He was only seeing him
from afar. Umaru is not the kind of
person he can manipulate. If that was
the intention he was dead wrong and I am
sure he knows it now. The events of the
last two years can really go a long way
to back this point. He has this
stubbornness of not listening to people;
it is not only Obasanjo – even the whole
Nigeria. I don’t think there’s anybody
who can dictate to him except those
around him who by whatever means
manipulate him. But it is not that he
realises that he’s been used or
manipulated. Once he realises that you
are trying to play games with him,
that’s the end of the relationship.
PERISH THE ONE-PARTY THOUGHT!
It would appear that Nigeria is
slowly veering towards a one-party
system. The main opposition ANPP has
lost the bulk of its governors to the
ruling party and by 2011 may have
dissolved into the ruling party. Some
people say the mega party is the
solution. But most of the promoters are
not on the ground, and there’s the
question of whether Buhari and Atiku’s
presidential ambitions can be
accommodated under one canopy. Is there
really a credible alternative to the PDP
or are we doomed to the one-party
scenario?
First, let me say that I really believe
in the mega party, I believe it would
give a credible challenge to the PDP. So
let’s wait and see. On Buhari and
Atiku’s ambition I cannot comment, but
given a choice I know who I would
support between the two. But in terms of
making Nigeria a one-party state, it
cannot happen – not in my father’s
Nigeria. Nigerians are a very resilient
lot. If that is the dream of the PDP,
let them know that it cannot happen. In
fact we will start our struggle from
Katsina; we want Nigerians to wait for
2011 and see what will happen in Katsina.
The President is from there but we will
not allow it to happen. I am sure they
will use all sorts of intimidation; they
will use the military, police, the
security agencies and INEC, all the same
we will go out and defend our votes. I
am sure that Nigerians from all cities
and towns will come out to defend their
votes. Nobody can change this country to
a one-party state; it cannot happen!
Nigeria is not a banana republic.
But we saw under Abacha five Nigerian
parties coming together to nominate one
man for president?
But what happened? Did he become
president?
But that was not because Nigerians were
able to resist him. It was just God that
took him out of the equation.
It was Nigerians who prayed to God and
He answered their prayers! We are a
nation of faith, of believers. I don’t
think you can find any better Christians
or Muslims in anywhere else in the world
than in Nigeria. What are we talking
about? It cannot happen. Let them know
that it cannot happen. We will struggle;
it’s in our blood to struggle and we
will start it from Katsina. |
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