From: Aretaofeeq Posted: 3 years ago


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Atiku Talks Tough, Warns of
‘Violent Change’

15 December 2010


Former Vice-President and
presidential aspirant of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has warned
the Federal Government over the
2011 poll, saying “those who make
peaceful change impossible, make
violent change inevitable”.
He charged PDP to reform itself or
become irrelevant in the scheme
of things.
Former Senate President Ken
Nnamani also said the three zones
of Northern Nigeria hold the key
to determining who will become
the presidential candidate of PDP
in the April 2011 election.
The duo spoke at the National
Stakeholder Conference organised
by the Northern Political Leaders
Forum (NPLF), Igbo Political
Forum, South-south Unity Forum
and the Yoruba Redemption
Group.
Asked to give his remarks at the
conference, Atiku, the consensus
candidate of the NPLF, who was
one of the last persons to speak,
said he had two messages.
The first, he said, was that: “If the
PDP refuses to reform itself, it
stands the chance of becoming
irreverent.”
According to him, the second
message was for those in the
executive arm of government and
quoting Frantz Fanon, he said:
“Those who make peaceful change
impossible, make violent change
inevitable.”
Addressing the gathering as a
special guest, Nnamani said the
three Northern geo-political zones
alone had the capacity to
determine who becomes the
presidential candidate of PDP by
the numerical strength of its
delegates.
The former Senate president said:
“From the statistics of the
delegates to the National
Convention of the PDP, the 19
Northern states have a total
capacity of 61 per cent of the
delegates and the rest three geo-
political zones have 39 per cent of
the delegates.”
He explained that it was to ensure
that every part of the country
participate in the leadership of the
country that zoning was
introduced to accommodate all
shades of opinion in the country.
Nnamani, who described those
opposed to zoning as opportunists
and accidents of history, explained
that zoning is not peculiar to
Nigeria alone, as it is the common
thing in other parts of the world
with multi-ethnic groups like
Nigeria.
For instance, he said that zoning
and rotation is what makes the
political history of Switzerland to
be stable, stating that with a
French population of 65 per cent
and Italians and Swiss ethnic
groups of merely five per cent, the
country had remained one of the
most politically stable in the world
with no armed forces of its own.
The former Senate president also
said the United Nations and the
European Union (EU) still practise
zoning and rotation of offices,
adding that if not for zoning and
rotation, there is no way a Kofi
Annan and Ban Ki-moon could
become secretary-general of the
body when there is United States
of America.
In his speech, Chairman of the
occasion, General Ibrahim
Babangida, repeated his earlier
warning that jettisoning zoning
would spell doom for PDP.
He said: “Jettisoning this
arrangement, regardless of the
excuse that is being bandied
around, endangers not only the
prospects of orderly transition in
the country, but also its progress
towards evolving into a single
individual nation.”
He said at the formative stage of
PDP, it had in mind a party like a
tent that would house all diverse
sections, groups and interests in
the country.
“Any attempt to disrupt this
arrangement therefore portends
ominous prospects to the
electoral fortunes of the party,
but more seriously endangers
political transition in the nation,”
he said.
Other speakers at the occasion,
which included Chief Peter
Biakpara from the South-south
Unity Forum; former Minister of
Integration, Dr. Abimbola
Ogunkelu; and Chief Simon Okeke
of the Igbo Political Forum spoke
in support of zoning, describing it
as the pillar behind the unity of
Nigeria as a nation.
Biakpara said: “Allowing President
Jonathan to contest the
presidential primary of PDP has
great consequences for the unity
of Nigeria.”
He called on PDP to set up a
special committee to take a
decision on zoning, while
describing the position of PDP
National Executive Committee
(NEC) to recognize zoning on one
hand and at the same time said
that President Goodluck Jonathan
could contest as a travesty of
justice.
The former chairman of the Police
Service Commission (PSC) and
Chairman of Igbo Political Forum,
Okeke, said that zoning must be
respected, as without it, “Nigeria
cannot go to sleep”.

Ogunkelu commended the Ciroma-
led Consensus committee for
leading the North out of the
woods by choosing a consensus
presidential aspirant, stating that
by that singular effort, it had
reinforced zoning in Nigeria, which
he said must be respected for the
overall interest of the country.
Former Senate President, Dr.
Iyorchia Ayu, who spoke on behalf
of the North, said it was not the
intention of the three zones of the
North to dominate the political
leadership of Nigeria, which is
why it is insisting on zoning.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/atiku-talks-tough-warns-of-violent-change-/71993/

Today, the same man have now joined the terrorists party where he has met his like mind. One thing he must understand is that violent change of government is not possible in his life time.