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ACN leaders warn of looming dangers in Nigeria
By Our Reporter 22 hours 41 minutes ago
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• Chief Akande
After an appraisal of the unfolding developments in some parts of the country, especially the spate of bombings in the North and the activities of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) warns of the consequences. Its National Chairman, Chief Adebisi Akande, accuses the PDP of attempting to create instability in the Southwest where it was rejected at the polls by the people after eight years of waste. He identifies the phoney security report in Osun and the incessant industrial action in Oyo, Lagos and Ekiti states as some of the ploys of the PDP to slow down the pace of progress in the region.



We welcome you to this unusual but important press conference on socio-political and economic developments in Southwest, the state of security in Nigeria and the incessant and worrisome spate of industrial unrest particularly in the Southwest. We have watched with consternation and a deep sense of foreboding developments in Osun and Ondo states particularly over the past few weeks – itself a carryover of the culture of relentless assault on the legitimate governments of our progressive states from times past. We are convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that all that we are witnessing in Osun and Ondo is not unconnected with a well-oiled, carefully orchestrated plan to destabilise Western Nigeria – a train which is now moving in the direction of Oyo, Ekiti, Ogun and eventually Lagos State. Ordinarily, we could have easily dismissed the sabre-rattling of the past month in the newspapers as the usual ranting of political lepers, already out-rightly rejected by the discerning people of Western Nigeria. Whilst it is not unexpected that the political jobbers of the West, otherwise known as the ‘mainstreamers’ , still smarting from their ignominious exit from the various government houses in the Southwest remains aggrieved, we know that they are not alone in this quest to destabilise the governments and therefore the piece of the Southwest.

For eight years, these reactionary elements, otherwise known as ‘mainstreamers’ held the South Western part of the country by the jugular and justified their forcible entry into our government houses by the false claim that joining their party in the centre is the most assured vehicle for development in our region. Alas, eight years down the line – 2003 – 2011, the region is worse off in all indices of development – infrastructure, security, education, healthcare, industrialisation, employment, gender equality and Agriculture. All that was left in their wake was empty treasury, pharaohnic fraud and gargantuan indebtedness in the whole of the Southwest. Except for Lagos that became the beacon of hope with meteoric progressive development in the last thirteen years of civilian rule, the present nadir to which the Southwest had been plunged was precisely under the watch of these political ‘mainstreamers’, stripping bare of all pretences the false claim that progressive politics was detrimental to the development and well being of our polity. To further confirm the ludicrousness of this claim, there is independently verifiable evidence that the golden years of growth and development on the contrary were the years the progressives were in charge of the Southwest – 1952 – 59; 1979 – 83 and 1999 – 2003.

While we are not in doubt as to the wisdom imbued in the generality of our people to detect and discern the political undertones of many of these actions, we are also not unmindful of our history right from colonial times. Every time anything good comes collectively to the Southwest by the sheer dint of our people’s hard work, reactionary forces within are always available to be used by external forces determined to arrest development in Yorubaland. Consequently, the febrile efforts by the PDP reactionaries who are hell-bent on disturbing the current peace and tranquillity that is being enjoyed in the Southwest is aided by official sleight of hand from the Centre and is aimed at distracting the leaders of government in Western Nigeria and thus undermine their current effort towards accelerated development in the region. All manner of subterfuge and opportunistic methods are being employed to achieve this singular objective of destabilising the region for purely partisan political motives and also as a cover-up of the fraud and looting perpetrated by their disgraced governments and this is most evident from current developments in Osun, Ogun and Ekiti states, but also being promoted in other parts of the region.



Osun State



The media has been awash in the past weeks with the unfounded and highly disturbing allegations that Governor Rauf Aregbesola is intent on removing the state from the Nigerian union to which it legitimately belongs. As proof of this phantom claim, puerile justifications such as his use of the State anthem at public functions, the design and use of official flags with the state crest and his so-called renaming of Osun State as State of Osun, a distinction without a difference. Tonnes of newsprint were used to sell this claim to an unsuspecting public in the hope that a lie repeatedly told would gain credibility and acceptance among the generality of our people. If this story were being peddled unofficially, it wouldn’t have attracted any serious attention of Federal complicity. The fact however that a national security agency was the producer of this alleged plan at secession by Governor Aregbesola should worry any discerning observer of current developments in the Southwest. Even curiouser was the seeming choreographed coordination between the release of this phoney intelligence report and the parroting of same by the leaders of the PDP in Osun and the Southwest in general. Although the media is now better informed about what is going on in Osun and the collusion between some security agents acting in concert with the discredited elements in the mainstream party to not only paint the government of Osun in a bad light, but also give the governor a bad name in order to hang him. Having failed to turn the ordinary people against the Government of Osun since he could not be accused of non- performance in terms of promoting the people’s welfare, they have resorted to all manner of unsubstantiated allegations and threats. We in the Action Congress of Nigeria would like a judicial notice of this threat to be taken by all. The leadership of our party expresses complete and total confidence in the leadership of Governor Aregbesola in the State of Osun and would like to underscore that an injury to one will be treated as an attack on all.



Ondo State



Now in the case of Ondo, recent developments in the state known for men and women of honour and decency have not portrayed the Southwest and Yoruba race in good light. Political campaigns are rituals of politics and in no where in the world are they canonised as rites of violence. What the Labour Party under the leadership of Olusegun Mimiko has done in the few months fits into a historic trend of South West quislings who have fallen out of touch with the soul and stirrings for decency in the land. Opposition sometimes descends into acrimony, even at that it’s condemnable. But for it to become avenues of blood and death and wielding of guns and machetes harks back to a barbaric past that we abhor in the 21st century. Elections are designed to anoint the choice of the people, but not to foist of theatre of ominous bitterness. What Mimiko and his Labour Party have fomented at the Memorial Lecture of a former Governor of Ondo State under whom he served as Commissioner falls into a pattern of renegades. It is a desecration at a memorial for a man of peace. Such renegades pretend to flower but in the end flounder and become part of the Southwest traitors and abusers of the people’s trust. The Action Congress of Nigeria stands for truth, progress and decency in Ondo State and the better angels of the people see through the grand subterfuges and celebrated lies of the Mimiko administration. No amounts of awards purchased would whitewash the perfidy and stench of his character. Elections are opportunities for the people to judge and vote. The LP and its foot soldiers are voting in the fashion of the military of by gone era: guns and cudgels. Very soon, the people know better. Friday, April 20, has come and gone. Let this be the last. And Nigeria should be put on notice that no amount of weaponry deployed and thuggery employed in Ondo State would deter us from the cause of progress and change that we have embarked upon in the interest of the people.



Oil Subsidy and Pension Scams



As a party, we are equally alarmed by the shenanigans surrounding the oil-subsidy and pension scams and the unconscionable manner in which this has broken the social contract between the Nigerian people and their government. Corruption on a scale never before unearthed in our short history marks the headlines of the newspapers and electronic media daily. We commend the House of Representatives and its leadership for its courage in tackling the filth and scam and we expect that they will continue in the path honour. What is important now is not just the drama but a determined effort to reach the root of the matter, to expose all those involved in the years of rot. Particularly, we are concerned that those at the helm of affairs still act as sacred cows. The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke with her team in NNPC, who presided over the activities of the industry while the rot lasted, is still shielded by the president and the People’s Democratic Party. It is the same attitude that maintains some sacred cows that ignores some fundamental questions: Who are these beneficiaries that have turned out to be paper companies collecting billions of Naira as subsidies without actually importing fuel to the country? We want to know on what basis they secured the licences and authorisations and carted away the people’s commonwealth. There is widespread belief that the firms used the money for the last campaign season, and some of these paper companies were conduits to funnel funds for political use. We want to know what the President knows about this and when he knew it. This is not a matter he can simply ignore any more. This is the time for moral leadership and so far his party has not been held to account on the role the so-called subsidy beneficiaries in the PDP campaigns in 2011 presidential campaigns.



Incessant strikes



For the umpteenth time, workers in Lagos, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and other states have embarked on an industrial action that portrays them as putting the interests of self over the sanctity of lives and the Hippocratic oaths they swore at the beginning of their practice. It should be noted that doctors are exploiting their peculiar position as the saviours and preservers of life to blackmail the system. There are two important issues related to this strike. One, it is a symptom of the federal government’s undue intervention in what should be exclusive preserves of the states. The job of the Federal Government is to fix the minimum wage, and the review of various remunerations above minimum wage is within the purview of the states based on the ability and prevailing environment of those states. The state governments have increased the salaries in harmony with the resources of the states. No national government is entitled to impose an obligation on any of its component states without providing the resources to meet the obligation. It is therefore illegal and therefore unacceptable. It is also not realistic and fair to expect less than 1 percent of the population to demand more than 50 per cent of the resources. The fact that the strikes persist reflect a strong political overtone. The strikes are now instruments of political diversion, mischief and blackmail. The Southwest states are focused on development with landmark work in infrastructure, water provision, education, health care and agriculture for all. It is therefore inimical to the growth and development of all for less than 1 per cent to use the instrumentality of strikes to agitate for more than 100 per cent of the states’ resources. In the case of Lagos State, doctors that should be committed to saving lives in accordance with their Hippocratic oaths have abandoned their calling to put their patients above their interests and have become merchants of deaths. Therefore, we urge all our Governors to stay focused on providing the greatest good for the greatest number of the people, and not just for the greedy few, consistent with our manifesto and party ideology. Consequently, if all persuasive methods fail, our governors are free to take appropriate measures to restore health services to the people.



Bombings



We have received the sad news of the bombings at ThisDay headquarters in Abuja and Kaduna and the avoidable loss of lives underscore the increasing volatility of our country and vulnerability of citizens to attack. We condemn unreservedly the perpetrators of the violence and the merchants of death while we sympathise with the families of the victims. We believe that the resolution of whatever the problem is should not be by violence, but by reasoned negotiation, rooted in justice, equity and fairness..

We appeal to all Nigerians to be vigilant and provide information on any suspicious movement in their vicinity to the security agencies immediately.

Finally, we must stress that the use of religion as a tool for political manipulation as currently used in Osun and other parts of the country is highly condemnable.



Being text of a statement by Chief Adebisi ,National Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/politics/45007-acn-leaders-warn-of-looming-dangers-in-nigeria.html