As we come to the end of another turbulent
year, marked by growing insecurity,
worsening poverty and the creeping
dictatorship and intolerance in the country,
the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF)
wishes to express its solidarity with the
Nigerian people and commend their
patience, resilience and dogged resistance
in the face of a federal government that has
lost touch with the dreams and aspirations
of citizens.
We gladly observe that even as 2013
recedes into the annals of history as one of
the worst years in Nigeria’s history, a few
developments point to the fact that a new
hope is emerging on the horizon, notably
the merger of opposition parties and the
growing commitment of progressives and
patriotic political leaders to unite under the
All Progressives Congress (APC) with the
single-minded determination of rescuing
Nigeria from a federal government that not
only condones corruption, but has elevated
graft into an art form.
There is no doubt that the merger of
opposition parties today represents a major
source of hope for the nation and our
people are full of expectations that our
party, APC, its leadership, elected
representatives and governments will take
the right step and measures to move the
country away from all the multitudes of
crises, halt the current movement towards
collapse, restore the credibility of
institutions of governance at all levels and
respect and recognize the value of the
human person. This demands that all
political leaders in the country must be
ready to make sacrifices.
We therefore wish to acknowledge and
commend our party (APC) leadership for
demonstrating high resolve to set aside all
their personal positions and aspirations in
order to provide the needed leadership to
unite all Nigerian progressives. As
Progressive Governors, we are proud of the
achievements of our party and will continue
to support our leaders towards rescuing our
dear nation, Nigeria.
Against the background of today's federal
government that steers the affairs of the
nation based on convenience rather than
constitutionality, Nigerians have been
reduced to helpless observers of a
presidency that is only efficient in
weakening its moral authority, making it
difficult to relate with other levels and tiers
of government in accordance with the
provisions of the 1999 Constitution as
amended.
The hard and incomprehensible reality is
that the Presidency, federal government
and ruling PDP have become reckless,
dishonest and completely insensitive to
minimum requirement of protecting the lives
and property of Nigerians. Government, as
far as the conduct of the federal
government shows, is all about the political
aspirations of functionaries of government,
notably Mr. President. This is unfortunate
and the consequence is the increasing
wave of both intra-party and wider national
political crises without any visible
demonstration of capacity by the federal
government and the ruling party to manage
or resolve the crises.
Given the severity and intensity of the
crises facing our dear nation, it is clear that
rescuing Nigeria will have to commence
with a strong commitment to a national
agenda of reconciliation in order to resolve
grievances of citizens and bring forth a
clear roadmap for nation building founded
on respect for our diversities. Such a
commitment should be founded on the
principles of acknowledging deep-seated
anger of citizens and recognizing that it is
in the first place a product of injustices over
years of bad governance. As a result,
governments at all levels at different times
have infringed on the rights and liberties of
citizens. Citizens, have in turn, been
abused and in many instances, violated. It
is the view of the PGF that reconciliation,
founded on the principles of forgiveness
with governments demonstrating a strong
commitment to break away from the past
culture of infringements must form the
foundation of a new Nigeria.
Together with our party leadership, we wish
to reaffirm our unflinching commitment to
move Nigeria forward. The nation cannot
continue to be run the way it has been
since 1999; something must give. True, the
resilience of the Nigerian people has been
tested severally by the antics of a
government that has continually defrauded
the people at the ballot box, continues to
play politics with ethnic and religious
sentiments while proffering no solutions to
tackle insecurity, poverty and
unemployment, yet, it is not the people, but
this government that must give way.
After fourteen (14) years under democracy,
our electoral system has continued to be a
major source of national disappointment.
The elections in Delta and Anambra have
clearly rolled back the small progress that
was recorded in Edo and Ondo states. With
state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno
and Yobe and the declaration by INEC that
it will not be able to conduct elections in
those states, democratic rule in the country
is under threat and all democrats must rise
to the occasion and save our democracy.
Our national economy has crashed to a
level that is hardly explainable with
reference to all rational economic theories.
The common scorecard shows a nation that
is efficient in mismanaging unmatched
resources and wanton profligacy.
Reversing this trend is not a mission that
any group can accomplish alone. It requires
the support of Nigerians. It is a difficult task,
but we are confident that with your support,
we shall seize the initiative and return
Nigeria to a land where votes count, and
where government will be accountable to
the governed.
As Progressive Governors, we hereby
restate our commitment to make all our
states models of good governance with
records of rapid human development and
progress founded on the principles of social
democracy in line with provisions of our
party constitution and manifesto. In 2014,
we shall take all the necessary steps to roll
out programmes that will facilitate
development of synergy, experience
sharing and collaboration by all
progressive states.
Once more, the Progressive Governors
Forum felicitates with all Nigerians this
festive season and reiterates its
commitment to the advancement of
democratic rights and freedoms while
putting in place genuine programs to tackle
insecurity, fight crime, and destroy all
vestiges of corruption. This would be the
basis of our programs for massive
infrastructure project that would create
jobs, stimulate economic activity, reduce
inequality and diminish poverty.
A Merry Christmas to all Nigerians and a
prosperous New Year!