BREAKING NEWS: Some senior
citizens are motor park touts –
Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan on
Wednesday condemned some politicians
parading themselves as statesmen and
senior citizens whereas, they are by their
utterances, “ordinary politicians and motor
park touts.”
He said such politicians could not be
described as statesmen because of the big
offices they occupied before but by virtue
of what they brought to bear on the nation.
Jonathan spoke while playing host to a
delegation of the Tanko-Yakasai-led
Northern Elders Council in the Presidential
Villa, Abuja.
Although the President did not mention
names, former President Olusegun
Obasanjo had on Monday said Nigeria was
facing economic problems due to the
failure of the present administration to plan
for a rainy day.
Obasanjo had told Iyalodes and eminent
women leaders from the South-West, who
visited him at his Hilltop residence in
Abeokuta, Ogun State, that the nation’s
reserves which as of 2007 stood at $67bn
had been depleted by the Federal
Government.
The former President had earlier written an
open letter to Jonathan in which he
accused him of tribalism, condoning
corruption and training snipers.
But a visibly angry Jonathan told the
Northern elders that some people were
hiding under big names to create problems
for the country.
Jonathan also said that such people were in
the habit of making unguarded statements
with the aim of creating enmity.
The President said, “Some people call
themselves statesmen but they are not
statesmen, they are just ordinary
politicians.
“For you to be a statesman, it is not
because you have occupied a big office
before but the question is what are you
bringing to bear on the nation?
“Are you building this country? Or are you a
part of the people who tell lies to destroy
this country; to create enmity and make
people who ordinarily would have been
living together to fight themselves?
“Are you planning to set the country ablaze
because you did not get that particular
thing you want?
“At the appropriate time, Nigerians will
know all of them even though I know most
of such people. The younger ones do not
know.
“Some people, including those with big
names, are hiding under some clogs and
creating a lot of problems in this country.
“They are making provocative statements
that will set this country ablaze. How can
someone tell me that such people are
senior citizens. They are not senior
citizens and they can never be. They are
ordinary motor park touts.
“If you are a senior citizen, you will act like
one. It is not because of the offices we
occupy, it is by divine grace and providence
that some of us occupy these offices. But
what role are you playing to build this
country?”
Jonathan also used the opportunity to
assure the delegation that he was not
against the Northern part of the country.
He said whenever he heard about such
accusation, he always turned to Vice-
President Namadi Sambo who is from the
North to ask if, indeed, he is anti-North.
The President listed his Principal Secretary,
Hassan Tukur, and his Chief Detail simply
identified as Yusuf, as some of his close
aides from the North.
Jonathan said because of his background,
he believed that the only thing that could
liberate individuals was education.
He said that was why he insisted that nine
out of the 12 new federal universities be
located in the North.
Jonathan said, “I used to tell Nigerians that
I come from a background people refer to
as the Talakawas; I come from that level
and I am here today talking to Alhaji Jimeta
because I went to school.
“And I said the only thing that can liberate
an individual or a group of individuals is
education. If I had not gone to school, I
wouldn’t have been here to talk to big
people like these.
“If you didn’t go to school, you wouldn’t
have spoken the way you spoke, you would
have looked for somebody to interpret. This
is what I believe. I don’t play politics with it.
It has been my policy that I don’t play
politics with education.
“When I came on board, I said even though
as a country we have the policy on paper,
every state must get a Federal Government
university.
“Out of the 12 federal universities created,
nine of them are in the North while three
are in southern Nigeria. The only three
states that had no federal university were
Bayelsa, Ebonyi and Ekiti.
“Those who were in charge of the
university establishment were not fair. For
us to liberate ourselves, we must go to
school. If I hate the North, would I have
done that?
“We talk about Almajiri education, we felt
we must change. Luckily, we initiated it but
now state governments are keying into it.
“I know that it was education that liberated
me. I would have been a local canoe builder
like my father and grandfather. But I am
here because of education and I feel if we
must liberate Nigerian children whether
they are from Zamafara, Bayelsa, Kebbi or
Delta state, they must be educated. I feel we
must enter the North by aggression
through education.
The President also referred to a newspaper
publication (not NOBLEUPDATES) which, he
said, indicated that the Federal Government
awarded a few projects for the North-East
and a chunk for the South-South.
He said he had reproduced copies of the
publication and distributed them to
ministers with a directive to ascertain
whether indeed projects were skewed in
favour of a particular geopolitical zone.
Jonathan added that he directed the
ministers that if the report was indeed true,
they must explain the reason(s) to him.
He said despite all the negative campaigns
against him and his government, he would
not cheat any part of the country.
The President said, “For the people who
want to paint us in all kinds of colour, we
will explain to Nigerians. There are a lot of
documentations we will show Nigerians.
“Let me reassure you that this
administration is working with your sons
and daughters; we will not exploit any part
of this country; we will not cheat any part
of this country.”
Jonathan also stressed the need for peace
and unity in the country, saying there could
be no development without the two
factors.
He said he was saddened that young
Nigerians were seeing the country as a
divided one.
The President said, “I feel sad that our
younger ones are beginning to see Nigeria
as if we are so divided. A Nigeria that a
Muslim and a Christian cannot sit down
together.
“I was told that the driver of the late Prime
Minister, Tafawa Balewa, was a Christian.
Our people lived together in those days.
Why not now that we have even modern
ways of life?
“Any country that its citizens see
themselves through their tiny tribal
enclaves cannot go anywhere.”
Yakasai had in his remarks said it was
important for all Nigerians to appreciate
the fact that the country was crafted in
such a manner that no one section could
rule without the support of the other.
He recalled that it was the North that
endorsed the principle of power shift
which brought about the Presidency of
Obasanjo and Jonathan.
He said it behoved on all Northerners and
indeed, other Nigerians to continue to
respect the principles of democracy.
Yakasai said, “Northern Elders Council
believes in peaceful co-existence and
extension of hands of fellowship to
brothers and sisters from the other side of
the nation.
“It is unpatriotic for anybody to instigate
people against any person or peoples
because of a temporary gain.
“Politics of insult, blackmail and castigation
of individuals will not take this country
anywhere.
“We therefore believe in peaceful co-
existence among Nigerians and by working
together shall we move the country
forward.

This Topic should have read , Some Motor park touts are senior citizens instead of some senior citizens are motor park touts