CLEAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PA AWOLOWO (UPN) AND TINUBU (APC)- Richard Omoko

As the elections draw near it is critical for us to clearly understand what we are getting into and as such who our so called leaders are. While the two leading parties (ie. PDP and APC) have their plus and minuses, you cannot afford to turn a blind eye to critical issues of importance at this stage.
PDP may not be the messiah that we all yearn for but as an observer I would honestly tell you that this present administration has done remarkably well to deserve continuity which is a prominent component in our leadership vocabulary as a nation. There have been great leaders in Nigeria whom have left an indelible mark in our progress as a nation. For instance such leaders as Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro amongst others are people worthy of emulation. It is appalling that the virtues that these men once exuded are lacking in our democracy of today. They were indeed nationalist and statesmen who put self interest aside and pursued what was best for the country as a whole. Some were so involved in building the nation that at the end you would sympathise with their families that took the brunt of ridicules, in that after such a massive selfless sacrifice for their country they had little or nothing of personal worth to boast of. These men were so clear cut that parents named their children after them irrespective of area of origin or nationality in the hope that their wards would grow up to become like them, even Goodluck Jonathan was named after Azikiwe.

Differences between Awolowo and Tinubu
1. Pa Awolowo earned the title 'Leader of the Yoruba race' simply from his style of leadership, contributions to the society, and developmental strides he engineered for the Yoruba people irrespective of party inclination. He was loved by all Yoruba people and even by his enemies. Tinubu has divided the Yoruba people along party lines and has constantly shown disrespect to many Yoruba elders including the revered Afenifere group.
2. Pa Awolowo in many cases has shown selflessness and statesmanship in his approach and utterances. For instances after the results of the 1979 elections were declared by NEC, he did not go about on a campaign as to cause disaffection in the populace against the regime of Shehu Shagari. He took the defeat in good faith and concentrated more efforts in developing the states that his party had won in the elections. This attribute is lacking in Tinubu as you constantly hear his venomous and incisive statements that are a huge security risk even at a time like this with boko haram and the threats to security of the nation.
3. Economic/ Project agenda planning: This is another area you would duff your hat for Pa Awolowo. He took his time to articulate his policies and party agendas, and the beautiful thing there is the manner in which he dissected the economy and tell you how he is going to make provision for every project and policy he is promoting. He was never found wanting and because of his detailed approach the Yoruba people are still benefiting from his legacies. Tinubu has never provided any detailed economic planning to gauge his empty promises like the APC social welfare campaign promises of providing free food, free education, grants and monthly allowances for jobless citizens. If he were to do this effectively be sure that the fuel subsidy would be scrapped and taxes would be increased by over 30% to make available provision for payments in excess of N5 trillion. Of course you know who would benefit from the tax increases the citizens would have to pay. Tinubu's companies would receive 20% of taxes collected like what he has fully implemented in Lagos state over the years.
4. Systemic engagement: Pa Awolowo perfected his party programmes from the grass root up and not with empty promises that lacked intelligent applications. For instance the policy of free education was systematically injected from the local governments and state levels before he promised a national implementation during the election campaigns of 1979 and 1983. Tinubu on the other hand had always made promises without systemic approach and without adequate planning and preparation. Now the promise of monthly stipends/allowance for jobless youths, feeding of school children and so on are all policies he ought to have implemented in the states under his control and better prepare for its pros and cons before promising Nigerians. If truly APC were sincere about free education. Why then the 1,000% hike in school fees of LASU from N25,000 to N250,000? If the students had not reacted you sure would have seen this cruelty come to stay.
5. Stupendous wealth: Awolowo was a rich man no doubt but his wealth came mostly through hard work and wise investments and not land grabbing of Lakowe and Ibeju Lekki and other prime areas and properties belonging to innocent citizens and the people of Lagos state as Tinubu has been perpetrating over the recent past, through ARM and other bogus companies and cronies.
6. Irresponsible god fatherism: Tinubu is the alpha and omega of APC, whether Buhari or any other individual likes it or not. He is not called the jagaban for no reason. He is a master strategist who knows how to get his way however that may seem. He constantly calls the shot on who gets what and Atiku, Kwankwaso, Amechi, Oshiomole and Okorocha unknowingly have been burnt by this. Awolowo to my knowledge has not forced any candidate on his party UPN, everybody had equal opportunity as they must test their popularity through party primaries.

Interestingly in my discussions with many of the proponents chanting change. I inquired from them what they truly wanted to change in Nigeria as a nation. The responses you would get are corruption, insecurity, jobs, infra structural development, women empowerment, youth development, education being the critical areas needing attention. When I remind them and pointed out the transformational strides of this present administration, some understand and are already in conformity while some continue with their chants. For instance, in Nigeria now this is the first government that has achieved the full diversification of the economy. The minister of agriculture not only put to rest the monumental corruption in the fertiliser business of middlemen but also ensured that fertilisers as well as improved seedlings reached the farmers directly. This singular gesture has encouraged the farmers to produce more and store enough produce in renovated and newly constructed silos provided by the government. Insecurity has seen a remarkable boost with areas after areas being reclaimed by our military men upon receiving the right type of equipment. These equipments had to be produced, shipped and soldiers trained to adequately man them. An example of a case of corruption the proponents of change are quick to point out is the Police Pension bruhaha. I am also not happy with the outcome of this case,but the fact of the matter is this as I have come to realize this government has not acted like some others in quashing and arm twisting the other arms of government into doing its bidding. In contrary, it has allowed the Judiciary and the Legislature to act their roles, now an institution of government found an individual culpable of corruption, it arrested and charged the culprit to court but the judge in interpreting the law and meting out justice gave a judgement of a fine of N250,000 to someone who had stolen well over N2 billion. Is the Executive responsible for interpreting our laws and applying justice in this matter? The dire hard is quick to forget that this same administration is responsible for fishing out over 50,000 ghost workers, perfected the parole system of civil servants in order to minimise corruption to its bearest and also put a decisive stop to ghost pensioners. Is this not fighting corruption. Women know already that this administration has been true to its promise in having adequate representation of women in its government. For the first time ever we are having over 35% women representation in our government. The full involvement of the private sector has been an instrument for job creation and ensuring capacity utilisation in companies previously run by government. This is why BPE started with communication and now moved to power sector. NITEL and PHCN have not been properly run by governments in the past. These institutions have been a source of maladministration and a conduit for corruption and as such over burdened the budget.

The hassle of this proponents of change as I have realised, is not with this administration nor with the person of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan but with the party PDP. As such I want to ask that, Is it right to throw the baby out with the bath water? Of course no. PDP may have its faults but all indications remain that this current administration has performed creditably well Inspite of the menance of boko haram and so deserve another course for continuity to prevail in our development as a nation.