2011: Northern youths’ll revolt, if… – Abacha
From Murphy Ganagana, Abuja
Sunday, July 11, 2010


Abacha
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section
Chairman of the Northern Patriotic Front (NPF), Alhaji Ali Abacha, has warned that northern youths were warming up for a revolt against their elders if they do not relent in their agitation for a northern Presidency in 2011, based on the controversial Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) zoning arrangement.
In an interview with Sunday Sun in Abuja, Abacha, a Kanuri from Borno State, dismissed some northern leaders at the forefront of the agitation as selfish. Excerpts:

Why are northern leaders bent on producing the President in 2011? Is it a sectional struggle?
Those who are insisting on zoning are our elders in the North, who are very selfish and only thinking of themselves. The agitators are not thinking of the common man; they are thinking only of their children, their wives and relations. They are not doing it in the interest of the North.

I come from the North, from Borno State to be precise, but I don’t believe in what the elders are saying. We believe it is the duty of each and every Nigerian to put the interest of our country first, look at Nigeria as one entity and forget about this zoning matter. If we continue this way, for how long will we be able to change the political landscape of this country? Therefore, anybody agitating for zoning of the presidency is only doing so for himself and not in the interest of the entire North.

The youths in the North are suffering a lot and we are not in support of any other thing than a Nigerian President and we should allow President Goodlcuk Jonathan to continue in 2011 so that we can have continuity in governance. When there is no continuity in governance there will be no development.

Leaders from the North have ruled Nigeria for about 38 years. In reality, will you say that the North has benefited?
It is zero. If you see the level of poverty in the North, it is terrible. It is only in the North that you see almajiris and beggars. Our leaders failed us. They didn’t do anything for us and that is why we are in this kind of problem. And for how long are we going to watch this trend? There is insecurity, lack of employment; the ‘almajiris’ are there and no formal education.

If you don’t give education to your children, they will grow up like animals.
Ironically, our elders and leaders in the North had a golden opportunity to transform the lives of our people, but they couldn’t do it. We are saying enough is enough for us and we have vowed to stand against them to ensure that we have a change. And one of the ways is to make sure that this zoning thing they are talking about doesn’t work and President Jonathan will continue with his leadership for the sake of continuity and good governance.
We will not listen to any of our leaders in the North because enough is enough. Let them just step aside and if they have any meaningful advice, they should offer.

They shouldn’t interfere on which way we are going, because somebody that had been there for 60 to 70 years and he couldn’t do anything, is it now that he is very old and cannot walk properly that he wants to come and govern us again?
We are going to embark on enlightenment campaigns from the grassroots to local government, state, and the national level to tell our elders that they should forget about this agitation for zoning.

Some northerners like General Ibrahim Babangida, Atiku Abubakar and other former leaders want to come back to the presidency in 2011. What is your take on this?
I can say General Babangida is the originator of our political crises in Nigeria. When he took over from (General Muhammadu) Buhari in 1995, he kept promising he was going to hand over to a democratic government until he scuttled the free and fair election we ever had in this country. He did that with the active connivance of some of his colleagues for their selfish interest. How can we allow him to come back again? Please, Babangida should stay off politics.

Other elders such as Jubril Aminu, Tanko Yakassai, and so on, let them resign from politics and take a rest. Their time has expired and they can no longer contribute anything meaningful to this country.

What of Abubakar Atiku?
Atiku has no political stability or ideology. Somebody that was in PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) from where he ran away to another party, Action Congress, and again back to PDP, he has no direction and if you follow that kind of a person, at the end of the day, he is going to disappoint you. We have seen how he plays his politics and it is clear that he is not a reliable person, so we cannot accept him. He has no electoral value.

If the elders continue with the agitation for a northern president in 2011, what action are you planning against their position?
We are going to revolt; we will go against them. We shall embark on serious enlightenment and vigorously resist them through appropriate means. Enough is enough because they have failed us several times. Time for change has come and we shall tell our youths not to be deceived any longer.

We shall not allow a few individuals in the North to dictate to us on what to do, because all we need is good governance and a united nation. If after we embark on series of rallies against the position of our elders on this zoning issue and they insist on it, we shall surely revolt against them and use all political and legal means to stop them.

The youths in the North are ready to confront each and every one of our elders who plan to disrupt the ongoing political process. But we are not going to take up arms; it is going to be a political struggle.

You said these elders are spent forces, but they insist that even though they are old they are not tired. What makes you feel otherwise?
The truth is that they are not useful again because for somebody that was in government for long and couldn’t make any meaningful contribution, now that he is about to die what else can he contribute? Their time is gone; they are expired politicians.

Some of the northern elders have introduced threats to the agitation for zoning. One said President Goodluck should leave the PDP if he must contest in 2011. Another said the country would be ruined if he goes ahead. What is your opinion?
All those expired politicians cannot break this country. The younger generation is ready to bring changes to this country. We are prepared to take our destiny in our hands. We are encouraging Jonathan to come out and contest the 2011 elections. We are going to organize a rally where youths will storm Abuja to urge him to come out and declare interest. We are telling Nigerians that our project is a Nigerian project. We are not thinking of zones but we are looking at quality candidates who will offer good governance.

So any other person that is agitating for zoning, this is what we have in our mind. The issue of zoning is not an issue for this century. We should think of Nigeria as a nation. We want somebody who will come and contribute his quota to nation building. We are calling on Nigerians, particularly northern leaders, to drop their agitation. Let them support Jonathan for a credible election.

The man has good plans for Nigeria. He has appointed a reliable INEC chairman capable of conducting credible elections. This is a good beginning. Besides, since he assumed full presidential powers we have started seeing some changes. We know Jonathan has focus, so let us support him for continuity and change in this country.

Recently, Babangida begged the nation and asked to be given another chance to lead Nigeria. Are you ready to forgive him?
A few months ago, he came out to condemn the youths. You can see his kind of person. IBB is not trustworthy; he is a Maradona and cannot change. He is somebody who will be dining with you and yet he has another thing in his mind. The fact is that we can forgive but we cannot forget his attitude. Even if you give him another opportunity today, he is going to be worse that what he was as a military president. So Babangida should shut his mouth.

LET'S GIVE JONATHAN THE CHANCE TO LEAD US.ZONING IS NOT PART OF US.
goodluck for good governance(3G) is calling on nigerians to support his ambition as the Nigeria President 2011.
goodluckforgoodgovernance.jimdo.com