Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has declared that President Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government lacks the requisite knowledge and capacity to tackle Nigeria’s problems, saying that there is the need to effect a change at the centre in 2015 for the country to achieve positive development.
Fashola, who stated this during an exclusive interview with a team of LEADERSHIP editors in Abuja yesterday, was giving the rationale behind the ongoing merger talks by his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) towards dislodging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre in 2015.
Explaining that their push for political alignment was not only to seize power but to use it to better the lives of the people, he likened Jonathan’s government to an unskilled auto mechanic who consistently failed to correctly service a vehicle, causing it to continuously break down, a fallout that would necessitate the owner to try another technician.
“You buy a car and it breaks down and you go to a mechanic and he fixes it in the morning, and it breaks down again in the afternoon. You go back in the evening, he fixes it but it doesn’t take you home. You go and call him again; he tosses it up and says you should come back by 6am the next day.
“You take it at 6am and it doesn’t take you home. Are you going to stay with that mechanic?” he asked.
“Nigeria needs a new mechanic. The country’s problems need a new pair of eyes and pure heart that can see, and clearer minds that can articulate the problems better. That is the heart of the matter. It is now left for the electorate to decide whether they are satisfied with this mechanic.”
Fashola insisted that the desire of the ACN and CPC to take power at the centre was to utilise it according to the general wish of Nigerians, who want the country’s myriad problems fixed immediately.
--> He described the ACN as an issues-based party which had a lot to offer, which is why it has consistently defeated the PDP in Lagos since the return of democracy 13 years ago.
“In Lagos, the PDP has been failing since 1999: in 2003 it failed, in 2007 it failed, in 2011 it failed again. The most interesting thing is that the margins get wider in Lagos due to the improvement of services,” he said.
He further said that, with ACN’s recurring victories and exemplary leadership across the six states it controls, its leadership was taking proactive steps to salvage Nigeria from PDP’s misrule at the national level by going into a merger with the CPC ahead of the 2015 general elections.
Fashola gave the assurance that the ACN, with its issues-based outlook, would take Nigeria to the Promised Land, just like what is happening in United States, saying that “elections without debate won’t give value and the electorate needs people who understand their problems without pretence.”
He noted that the Democrats in the US openly articulated the issue of tax while the Republicans were vague and the people swung to the side that convinced them.
“Anybody who wants to serve us must understand our problems; that’s why in America you have to debate before election. Lagos is a good example,” he stated.
[Leadership]
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To hell with u fashola.wetin u dey do for lagos despite d huge internal revenue.
ReplyDeleteThunder fire that your mouth! Its either you are blind, deaf or incapacitated to know what's going on around you or you don't reside in Lagos!
DeleteWhen you have two evils , you just need to choose the lesser one .
ReplyDeleteI think i will go with ACN & CPC come 2015.
God saves our life till then .
Well spoken my senior LeaRned colleaque. God bless U siR.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, expect fireworks from Okupe, Abati, Maku et al. These people will show you what Jonathan's government has "requisite knowledge and capacity" for. You have just stirred the hornet's nest.
ReplyDeleteU just spoke my mind safari. Lol.
DeleteThe almighty God will give Nigeria a good and annoited Head of State.
ReplyDeleteTill tomorrow,i still know that oga Jona has good plans for nija but the old cargos who said that they will never allow him to rest will fail.But we should know that the devil we know is better than the angel we dnt know
ReplyDeleteFashola what hv u done to better the life of lagosians.abi will they eat coal tar nd road extension
ReplyDeleteWhere has he even succeded in any road extension? Apart from Edo state, all acn states are worst than pdp states. I dont even know what Oshiomole is doing in acn. He rightly belongs to Labour party
Deletewat hv u done t lagosians . may be they will be eating coal tar nd road extension
ReplyDeleteThanks gov Fashola,eko o ni baje.I hope poverty level of nigerian will allow us to resist carrot of PDP in 2015. So tell ur megal party to prepared for money for money eye for eye BC nigerians masses don't understand "issue based politics".
ReplyDeletejonathan is the answer come 2015.if u and pple using BOKO HARAM to destroy his govt likes it or not.we are talking about individual and not political party - jona is better than u fasho...who do you want to present 4 us come 2015 you or buary ......hahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteHe is saying rubbish. See what he has done to Lagos. Rendered people homeless and poverty. Lailai. not u.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmmm Lagos life has become very expensive and unbearable. Is it the demolitions, or many traffic terror/agents eg LASTMA or d recent traffic Laws in Lagos waiting to distrupt ur peace of mind. Thank God I found a place of refuge in Edo State. Glad I left Lagos before I find myself turn to beggar. Lagos use to accept all comers once u can struggle, not now! God please prepare a leader that will save Nigeria just like u saved d Istraelites from the Egyptians. These politicians are propagaders and not to be trust. After using Boko Haram to kill, maim and displace people thereby making our country ungovernable for GEJ, u want us to vote for CPC!!! God forbid!
ReplyDeleteGej is ans 2 nigeria prombl pls govr take care of lagos n liv gej 4 us
ReplyDeletePls fashola go bk 2 court or u face ur state tank u
ReplyDeleteFashola I concur
ReplyDeleteFashola has no right to be judgmental about Jonathan. The so called marriage between ACN and CPC will not materialise and it does, it will lead Nigeria into chaos because they are odd bed fellows. CPC that is clamouring to lead Nigeria is in chaos. It is an Islamic party. There is no internal democracy in the party! Every where the party has existed, it has done so in factions that are irreconcilable! Check ou Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, it is the same story, they can't get their acts together.As for ACN, they are the very bastion of everything corrupt And nepotic. The merger will not work, just remember I said so!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 7:21A.M...completeyour analysis since you are a political analyst or perhaps a biased one. What about PDP? We will like to hear also about what you have to say concerning other parties like ANPP and APGA that will be part of the merger.I concur with anonymous 6:17A.M to go with a lesser evil which is the best available alternative!
ReplyDelete