*Says killings in APC states sign party not together
*Warns agitators on ground of ethnicity, religion
*Says ‘My best friend is Fulani, Muslim
…Why Land Use Charge will cost APC of Lagos – PDP chief
By Kemi Kasumu, General Editor
“In an election year, you are just starting a political party that has no track record. And if you look at it, it is the same people that are rushing down there (SDP). Those who have been landlords, they now say their house is leaking and they went to become tenant in another man’s house. If your house is leaking, the rational thing to do is stay back there and repair it, remodel it. If they are looking for utopia, they can never get it. They can never achieve it. Third Force, Seventh Force, Tenth Force, is that the issue? Are the members of this Third Force going to come from outer space? What are they going to do that will be different from what they had done before? The hood doesn’t make the monk. I don’t believe in any Third Force movement.”
A chief of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, has described the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) as a mere contraption that is not national in its outlook.
Chief George said this in an interview published in Vanguard Newspaper on Monday, while answering question about whether or not, as insinuated by the Lagos State APC Chairman Henry Ajomole, he was planning to decamp to the governing party like Senator Musiliu Obanikoro did.
Laughing out loudly on the Ajomale’s insinuation, Chief Bode George, a retired Navy Commodore, said the APC leader had said nothing but “daydreaming” for him to suggest that he would soon decamp from PDP to APC, adding that the APC was not only in state of confusion but also citing that now that incidents of killings have happened in APC states is a show that the party is not together.
“Like I said, the APC is not a party that is national in its outlook. It is a contraption. They are in utter confusion. Look at all the killings in the country today, they are taking place in states controlled by the APC. The central government is also APC. Where is their party? Do they believe they are really members of the same family? APC is making the same mistake PDP made when we said we will rule Nigeria for the next 60 years. Nigerians have experienced governance under both parties. Are they better off now than when PDP was in government? My great uncle is the late Herbert Macaulay, so I am a genuine, inroad, in-depth politician because I was born into it. They are not.
On whether his party, PDP, is threatened by the emergence of Social Democratic Party (SDP) branded as the Third Force movement especially given the fact that some key members of the former ruling party have already joined, the former Military Governor of Ondo State simply wrapped the Third Force movement up as a mere effort without hope of succeeding as he said it was not possible for a new beginner without track record to catch up with one who has been on the field ahead of him.
“I wish them the best of luck; fair winds as they sail into the unknown waters. No matter how fast you can run, if you have a 100 meters race, somebody has gone about 50 meters and you are at the starting block, can you catch him?
“In an election year, you are just starting a political party that has no track record. And if you look at it, it is the same people that are rushing down there. Those who have been landlords, they now say their house is leaking and they went to become tenant in another man’s house. If your house is leaking, the rational thing to do is stay back there and repair it, remodel it.
“If they are looking for utopia, they can never get it. They can never achieve it. That is why I said it is civil for you to accept your failings because God said you will run into tribulations and trials in the road of your life. It can never be always straight without bumps and roundabouts. But if you trust Him, He will always be with you.
“Third Force, Seventh Force, Tenth Force, is that the issue? Are the members of this Third Force going to come from outer space? What are they going to do that will be different from what they had done before? The hood doesn’t make the monk. I don’t believe in any Third Force movement. You stay there and repair your house. That is more honourable,” he said.
On youth presidency, the former Military Governor of old Ondo State now Ondo and Ekiti states asked those who are clamouring for youth presidency to explain their definition of the age of youth, saying youth in itself is the state of mind.
He said Nigeria does not need somebody has not performed but is just being pushed forward on account of being a youth, adding that such a person will worsen the situation of the country.
“How do you define the age of youth? Who is a youth? Is it a person who is 20 years old, 30 years old or 40 years old? Youth in itself comes from your mind. The physical part is what you are talking about. When you say the youth president, is a 42-year-old still a youth? Is a 35-year-old still a youth? When I was young, I used to hear life begins at 40. Now it has been shifted. We need the track record of who will rule the country. We don’t need somebody who has not performed anything and we just say because he is a youth and just put him there. Such a person will make the situation worse. Experience is golden. Managing human beings requires an experience that you can’t get in any classroom.
“We have an adage in my part of the world that says when a young man is cutting an Iroko tree in the forest; it is the elderly ones who are there that will tell where the tree will land. Take the example of Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. When they broke away from Malaysia, they thought they were going to die. He took the country and turned it around. He was committed, selfless and loyal. He built an everlasting empire that is called Singapore. When he retired, they called him and said he will remain an honorary member of the Senate which is called consultation. There is no way you can write the history of Singapore that Lee Kuan Yew will not have a very brilliant expose there. It is impossible! Those are things that we are looking for in a leader; leaders who are committed, dedicated, informed and loyal to the system and not to an individual.”
My best is a Fulani, Muslim
Asked to comment on talks about Nigeria now being more divided than ever, the former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the PDP reminded people who talk about ethnic jingoism that in any tribe, everywhere in the world, no community of people do not have their good, the bad and the ugly and then warned against agitations which can only be capable of collapsing the system
“I grew up in this country. When I was young, I knew what this country was like and the kind of upbringing that we were had. My best friend till today is a Fulani man. He is a Muslim, I am a Christian. He is a Fulani man with his cows, I am a Yoruba man with my cap but he is my brother. If anything happens to me, he will fight to finish there, vice-versa for me. When did our paths cross? In the military service!. Let me remind people who talk about this ethnic jingoism that in any tribe, everywhere in the world, you will find among the people the good, the bad and the ugly. So, what is the difference? What are all these agitations about? This system must not collapse. Let us be loyal to it and every generation that comes, you build your blocks and let it continue in the same direction that is positive.”
On Danjuma’s statement, he’s my boss, no comment
Refusing to be dragged into commenting on the call to arms conflicts by Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma, Navy Commodore Bode George (Rtd) said he would say nothing being that Danjuma is his boss but noted that what was needed, rather than digging deep into ethnicity, was for all stakeholders to find a solution to the problems on ground, adding that ethnicity is a cancer that is eating deep into the fabrics of Nigeria.
He however called on President Muhammadu, who he called “Oga” being his senior in the Armed Forces, to rise to the situation as father of all and address the nation in order to stop all the inclinations of people towards ethnic and religious divides.
It would be recalled that Chief Bode George’s party, when it was in power and needed to struggle hard to retain power in 2015, started the dangerous ethnic and religious divides that have been described as worst ever in the history of the country with state sponsored hate speeches, advertorials and blackmailing broadcasts against opposition candidacy of President Buhari and his party, which many of the arrested party chiefs have now confessed they too between the range of N850 million and N2.6 billion from the Sambo Dasuki’s arms money to carry out on behalf of the PDP and the then sitting President Goodluck Jonathan.
Speaking more politely, the respected Nigerian elder, George, refused to be choose the way of Danjuma as he believes that what needs to be done at this time is finding solution rather than continuing the way of the old because, he said, Nigeria is a system that deserves the positive contribution of all.
His words: “General Danjuma is my boss. You don’t comment and you don’t contradict. I am a politician and also a retired General. My approach is the message I have been passing across to you now. I have identified these two ills. Let us find a solution. It is a cancer that is eating deep into the fabric of our nation. Where we are today cannot be compared to where we were coming from. The ethnicity is killing us. General Gowon tried. After the war, he established the National Youth Service Corps for us to understand ourselves and our culture. General Gowon is not a politician, so he talks straight like a General.
“My approach is that we must identify these things and proffer solutions to them. Every Yoruba child of primary school age, before he graduates, must be fluent in Hausa and Igbo. Every Hausa child of primary school age, whether the private or public school must be fluent in Yoruba and Igbo. Every Igbo child of primary school age, before he graduates must be fluent in Yoruba and Hausa. The language opens the door. If you don’t speak the official language which is English and you go into your vernacular, you sknow when you study the language, you learn about the culture too. That will ease the tension that we are propagating.
“Like I told you, General Danjuma is my very good boss and we are still one unit. Does it really matter where somebody comes from? We are expanding things that should be ephemeral rather than real issues. We must all hold our system and prevent it from collapse. That is why I am requesting oga (President Buhari) to make a broadcast to the people, to stand up as a father of the nation that these killings must stop! Any killings anywhere will be dealt with by the law. That will send shivers. It will be a turning point in the history of our country. Oga should rise above and address us. He should impart that loyalty, camaraderie, that oneness and togetherness in the system. So, we have to watch it,” Chief Bode George said.
Why Land Use Charge will cost APC of Lagos
“The people of Lagos are gravitating to now realise that they can’t continue under this yoke of the emperor in Lagos. When Governor Ambode increased Land Use Charge, you saw the reactions of the people. When he came with the Land Use Charge, I said you are overdriving this management. People are hungry, both rich and poor. If you increase Land Use Charge by 500 percent, the landlords will transfer it to the tenant. So, who will be happy? Are you expected as the manager of the people to inflict more hardships and pains on the people or to assuage their pains? My suggestion is that the 50 per cent reduction is not enough, he should scrap it completely otherwise it is impunity in an election year. And then when I saw that bill that Alpha Beta will be collecting the charge, I said what? Nobody knows where that will end.”
