Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,
We are compelled by the sordid happenings in Nigerian to state certain fundamental positions because it will be criminal on our part to remain silent at a period when the country is being plunged into social, economic and political morass. Thus, we can no longer condemn the ugly state of social infrastructures alone or the lack of vision of impostors in power to steer the ship of state to desired economic growth and development rather we should be perturbed at the level of degenerations into the Hobbesian period where life has become brutish, nasty, poor and shot.
It would not be out of place to reaffirmed at this epoch of our social, politico-economic history that Nigeria is a failed state a position the UAD has continued to maintained in the last seven years ,for all indices of a failed state are clearly apparent.
APRILL GENERAL ELECTIONS
Many Nigerians are of the view that the last April polls are free, fair and credible and Kudos given to INEC under Prof. Attahiru Jega but we of the UAD do not share the notion, rather we believe the little success recorded at the polls depends largely on the sheer determination of the Nigerian electorate to rescue the degenerate electoral fortunes of the past in order to peacefully remake Nigeria through the ballot box.
Before, during and after the polls we continuously maintained that to save Nigeria from imminent collapse our doggedness and commitment to system change is required in which we have to take our destiny into our hands to dismantle the rotten edifice of Nigeria as presently constituted. To us the question of regime change is too cosmetic to fundamentally address the various problems in the polity and the correctness of our position manifested in the insecurity of lives and property confronting us now.
CORRUPTION AS A TRADITION
Despite the fact that the expected conduct for public officers is spelt out in the 1999 constitution fifth schedule, part 1 which is to establish and maintain a high standard of morality in the conduct of government business, and to ensure that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability, those in the corridors of power flout the provisions with impunity.
Thus, corruption becomes an accepted norm and traditions in all organs of governments at the Federal, state and local levels. Whilst, the anti-graft agencies do not equally help matters by indulging in selective persecution through the investigations and prosecutions of those who has fallen out of favour among and within the looting cabal. And most of this crucification is done on the pages of newspapers.
It is interesting to note that the National Assembly from 2007 – 2011 spent a lot of public funds in investigating the preceding regime the reports of which are gathering dust while those indicted either found their ways back into government or were enjoying their loot in the country or abroad.
The questions were, are those reports so worthless that the ICPC and EFCC bulldogs cannot appraise them? Why are those prosecuted particularly by the EFCC either given light sentences or allowed to enjoy their spoil after the corruption aiding plea bargaining have been invoked. It is pertinent to ask ourselves at this juncture, if we genuinely think the grace to grass fate of Dimeji Bankole should not be the fate of the David Mark led senate. In essence, the same search light that led to the ongoing prosecution of former Speaker Bankole and his deputy Nafada should be beamed at the senate because both the upper and lower legislative chambers dubiously increased their allowances disregarding provisions through the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
The UAD wants to add that if Madam Farida Waziri refused to probe and prosecute former President Obasanjo and others perceived as untouchables based on petitions before it she should resign immediately. More so, we believe that Farida Waziri lacks the moral credibility to lead the anti-graft agency because Saharareporters and Naijanews had revealed how corrupt former governors recruited Mrs. Waziri, an allegation she has not refuted till date.
BOKO HARAM UPRISING
The UAD wish to state unequivocally that the Jama’atul Ahlu-Sunnah Hidda’amati Wallaital Islamic Group popularly referred to as Boko Haram uprising is more social, economic and political than religious. Unfortunately, the sect adopted the most extreme form of tactics to achieve its strategic goal. They viewed western education as a medium through which past and present leaders in the Northern Part of the country in particular and Nigeria in general acquired the knowledge to deceive, cheat and amass wealth at public expense without conscience.
We believe that the Boko Haram sect that came into being in 2002 was attractive to its followers because of the level of ignorance, poverty, joblessness, unemployment and hopelessness that not only pervades the North but the entire Nigeria landscape. Whilst Nigeria rulers arrogantly display their ill-gotten wealth and the dehumanized majority languished in penury.
From 2009 till date the sect had carried out dozens of attacks for which they claimed responsibility in Borno, Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Niger, Plateau, Katsina and Kano before the mind boggling and brazen attack at the police headquarters in Abuja in which over 12 lives were lost and over 82 cars damaged. In aggregate, over 360 lives have been lost in Boko Haram induced violence. The police also killed over 180 adherents of the sect and its leader Mallam Muhammad Yusuf in 2009.
The police headquarters bombing which has attracted several comments is not only an eye sore but shows that we lack security consciousness as a people, lack of alertness on the part of our security operatives not only the police, a confirmation that security is very porous all over the country.
The UAD is of the view that it is imperative to fish out the leadership and sponsors of Boko Haram and engage them in serious and constructive dialogue to lay down their weapons and not to make a tactical error that they can be easily dislodged through force. The use of force is baseless because terrorist do not just carry arms around like other freedom fighters and they are also very difficult to identify. It is also through a properly organized and coordinated intelligence network that we can nip terrorism in the bud in Nigeria.
A concerted effort should also be made to train and re-train our security operatives particularly the police in the art of modern policing. Buying military hard wares without a corresponding motivation of rank and file officers and adequate knowledge will be grossly useless.
MINIMUM WAGE
It is disheartening and sheer insensitivity for some governors to claim that the payment of minimum wages to workers will incapacitate their programmers. It is criminal for any governor to refuse the payment of the minimum wage to workers when they were part of the negotiations with the leadership of labour before the passage of the act. The arguments of these governors are baseless and unfounded, if they refuse to pay, the UAD enjoin workers not only to declare industrial dispute but to make such states ungovernable to the recalcitrant governor. ENOUGH OF MONKEY DEY WORK BABOON DEY CHOP.
ARTIFICIAL KEROSENE SCARCITY
UAD cannot understand the self-centeredness and insensitivity of Governments at all levels to the plight of the governed who voted for them even in the recent April polls. We cannot but liaise with organisations with similar interest to fight the unjust kerosene scarcity and covert plot to increase its price by the federal government. If President Goodluck Jonathan government is people friendly as claimed he should invoke the same power as he did with the price and sale of cement.
The federal government should also revoke Femi Otedola monopoly on kerosene; he has caused enough hardship for the majority of our toiling people.
We shall call on our people in the next few days to seize the streets in protest against the diabolic attack on the masses on the issue of kerosene which per litter has skyrocketed to #280 - #350.
SIGNED:
