Atiku: Buhari’s Administration Has Put Knife to the Fabric of Nigeria’s Unity

*Promises to run government of national unity

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has blamed the current administration of causing disunity in the country, promising to run a government of national unity if elected.

In a social media broadcast he tagged: “My New Social Contract for a New Nigeria,” the former vice president maintained that the current government has made Nigeria doubt its strength despite the enormous resources at its disposal.

The politician pledged to rid the country of ‘unprecedented’ malfeasance under the Muhammadu Buhari administration after what he described as the ‘rudderless’ All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

“Our experience of the past seven years plus shows that the government of the APC has made us doubt our strength as a people. In fact, it is safe to say that the greatest thing that the APC government will be remembered for is how it failed to maintain the integrity of our unity and how it has put a knife between the things that hitherto held us together.

 “As the flagbearer (sic) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) powered by the accumulated cognitive experience in leadership in the public service and in business from the private sector, spanning several years, I come with very strong determination and commitment to rescue Nigeria, unify our people and rebuild our broken bridges of brotherhood, which our founding fathers laboured to erect,” Atiku maintained.

Stressing that Nigeria remains a great nation, full of resources, the PDP presidential candidate noted that this has been broken by the “malfeasance and despair, maladministration, divisive tendencies, pervasive insecurity, economic mismanagement, unprecedented corruption and rudderless leadership visited on us since 2015.”

According to him, Nigeria now stands on the threshold of history as the PDP begins a historic race of soliciting votes from the electorate, maintaining that the country has dipped below all known standards in social, economic and political benchmarks.

“We have therefore again picked up the gauntlet to lead Nigeria into the new horizon, where every tendency shall find accommodation. We are determined to restore hope, rebuild our broken fabrics and reverse the  locust years of bleeding of our commonwealth and place Nigeria on the world map.
“This time, Nigeria shall become a productive nation, forward looking and clearly leading Africa into a new order,” the politician added.

Noting that the international economic system remains very competitive where knowledge resource is the most important tool, Atiku pointed out that those who aspire to be key players must embrace innovative capacity and competitive skills.
He noted that the there has been an overconcentration of power in the federal government, with multiple duplication of public agencies leading to the creation of parallel bureaucracies.

Atiku said that the federating units shall benefit from the devolution of powers to increase their productive capacity for synergy and collaboration with each other in the corporate world as well as create sustainability and employment for Nigeria’s teeming population.
 “The organised private sector must be encouraged to lead the charge in the production process while the government is enabler and incentive provider in a conducive environment of doing business.

“The current disorder must give place to a new order where the government will provide the policy and regulatory framework. We cannot undertake this difficult but necessary journey for the formation without the roadmap,” he argued.
If elected president, Atiku stated that his core objective of will be to unify Nigeria by ensuring that he builds a political and social process that accommodates all and leaves no one behind.

“To this end, the first direction that our administration will take is to reinvent the principle of government of national unity which will make our administration reflect the peculiar agitations of our people.

“For me therefore, the upcoming election is not a winner takes all exercise. To the contrary, it shall be a winner wins all because I shall make deliberate attempt to win the trust of all Nigerians. We will create an atmosphere that makes all Nigerians take ownership of government and governance,” he said.
With unity restored, Atiku reasoned that it will become easier to approach the other challenges of security, economy, education and devolution of powers.

“We shall restore Nigeria’s unity through equity, social justice, as well as ensure cooperation and consensus among the trade unions. We shall establish a strong, effective democratic government that guarantees the safety and security of lives and property with a strong, resilient, competitive and prosperous economy that creates jobs and wealth and lift the poor out of poverty.
“We shall promote a federal system, which will provide for a strong federal government to guarantee national unity, while allowing different federating units to set their own priorities.

“We shall improve and strengthen the education system recipients with the education and skills required to be competitive in the new global order, which is driven by innovation, science and technology to lead healthy, productive and meaningful lives,” he explained.

 He pledged to enable Nigeria earn huge global capital, prestige and respect, stating that he comes prepared with requisite skills, capacity and experience.
“My history with  the economic team from 1999 to 2007 enabled me to headhunt for Nigerians who have technocratic competence locally and those scattered across the globe.
“A lot of them were encouraged, deliberately enlisted and strategically recruited to come on board and help rebuild Nigeria,” he recalled.