HOW ATIKU CAN SAVE THE COUNTRY
In most superhero movies we watch today, there comes a time where the world seems like it would end; denuded, and at such, people in that system suffer as they find it hard to get resources, suffer weakened market structures, solicitude, and adversity due to high rate of crime perpetrated by villains in the society; it is also at those critical moments that the citizens seek a hero that would help fight bad guys and restore hope to the despaired. Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has so far been the villains in this chapter and the hero we have so far been waiting for has arrived in Atiku Abubakar.
Having left an indelible legacy from his eight-year spell as Vice President from 1999 to 2007, he is now contesting to become the nation’s hero/president under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His then achievements are mere testaments of the kind of man he is. He is a charismatic, industrious, indefatigable and proven to be fully adept with workings of the economy.
Consequently, Atiku would win the 2023 elections, according to an interim assessment from a nine-month research led by Dr. Oludare Ogunlana of June Group Research and Council for African Security Affairs (CASA) alongside other intelligence professionals in the United States and Europe. They claim that when it comes to key factors like politics, geography, religion, resources, and class, he performs better than other candidates from APC, LP and NNPP political parties.
This same study that kick-started in May 2022, rightly predicted the outcome of PDP and APC’s presidential primaries, as well as the emergency of Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, as standard bearers of the main opposing and ruling party.
Atiku who has a history of public service and business experience, is backed with good economic knowledge and background. He aptly displayed his prowess on how to rehabilitate a damaged economy during his tenure as vice president after guiding the economic sector into achieving unprecedented growth. Apart from being the only presidential candidate that promised to reduce the environmental impact of Nigeria’s economy, he also is the only candidate that has promised to build a $10 billion infrastructure fund and in the process, sell government assets.
He has assured Nigerians that as soon as he is made president, that he would create 300,000 jobs in his first 100 days in office; he also plans on increasing the budget for education, social welfare and increase budget for the Nigerian Army by 50%.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, whose campaign theme is ’unifier,’ remarked on the campaign trail this month; “We have never been this divided along a lot of fault lines, whether north, south, or Muslim and Christian. I am going to make everyone feel like they belong in this country”.
Neo-liberal measures are likely to be implemented on quest towards recovering the economy under Atiku. He has promised to sell the NNPC, the country’s national oil and gas agency, eliminate petroleum subsidies, implement public sector reforms, and operate an economy that is primarily driven by the private sector.
Atiku’s policies are unambiguous, transparent, and more importantly, understood to even the most benighted Nigerians. He is no stranger to Nigeria’s political structure and has the experience to use scarce resources to achieve set goals that will in the long run prove beneficial to the citizens.
Many Nigerians might still be unaware that, in a sense, their fate has once again been placed in their own hands. With one voice, one energy, and one resolve, they must now stand up on their shuddering, pulsating feet and give Atiku Abubakar of the PDP their overwhelming support because, for the time being, he seems to be our shining sky amid ominous storm.
Gboyega Adenrele, Ilorin
