Commencement Of Campaigns And View Points From PDP, Abia State:
By Sir Don Ubani; KSC,JP,
Okwubunka of Asa,
State Publicity Secretary,
PDP, Abia State.
20th November, 2018.
For political parties, politicians and historians in Nigeria, the date, 18th November, 2018 has effortlessly become a mark of chronological reference in the political annals of Nigeria.
The first time November 18 came to national front burner in Nigeria was in 1949. It was on a Friday. That day was the darkest day in the struggle for the political independence of Nigeria.
The British colonial Police, on that fateful day, had unjustifiably brutally massacred twenty-one Coal Miners and a bystander at Iva Valley Coal Mine, in Enugu. The Miners were on a peaceful strike to press against inhuman working-conditions imposed on them by their colonial authorities. The Iva Valley massacre became a spur on Nigerians’ determination for self independence. That was Friday, 18th November, 1949.
Sixty-nine years later, November 18 has recorded its second referential significance. Sunday, 18th November, 2018 marked the lifting of ban on electioneering campaigns. Political Parties became free to mount their campaigns for 2019 general election.
The incumbent President of Nigeria and presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, used the day to unveil his campaign theme, Next Level, although garnished with lies.
Yesterday; Monday 19th November, 2018, the Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party and a former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubarkar, made public his programme for social, economic and political liberation of Nigeria, if elected next year. According to the one hundred and eighty-six-page document, Atiku is leveraging on his previous quantifiable accomplishments as erstwhile Chairman of the Economic Think Tank of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government that vigorously raised Nigerians’ gross domestic product. He also raised hope for a united secured progressive Nigeria.
From even a cursory observation and the least analysis, the Peoples Democratic Party, as currently symbolized by Atiku Abubarkar/Peter Obi campaign outfit, is out purely for issue-based electioneering. The Party will be focussing mainly on means and ways of addressing Nigeria’s problems from both economic and structural angles.
In Abia State, the Peoples Democratic Party, under the dynamic leadership of the Governor and its governorship candidate, Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, has made it clear that its campaign for 2019 election will completely be issue-based.
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For a Party and State Government that is the first, if not the only one, so far in Nigeria, to have successfully sponsored her teachers on training in Australia, there can not be any reason not to have an issue-based campaign.
For a Party and State Government that, by way of competitive motivation, bought brand new cars for some of her teachers, issue-based campaign becomes the path.
If for the first time in the history of Abia State University, Uturu, Deans of Faculties and Provosts of Colleges were provided with brand new utility vehicles and this gesture was courtesy of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, why would any body within the PDP in Abia State not focus on Governor Ikpeazu’s achievements?
If core civil servants in Ministries, Departments and Agencies and primary school teachers have had their salaries paid up to date and visible honest effort is being made to address grey areas, the Party has no business delving into campaign of calumny.
Politics, when combined with governance, should guarantee economic empowerment of relevant stakeholders, irrespective of social strata. PDP government of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in Abia State is next to none in this aspect in Nigeria, with well over three thousand political appointees that are regularly paid and maintained. This aspect, on its own, makes Abia State PDP campaign for 2019 election issue-based.
The vision of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to finance Abia Shoe designers and manufacturers to have on-the-work training experience in China and, by so doing, injecting additional skill into their business and guaranteeing enhanced marketability of their products, is a distinct conviction that the Party and its Leader are cut out for issue-based campaigns.
In order not to make this piece too long and, therefore, boring, many other achievements of Governor Ikpeazu would not be mentioned here. They will come up in later series. But suffice it to say that based on the plurality of achievements by Abia State PDP government, the campaign will be interestingly issue-based. There will be no foul language, no campaign of calumny, not to think of resort to violence.
State Publicity Secretary.
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