By Saidu Idris
365Daily – Former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that his persistence in contesting the presidential election was borne out of his passion to rekindle the Nigerian dream that he was privileged to live.
Atiku said this in Abuja on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at a ceremony where he formally declared to once again contest the 2023 presidential election.
This will be the fifth time Atiku would be presenting himself for the top job.
According to the former Vice President, “Nigeria is a land of possibility. There is no challenging background that will make any Nigerian give up. I am a living witness to what is possible in Nigeria.”
He said that he decided to contest once again because the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has failed in its fundamental responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians; the most significant human right is the right to life, which he said, has not been protected under the APC administration.
On his plans for Nigeria, He said: “Under my presidency, I want to focus on five key areas: Unity of Nigeria, Security, Economy, Education and devolving more resources and powers to the federating units.
“Since the civil war, the unity of Nigeria has never been threatened as it is today. Nigerians are losing hope in the oneness of this country. My fellow Nigerians, I am the unifier that is coming to bond the broken union.
“We will open doors for dialogue to hear the grieving voices of all Nigerians. Under my presidency, there will be a new Nigeria, where everybody has an equal voice and is heard.
“Throughout my life, I have never looked at Nigerians as divided people. In my eyes, all Nigerians are the same. When I see you, I don’t see Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo or Fulani or a northerner or southerner; when I see you, I only see a Nigerian, and I expect the best from you.
“All Nigerians are equal and should be seen and treated equally. There is no unity without justice and fairness. That is why I will deliver leadership of justice and fairness.
“Why is unity a priority? Well, we must work to strengthen our unity as my dear friend and brother, Chief Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, once said. National integration, he continued, will not come as a gift. It is the role of government to work very hard and promote it.”
According to him, the 2023 election would not be the usual elections, but would be a referendum to decide whether “we want greatness or continuous destruction. It is a choice between two paths: the path of unity and progress or the path of division and backwardness.”
He also said that Nigerians need a new kind of leadership that will steer the nation to a positive path.
Atiku: “In 2023, we want a President who has ideas on how to fix Nigeria. We want a president who understands, who inspires and is empathetic.
“As the election is fast approaching, we should not be distracted from the devastating conditions we are in now. The ruling party wants to divide us; they want to divide us along the political, ethnic, and religious lines so that we forget to blame them for the rising inflation.
“They want to distract us from holding them responsible for the insecurity and rising poverty. They want us to be facing each other and hating one another. We should focus on the issues, not our differences. Let us unite and fight our common enemies: the lack of unity, insecurity, poverty, inflation, and unemployment.”
He declared: “I offer myself to rescue the sinking ship. Under my captainship, this ship will sail to a brighter course by the grace of God. However, this journey is not mine alone. It is a journey I am taking for all Nigerians. It is also a journey to a destination I planned with my late great mentor, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’adua, and with my beloved compatriot, the late, and great, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. May their souls rest in peace.
“These two gentlemen helped me find my path in politics, and as a group we had a vision to run Nigeria in a businesslike manner, where, as one nation, we would bid farewell to poverty, by understanding our differences, and harnessing them to do together what we would not be able to do separately.”