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President of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and former governor of Kano State Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, recently declared intention to run for president in the 2019 presidential election. The duo who made the declaration on seperate occasions will contest under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Kwankwaso who lost his presidential bid to Buhari in 2015, said he’s ready to try again with another party. In Saraki’s official declaration during a dialogue with youths and young aspirants at Sheraton Hotel in Abuja recently, he reiterated the need for urgent revival of Nigerian economy. He lamented over the decline of GDP growth rate, saying “unemployment is at an all-time high. Businesses are shutting down. Jobs are being lost in record numbers, and the capital needed to jumpstart the Nigerian economy is going elsewhere.” He said, “Nigerians are crying out for succour. Many of our children are hungry. Many people are dying of avoidable or otherwise treatable diseases. Many have fallen below basic living standards, and are now among the 87 million that sealed Nigeria’s position as the country with the highest number of people in extreme poverty. Our young people lack opportunities. The necessary education facilities and system to equip them for the future simply do not exist. And too often, the youth feel shut out, prevented from having any say in the direction of this nation. “The harsh conditions of extreme poverty faced by the people, fuels the state of insecurity all over the country. Hunger, lack of education and lack of opportunities push many Nigerians into criminal activities including terrorism. Many of our communities are paralysed with fear – due to incessant communal crises, kidnappings and other social ills, as well as the threat of terrorism. We are failing abysmally to tackle the problems of today and to prepare for the future. “Nigeria is perhaps more divided now than ever before. We are increasingly divided along regional, religious and ethnic lines. Nigerians are also divided by class, a festering gulf between the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have-Nots’. The fault lines of this nation are widening to an alarming degree. We must do something fast, and we must be brave about it. “It is with all these in mind, and taking account of the challenges that I have outlined, that I have decided to answer the call of teeming youth who have asked me to run forPresident,” he said. Meanwhile, In a declaration speech at Chida International Hotel in Abuja recently, Kwankwaso said he’ll offer Nigerians something different from the crop of leaders who created the country’s present problems. Adding that he will lead the country into a future that all Nigerians can be equally proud of. He said, “Today, I declare that I am going to vie for the office of President Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. “I stand on my honour to offer a paradigm shift in leadership. There is no gainsaying that all is not well with the polity. It is also clear that the same mindset that created and escalated the problems cannot be used in resolving the ongoing crises in our nationhood and national development. “I intend to offer positive change. Change has again become inevitable. To live is to witness changes because change is an inseparable part of living. Come May 2019, the narrative of helplessness, buck- passing, division, poverty, insecurity, and hopelessness must change to turn to a new dawn of confidence in building a one well restructured Nigeria. “I assure you that while I do not have the prophetic power to predict the future, we certainly have in us the ability to create the future that we want. “On this day, as I stand before you, I offer you a value-based leadership anchored on our national ethics as outlined in Chapter 2 of Section 23 of our Constitution. “We will provide a leadership where everybody is free and equal; where Nigerians see themselves as Nigerians first and as Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Ijaw, Ibibio, Fulani, etc second; where citizens are self-assured and self-assertive; where they are confident and competent; where they want to do what is right no matter whose ox is gored. I want to lead a Nigeria where people are educated and exposed beyond the confines of their tribe, religion, linguistic group or place of birth. “I want to lead a Nigeria where citizens respect their leaders, and leaders lead and forge a team to promote and protect the interest of all Nigerians,” he said. |
