Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says if Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is elected President of Nigeria in 2023, he will tear his passport.
“The truth has only one face, one color, and one reality,” the PDP chieftain said in a speech to PDP members in Lagos State.
It is on this foundation that we will embark on the difficult task of rescuing our state from the greedy clutches of the Iragbiji usurper and finally pushing ahead on the path to our collective national salvation.”
“It amuses me when I see mercenary pretenders prancing around the Nigerian vacuum, dreaming of a flimsy presidential ambition. Yes, they are hallucinating because their goals are off.”
“Even as every corner of the country is challenged by variegated insecurities ranging from banditry, urban outlaws, rogue herdsmen, destructive fissiparous forces, the murderous Boko Haram terrorists and sundry insidious elements – the basic priority of all right-thinking patriots should be about restoring peace and harmony among our people rather than the mercantile pursuit of a chimerical presidential bid.
This is what is called true statesmanship. This is what is called discerning, progressive leadership.”
He further stated that the excessive centralization of power is destroying the progress of the country. He described political office holders who are embezzling funds meant for everyone as greedy.
In his speech titled “Nigeria: Time to Chart a New Direction”, Chief George said, “The Nigerian polity is now straying towards its elastic limit. It is now over-stressed and over-stretched beyond the bounds of acceptability. Our survival as a nation is genuinely being questioned from the desert to the sea.”
“Violence sprouts everywhere from the distant outpost of Ajangbadi in Lagos to the farthest reaches of Malum-Fatori in Borno, from Kiṣi in Oke-Ogun to Odiani in the swamps of Delta- our nation gradually descends into a dangerous gangland where the rule of the bayonet and clubs seems to be the norm.
Surely, we can’t continue like this. Our survival as a people is to reverse the ruinous course and retrieve ourselves from the gaping chasm that confronts us all.”
“This is the time to change the path of old, to look beyond what hobbles our progress, to redefine our value system, to rejig and restructure the various anomalies that presently hinder the greater possibilities of the Nigerian Union.”
“Our political culture is still much engrossed in the glorification of cronyism over intellect, the celebration of charlatans over patriotic commitment, the narrow worship of the gains of the moment over the truth and the base withdrawal into nepotistic laager over the greater good.”
“And our nation is losing an estimated 29 billion dollars every year due to epileptic power supply. This is not sustainable. Electrical Power is the very life-blood of all industrial revolution. It is the fuel of all economic development.”
“A nation without efficient power supply cannot rise into the bright dawn of the digital civilization. It is stuck forever in the bleak dark side of economic underdevelopment and teeters inevitably on economic ruination.”
“Indeed, something must give way to spur a Nigerian rebirth and renewal lest we become the permanent invalid giant of Africa.”
“To change cause, to redefine our path, we must cultivate the essential ingredients of meritocracy as the critical building blocks of modern nations. Wherever young, vibrant, intelligent minds are given pride of place to steer the destinies of their nations, such societies invariably are widening the opportunities for competitive growth, encouraging a healthy contest of ideas, strengthening their developmental advantages.”
“Our young men and women excelling from the tundra of Russia to Saint Albert in Canada are symbols of our great possibilities if only we do the right things; If only we encourage knowledge and be kind to talent; If only we disregard the narrow province of nepotism and embrace merit regardless of its origin.
“Ours is now a bullion van democracy where characters of blemished, dubious identities have virtually seized our collective coffers, turning a people’s treasury into a private family vault.
“Lagos State, my much trampled state which a writer recently referred to as a zombie state is perhaps the best example of a seized and conquered territory where an Iragbiji native dwells like an obscene Persian monarch determining who becomes a councillor, who becomes a local government chairman, who becomes a house of Assemblymember, who becomes a Representative, a Senator and a Governor.
“All these he does by compromising all the agencies and organs of the state, including the warped electoral commission itself.
“Leadership is a product of training, experience and learning. It is a process not an instant, immediate arrival. Leadership requires a lot of patience, cultivated wisdom and demonstrated intelligence. You do not aspire to a position of leadership by mere whim and fancy. Like the Boy Scout motto says: You must be prepared. You must be honourable. You must look beyond personal advantages and be willing to make sacrifices on behalf of others. This is what the current political practice lacks.
“At this juncture, I must return to my state again in view of the self-serving, dubious, incongruous legislation that seeks to shield the looters of our state treasury from the prosecutorial mandate of the EFCC.
“According to records, in the year 2020, the Alpha Beta company which is owned by Bola Tinubu raked in about 37 billion naira from our treasury without lifting a finger. If this is not sheer daylight robbery, I wonder what is?
Other dignitaries in attendance included the Secretary, Southwest PDP, Hon Rahman Owokoniran; former Lagos State deputy governor, Chief Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Chief Remi Akitoye, and Chief Mrs Onikepo Oshodi.
