From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A governorship Aspirant under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau State, Dr. Patrick Dakum has said that he will take the State to the promised land, swearing that it should not be well with him politically, if it is not well with the State when elected governor in 2023.
He said from his antecedents in places he had worked, he had always made it clear that if it is well with him, it should be well with the state, and if it is not well with the state, it should not be well with him.
Dakum, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Institute of Virology said in an interview, after he obtained governorship Nomination Form that over 200 of his supporters contributed to buy the Form for him, stressing that he is determined to fight for Plateau State for peaceful coexistence among the people.
“And people are looking at my antecedents in the places I have worked before and now I have always made it clear that if it is well with me, it should be well with the state. If it is not well with the state, it should not be well with me, meaning that I am determined to fight for Plateau State and determined to be with Plateau in terms of peace and in sadness. And people should see a leader that is with them, providing them with the vision of where to go to. My picture of Plateau State is that I should be able to paint it to the people and then direct them on how to get it done and move in the right direction. I have also outlined programmes related to agricultural tourism and mining; so if you put a foundation on peace, security and you put a foundation on infrastructure, both physical and human, then you will be able to lay a footprint. So, I think I am coming with a very good experience, I come with faith and I also come with a lot of passion for moving plateau State forward.
“The next thing for me now is to galvanise the wide support of people that contributed to my buying this governorship form for me. And the people that contributed in my buying this form are well over two hundred, and these are people that believe if I am elected the governor of Plateau State, they helped in entrusting the leadership of the state to me. So the next thing is to galvanise them and I said that when I pick the form, people should go and be fishers of delegates; people should go and be fishers of voters and should go to educate and enlighten those who don’t have voters card to go and register and participate in this process. So, the next for me now is to go fishing for people that will go fishing for delegates, to go fishing for people that will ensure that people who have voters card vote during the party primary and the main election.
“So, it is a lot of hard work to be done in the next couple of days but my movement is going to be a state-wide movement. So, we have the right people in every ward and not only saying they support but they will support me with one thousand Naira and they will support me with their strength and going from place to place explaining to people and presenting my candidature to relevant people as the case may be”. He said.
On assessment of governor Lalong, he said, “When you are assessing people, you must assess them in the context of their performance and you must assess them on the number of things they have done; one is the resources available to them and two the situation in that particular state when it comes to environment for development. The governor in my own opinion has done well given the circumstances he has found himself in terms of the standing and present situation. There are several uncompleted projects before he came to power but instead of drawing a line like what most governors now do, he decided to complete those projects which are to the benefits of the state.
“But for the governor, what he did, he completed a number of projects like the state University which became more functional. He decided to complete some of the infrastructure with the city of Joseph that is ongoing and expanded some of the infrastructure around the state.
“But the only thing that overwhelmed the state was the issue of peace and security and he was able to go ahead and establish a peace agency that has contributed to ensuring peace building.
“It is difficult to measure peace building but you can only measure it in the fact that it works in terms of projects. But apart from that, we have got a number of projects in the agricultural sector; for example, there is revolution in our potato industry through the production of its seedlings that will grow everywhere. I think for me, these are points to note in the course of this administration. But I think that my role is to tell Plateau people what I can do and what I can add to and build on.
“And I have already said that the vigorous pursuit of peace is a very key thing. Plateau is very serious on infrastructure of roads. Now, roads contribute to peace and they contribute to economy but they are capital intensive and that is very clear. But if you are able to now pursue money where ever you can find money and channel it in the right direction, there will be no problem.
“My relationship with the governor is excellent. We have been in the same political group since 1999. We have been in the trenches with him when he was the speaker of the House of Assembly and he was being coerced to impeach the then governor. We have been in the trenches when he was campaigning in 2015 and did what I could do to raise fund when he was campaigning in 2015. I have also been part and parcel of providing advice where I can throughout his tenure. We have no cause to fight or quarrel. He has also made it public that he has no candidate and he is father to all candidates and that he is going to provide a level playing ground for all the candidates.
“I think I am one of the candidates that have gone round Plateau State two times. I have gone round the whole local governments and I was not going to see the delegates. I was going round to see people who make up the party structure since it is not a full fledged campaign but with consultations with party members.
“So, by the time I go to see the party members at the local governments because I have got Representatives in every ward, a minimum of 13 people in every ward, I interact with them and get the feeling of development there and get the feeling of people there. I have gone round and seen the people. I have heard them and they heard me.
“So for me, I have worked and consulted with the party and my consultation is still ongoing until the primary is over and I have the confidence that the people I interacted with are the right people. I have met with most of them. So, now they know me and I have interacted with different layers of people that are delegates and also senior citizens who are opinion leaders.
“So, this is the methodology of trying to ensure that I get myself close because Plateau is not for sale. And Plateau State is not for a few privileged people and Plateau State is for Plateau people; that is why I had over 200 people come together to contribute to get me the governorship form to run”. Dakum added.