From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
The Head of Operations, Directorate of Interventions of the Labour Party(LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Bitrus Yerima, has said that Mr Peter Obi is the best option before Nigerians at the moment.
Yerima said that because of Obi’s track records and achievements while he was governor, the people of the northern part of the country have resolved to vote for him massively.
He said that northerners believe that Obi would proffer practical solutions to the myriads of problems in their region. In this interview, he also spoke on other issues of concern.
We understand that you and your team have been going round the country, visiting stakeholders with certain political messages. Could you tell us what that movement is about?
I am here on an intervention tour as one of those interventions we have done which cut across the country. We have gone to quite a number of states, relating with the support groups, traditional rulers, relating with non-indigenes residing in a given state where we visit; relating with the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa communities. We relate with critical stakeholders; identify them, pay them courtesy calls to intimate them on this project, Take Back Nigeria, which Peter Obi is anchoring alongside Datti Ahmed. It is a project I believe every well meaning Nigerian that meant good for Nigeria will key into because in our country today, the way and manner the country is, we need visionaries, strong, healthy and vibrant youths of our contemporary who understand the nature of the time and season and the challenges associated with it to be able to proffer solutions to the mess Nigeria is in today. The mess Nigeria has found itself today, I tell you that the old order cannot do anything. For instance, Tinubu is the leader of the APC; for the years APC has been in power, the worst government you can ever think of in the history of Nigeria is this very government which Tinubu has been a leader in. So, it means that as a leader, you’re supposed to be the one to speak to the President; you’re supposed to have his ears on issues that are happening. And if you will tell Nigerians that you have been advising him and he has failed to take your advice, you should have been able to come out publicly to tell Nigerians as the leader of the ruling party that I have been advising the President but he has refused to take my advice. I have withdrawn my services as the leader of the party but he has not done that. It means that he is a contributor to the failure of the system we have today. And you now also go to Atiku; Atiku who is talking about unifying Nigeria, I wonder, I ask questions; how can Atiku tell us that he is the unifier we have today? Is it fair, just and equitable for somebody to rule for eight years from the North and then, you’re from the North and you also want to take over from the North. Not only that you’re from the North, you are also a Fulani man; and the current government is controlled by the Fulani. And he wants to be president in Nigeria. Where is justice, fairness and equity? He has failed. Now, the only man that fits into justice, fairness and equity in Nigeria today in terms of who becomes Nigerian president is Peter Obi because an Hausa man has been a President, Yoruba man has been a President, an Hausa man has become a Vice President, a Yoruba man is the current Vice President and so on and so forth but the Igbo man has never been given an opportunity to become Nigeria’s president. The Igbo man has invested in the Nigerian economy, in commerce, transportation; he invested in oil, real estate, engineering sector, trading and so on. They are everywhere in Nigeria. There is a saying that if you go to a community and there is no Igbo man there, don’t stay in that community. That is what an Igbo man is. And let me tell you one unique thing about an Igbo man. An Igbo man, when he comes to your community, he sticks to the business that brought him into your community; he does not want to struggle with you over your land and he will never say I am an indigene. He will never say I want to be your councillor. He will never say I want to be your chairman in your place. An Igbo man is constrained to the thing he came for. An Igbo man is one of the best things Nigeria should accept and celebrate; this time around as a president in terms of competency, transparency; in terms of track records. Peter Obi and Datti have what it would take to rebuild Nigeria. These are the two individuals that the EFCC and what have you have not been able to establish anything against in Nigeria today.
You said that you have gone almost round the country. How would you assess Obi’s acceptance throughout the country? How would you assess the response of Nigerians to this project?
Even a blind man who doesn’t see but hears and can perceive will tell you that Nigerians have made up their minds; cut across regions, cut across sections of this country, cut across religion. Like I said, we have been to Adamawa State, Gombe State, Plateau State, Nasarawa State, Katsina, we have structures of the intervention team across the 36 states of Nigeria right now. We have working coordinators from the state to the units. I want to tell you sir that we have our brothers that are Muslims that have told us openly that there is nobody that will salvage Nigeria if it is not Peter Obi. These people cut across academia, they cut across political sectors; they cut across all facets of life. They are there just waiting for the day of the ballot. They are not a noisemaking people but they have decided. I want this to interest you, Shiite has over 10 million followers. The Shiite leader had come out from the North to tell Nigerians that the way to go is Peter Obi. I want to even tell you today that there are notable Nigerians, one of them is a professor, a public analyst; he called me and told me in confidence that this country cannot be salvaged if Peter Obi doesn’t come. He said for us, forget it, we have made up our minds, we want Nigeria to be salvaged because the Nigerian economy doesn’t know religion. The cost of transportation doesn’t know religion. If I go to the market, the amount a Christian buys is the same amount a Muslim will spend buying the same goods. Both Christians and Muslims will buy it at the same price. They have understood that. Hiding under religion to deceive the people cannot work again because what brought Buhari into power in 2015 was religion and they have discovered that they play religion which is their last card and it didn’t favour them.
They are the most killed people; most raped people; they are at the receiving end more than every other people. Therefore, they have also made up their minds. So, what we want to say now is anybody that loves Nigeria and means well for it, it is high time we all put our hands on deck like former President Obasanjo is doing; he has come out publicly to tell Nigerians that the way forward is Peter Obi. And some notable Nigerians like the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has come out to tell Nigerians that the way forward is Peter Obi. And I am telling you that so many other notable Nigerians are coming. The issues we are putting on the table is not religion. We are putting Nigeria’s security issues on the table. You can’t travel on the roads of Nigeria today because of insecurity. The railway line that was built to ease security problems has been attacked and the northerners are the ones in charge of the security architecture of Nigeria today. So, the issue is clear. It is not who rules but who is more competent; who is more transparent; who will unite Nigerians. And the unifying factor today is Peter Obi. He is the only one that will be able to unite Nigeria. He is the only one that can solve Nigeria’s security problems. He is the only one that can stop oil theft. He has done it in the past even though it was in Anambra State but I think that when you want to do a big thing, you have to start from small. And that is even what the Bible says; see thou a man diligent in his business, he will sit before great men. And it says that a man that is faithful in a small thing, bigger things will be given to him. So, he has proven faithful in Anambra which is a small unit of the Nigerian state. I know he will do better in Nigeria today.
