The ongoing Annual General Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA-AGC) which started in Lagos on Monday, provided a huge platform for the three main contenders for the seat of the country’s president to offload some of their plans for the people, if they win the 2023 presidential election.
While former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) hammered on devolution of more powers to the states and local governments, former Anambra state, governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) spoke about character and competence while Tinubu, a former governor of Lago’s state and flag-bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) promised to transform the country the way he did Lagos.
While Obi and Atiku attended the conference, Tinubu was represented by his running mate, former Borno state governor Kashim Shettima. The three candidates were invited as Guest Speakers to the conference.
Atiku:
The PDP candidate said he would hand over Federal Government-owned universities to state governments, as according to him, the government doesn’t have infinite resources to continue to shoulder the cost of university education in the country, especially against the backdrop of ongoing strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, which had been on for over six months.
He said- “The only way is to make sure that you make conducive environment available to both foreign and local investors to participate in our country, whether it is infrastructure, education or power.
“I had an argument with a university professor from the Federal University, Lokoja. He said he read in my policy document that I intended to devolve, in other words, to return education to the states. How dare do I do that?
“I said, ‘Mr Professor, do you realise that the first set of our universities belonged to the regional governments?’ He said, ‘Yes’. I said who are the successors of the regional governments? He said the states.
“I said the children you send to America, to England, who own those universities? Mostly the private sector. So, why is it that you think we cannot do it here? We don’t have the money.”
Atiku said that Nigerians had never been this divided in her history, uniting Nigerians remains one of his five-fold plans for the country.
He said: “Since the return of democracy, Nigeria has never been in such a critical situation as we find ourselves now. The problem of poverty, insecurity, unemployment, etc is enormous but what is important is how to tackle them.
“When PDP came into power in 1999, despite winning overwhelmingly across the country, we decided to include members of other party in our leadership. That singular action united the country and resulted in calm. I believe we can have that experience again. It is only when we have a sense of belonging that we can deal with insecurity.”
Tinubu:
The APC candidate who was represented by Shettima, said he will replicate the wonders in Lagos and Borno states, if elected president.
Shettima stated that he built some of the best schools in the state during his tenure, adding that Tinubu’s administration will address issues of the economy and security, among others.
He said: “Nigerians have the capability to see through the worn-out rhetoric and sophistry of pretentious politicians. Nigerians should follow the man that knows the road. From day one, we will hit the ground running. We’ll promptly address the issue of the economy, ecology, and security.
“We have the antecedents. I built some of the best schools in Nigeria. Go to Borno and see wonders; you will never believe that it is a state in a state of war.
“So, we are going to replicate our achievements in Lagos, in Borno and some of the frontline states so that our nation will be a better place. The fundamental issue is pure leadership.”
On his part, Obi of the Labour Party said the 2023 election will not be about religion or tribe but character and competence in leadership.
He said: “Nigeria is in a mess. We got here simply because of the cumulative effect of bad leadership. The coming election is not about tribe or religion but about character and competence. We need a bold transition from a highly insecure state to a highly secure state.”
Obi also stated that his approach to tackle the worsening exchange rate problem in the country will be to encourage manufacturing and export of goods and services.