Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi has said that contrary to claims that the All Progressives Congress is just another Peoples Democratic Party, the party is indeed different as it is people centered.
Fayemi made the statements whilst speaking at the first Progressive Governance Lecture in Ibadan themed “Unemployment and the Crisis of Governance in Nigeria: the Way Forward.”
He said, “Some people now say that both PDP and APC are the same. They say there is no difference. Governor Kwankwanso was in PDP, he is now in APC. Governor Rotimi Amaechi was in PDP, he now is in APC. I urge you to also check what those governors were doing when they were in the PDP.
“We have never said that all the people in PDP are bad leaders. That has never been our argument. Our argument has been that the influence of the-end-justifies-the-means politicians in the PDP is overwhelming. And that is why they are not making any progress beyond this jobless growth that we are witnessing. When you go there, you can see it. Governor Kwankwanso runs a free education programme now in Kano. Governor Amaechi runs free education in Rivers. Governor Nyako does the same in Adamawa. So, there are many ties that bind us together and we believe that ideologically, we are Siamese twins. And that is why they are here. We also want to enrich what we are doing with the examples they have shown in their states and other states. Of course, you can see the difference in Ibadan. I am not saying this just to humour my brother, the governor of Oyo State. I was born, grew up here and know this city like the back of my hand and I know the progress that it has witnessed in the short period of time that Governor Ajmobi has taken on the reins of power. You know what is going on in Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Osun and Ekiti states.”
He said the economic plan of the APC was to create employment as there is dignity in labour beyond earning a wage.
“The reason why we are progressive is that we believe that we owe a duty to our people, that it is not a favour to our people to empower them to become people who have self worth in their own right. And job is not about earning a wage. It is about the dignity that it gives our people. That is why we are making this the first in the series if the PGF lectures. And there is a direct nexus between governance and employment.
“The disconnections that the lecturer have pointed out, the issues that have been raised are also borne by the evidence before us. The strategic committee of this group headed by Governor Fashola has been receiving results from the polls that we commissioned in the 36 states of the federation. The polls we have been doing make it clear to us that the number one issue for Nigerians across the length and breadth of the country is joblessness. Next is insecurity. But as Governor Kwankwanso has highlighted, there is a connection between joblessness and insecurity. When you look at what we are witnessing in the Northeastern part of the country today, there are those who say it is religious, there also those who want to make us believe it is ethnic. But as a student of security, the most critical factor responsible for crisis in the North is economy. That is what has made it possible for some Nigerians to believe that they have no future than to throw themselves in arms way in the name of creating an alternative republic. That, for us, is what we need to tackle. When we cut off the oxygen that is fueling the crisis in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and other parts, we clearly must understand the connection between insecurity and poverty.”
Leave a Reply