Posted by By STEVEN MUSA, Jalingo on
The presidential candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has pledged to be the pivot of generational change, which would revolutionize the various sectors of the nation's economy.
• Kicks off presidential campaign in Jalingo
The presidential candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has pledged to be the pivot of generational change, which would revolutionize the various sectors of the nation's economy.
Speaking at the flag-off of his presidential campaign in Jalingo, Taraba State, Kalu declared that a generational change was inevitable because people of President Olusegun Obasanjo's generation have abysmally failed Nigerians with their approach to governance.
He pledged that a PPA Federal Government, when elected, would squarely address a number of problems begging for attention, including execution of economic reforms with a human face.
Apparently replying President Olusegun Obasanjo, who recently lampooned him at a rally in Aba, Abia State, Kalu said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a political party characterized by deception. He called President Olusegun Obasanjo and his surrogates "vanguards of the politics of deceit and parading faces of deceit."
Kalu advised Nigerians not to vote for PDP any longer, saying that the party could not be associated with any tangible legacy.
Said Kalu: "Posterity would adjudge Obasanjo's administration as the worse democratic government in this dispensation. A vote for PDP is for retrogression. Obasanjo, a failed farmer and a failed statesman with Nigeria on his hands for eight years! Don't waste your vote on PDP."
The PPA presidential candidate promised to promote peace and unity in the nation, stressing that Nigeria was an indivisible country and would remain so.
He decried the growing insecurity in the country, attributing the trend to the nonchalant attitude of the PDP-controlled Federal Government as the police were not accorded the conducive atmosphere to operate as obtains in other countries.
"Nigerians, under the PPA Federal Government will promote democratic ideals, rule of law, equity and justice, transparency without fear or favour," he said.
A PPA administration, Kalu promised, would preserve the sovereignty of the country, saying that the nation would be accorded the respect it deserves among the comity of nations.
Kalu assured Nigerians that the nation would win the World Cup in 2010, noting that his antecedents in Abia State, where he nurtured the Enyimba Football Club to its enviable position, was enough evidence of his ability to deliver.
The Abia State governor also promised to salvage the situation of the police, which he described as unfortunate. He noted that policemen now reside in the midst of criminals because Obasanjo had failed to construct barracks for them.
"Armed robbers now carry sophisticated weapons more dangerous than Obasanjo's police weapons. In this situation, how do you expect them to protect your life and property with their meager N7, 000 monthly salary?" he asked.
All the six gubernatorial candidates of the North-East geopolitical zone of the country, who were presented PPA flags, decried the under-development in their respective states and pledged to bring about radical changes in terms of development of infrastructure if voted to power.
Fielding questions from Daily Sun, the Director, Youths Affairs, Orji Kalu Campaign Organization, Alhaji Salisu Magaji Mogammed, said the mammoth crowd that graced the flag-off of electioneering was eloquent testimony of Kalu's acceptance to Nigerians.
"Kalu is not oblivious of the problems of Nigeria. He is a grassroots man who will holistically tackle the problems, especially empowerment of youths and women," he said.
Chief Martin Uwaekwe, deputy national chairman, South, PPA, said the mother of all rallies would hold in Lagos on Saturday at the Tafawa Balewa Square.
It would be recalled that President Obasanjo, in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, last weekend, had accused Kalu of non-performance as governor. He had said: "I regret that the government here in Abia may not have done as much as we expected it to do. It is because we allowed an adult delinquent to grab power. Without mincing words, you need someone who will not fritter away your state funds. You need one who will not steal your wealth and invest it into a so-called airline and turn Abia State into a pariah state."