COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 4TH NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE YOUNG PROGRESSIVE PARTY (YPP) HELD AT THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, ABUJA ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2018.
1. We mourn the death of hundreds of Nigerians who have fallen prey to the unending skirmishes between farmers and herders in many parts of the country with emphasis on the over 70 lives wasted in Benue due to the activities of the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. While condemning this act of senseless killings, we call on the Federal government to rise up to her core constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property of Nigerians by deploying the military to combat these criminals hiding under the guise of herdsmen to carry out genocide in most parts of the country.
The more the delay in treating this urgent national problem with dispatch, the more Nigerians will continue to loose faith in the ability of President Muhammadu Buhari led government to resolve the problem of insecurity as whatever progress may have been made in the fight against insurgency has been eroded by the lackadaisical attitude of government in taming the heinous activities of the herdsmen.
Also, we condemn the call for a cattle colony by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Audu Ogbe as such proposition will only further ignite ethno-religious suspicion in an already tensed atmosphere. We rather propose the ranching system in partnership with willing organizations, States and Federal government as this remains the most viable solution that will bring about a win-win situation for all parties involved.
2. We totally align with the contents of the letter of President Olusegun Obasanjo, which only goes to confirm our resolute stance against this government on a number of issues in time past. While we agree with the general belief that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo lacks the morality to castigate the Present administration owing to his antecedents as a former President who has arguably failed Nigerians the most, it does not however take away the fact that all issues raised in his letter are very objective and apt.
May we also commend the political maturity in which the Federal government through the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed addressed some of the issues raised in the letter as it is a far departure from the norm where the government of the day rather than responding to issues engage in mindless shenangigans aimed at deflecting attention. Though, we do not fail to observe the tactical omission in addressing the issue of nepostism which has characterized virtually all the appointments so far made by this administration as failure to take into consideration our diversity in making key appointments is the height of insensitivity and it is worse than corruption.
We hope President Muhammadu Buhari will promptly address all the issues raised as it will do his government alot of good to ignore the messenger and concentrate on the message while there is still time but should kindly heed to the ultimate advice of forgetting about contesting for the 2019 Presidential election because just like his predecessor in 2015, Nigerians are ready like never before to retire him back to Daura through their votes.
3. While sycophants are quick to condemn the letter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, it is good to note that the letter is already yielding unexpected dividends such as the arrest and questioning of the former SGF, Babachir Lawal on the alleged acts of corruption and the hurriedly assembled proposal on restructuring of the country by the Mallam Nasir El-rufai led committee.
We would like to beckon on Nigerians not to be carried away by the charade of the APC as this has always been their usual characteristics of putting up deception to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians or how do we reconcile the new year speech of President Muhammadu Buhari on restructuring and the sudden current position of the Mallam Nasir El-rufai led APC committee on restructuring.
Nigerians should please ask the APC government how they intend to implement this proposal or carry out this process of restructuring when the President do not believe in restructuring and when they are not even in an harmonious working relationship with the National Assembly vested with the power to amend the constitution appropriately to reflect these changes.
4. We appeal to all Nigerians to take full advantage of the on going nationwide INEC voters’ registration exercise by massively mobilizing in order to get registered at the centres closest to them as this is the only sure way to vote out poverty, unemployment, insecurity, medical tourism and nepotism to mention a few.
5. We call on all Nigerians both young and old to join hands with the Young Progressive Party (YPP) by identifying with all our programmes of 2018 starting with the “GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE CAMPAIGN” scheduled to commence nationwide on Saturday, March 10, 2018. This campaign is a voluntary blood donation initiative where all members of YPP nationwide are expected to donate blood free of charge in selected hospitals as an expression of the high premium we place on human lives.
Signed:
Egbeola Olawale Martins
National Publicity Secretary.