DUTSE (Sundiata Post) – President Goodluck Jonathan at Presidential Campaign at Aminu Kano Triangle Square, Dutse, Jigawa State on Wednesday, said, democracy is not about intimidation as being preached by the All Progressive Congress (APC), adding that this was not the philosophy of great Nigerian leaders like Amino Kano, Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa.
Jonathan told the mammoth crowd that came to the square Wednesday morning waiting for him and his delegation, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a party that promotes unity.
He said all the state airports were build by PDP governments and that the federal government has established 14 universities and one international airport within this period, urging Nigerians to ignore those that accuse the PDP of doing nothing.
According to him, “Leadership is not about intimidating people, it is not about threatening people, one thing about democracy is that people should be free. Freedom is the hallmark of democracy, democracy where you are not free, democracy where you will live in bondage that is not democracy. Nigerians will never be in bondage, this country must be united.
“Sule Lamido mentioned Aminu Kano, he talked about Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, these are great Nigerian leaders that talked and spoke about unity, encouraged the unity of this country. They never encouraged young people to attack others because of political differences.
“We believe in one Nigeria and we just celebrated our centenary as a nation. Nobody can disintegrate this country, we will remain united.
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“We have challenges of terror just like other countries have but surely we will crush this terror and nobody can separate us.
“So I thank my great people of Jigawa State, what we want to do as the central government is to work with your incoming government just like we worked with Sule Lamido to make sure that we encourage our farmers as we have been doing to get fertilisers and soft loans, to enable them fend well for themselves and train their children.
“What we will do with the incoming government is to create environment for micro and medium scale enterprises for our young people to become the next set of millionaires in this country, for our young ones to create jobs for themselves, for our young people to create wealth.
“We don’t want a situation where our children will be beggers, where our children will be at home. We want to make sure that all Nigerian children have the opportunity which most of us had, we are here talking to you because we went to school otherwise some of us wouldn’t have been here.
“So we must give that opportunity to every Nigerian child, that is why we came up with the concept of almajari education.
“I thank all of you for supporting us, vote for PDP to work with your governor so that Jigawa will continue to grow from strength to strength”, he said.
The President described Sule Lamido as an action governor leading an action government.
The Vice President, Namadi Sambo, commended the Jigawa State transformation courtesy of Governor Lamido.
He said the federal government would continue to collaborate with the state to ensure is the best not just in Nigeria but in the world.
He said having worked with Jonathan for more than four years I can say he is honest, transparent and result orientated.
Sambo said when the proposal for the Almajiri programme was brought to Jonathan he acted on it within five minutes.
He said the President was also the initiator for empowering farmers, adding that farmers now have access to fertilisers while tractors are now available for their use.
“We are in Jigawa to seek your support to enable us continue in the good work we have been doing for the state in particular and Nigeria in general”, he said.
The Vice President said “its God’s wisdom that some of us are Christians and some of us our Muslims and are from different ethic groups so people should not be championing ethnic and religious cause.”
Sambo said Jonathan is a christian and he is Muslim and so nobody should deceive people using religion because the system has always been a Christian President, a Muslim Vice President and vice versa.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu, said the government of Jigawa State under Lamido has done a lot of projects for the state to the extent that whoever is coming to Jigawa will notice the difference without being told.
He advised those who do not have voters card to go and register and get one and those who have should ensure the cards are intact and ensure that February 14th they come out enmass and vote for all PDP candidates.
In his remarks, Lamido, welcomed Jonathan to his home, saying that PDP is a family of Nigerians that believe in unity and cares for the Nigerian people.
He decried a situation where those who do not support Buhari in the north are being vilified, called names and blackmailed, noting that the only thing the APC has was Buhari’s popularity, and that the party would be dead without Buhari, saying “that is not democracy”.
Lamido said the Aminu Kano arena stands for liberty and freedom where the people were freed by Aminu Kano with the philosophy of knowledge and not ignorance.
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He recalled how former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida was insulted and vilified on the social media for calling on Nigerians to support Jonathan in the fight against terror when the President visited him but was hailed as soon as he endorsed Buhari who visited him.
He said the north was liberated by Aminu Kano but sadly today leaders are insulted by the youths of the region because they have different views from that of Buhari, saying this was not democracy.
Lamido said, “Call me anything you want I will stand by my beliefs. I am a Fulani man and we don’t fear anybody.
“Today in the north, if you say anything against Buhari you are being vilified, a popular cleric Gumi admonished Buhari he was insulted and the question is who will liberate us from this fear?
“My worry is that today the fear of Buhari is the beginning of wisdom, but to me, today the fear of Buhari is the failure of Buhari. You must be a human being before you are an Ijaw, north or any other tribe.
“So humanity is our concern. Hunger does not respect ethnicity or religion, so Nigerians deserve good governance”.
He urged Nigerians to stand up against this issue of blackmail from the opposition party. According to him, “APC is only about Buhari, remove him the party is dead. Which means if there is no Buhari there is no Nigeria and this is not true. There will be Nigeria after Jonathan, there will be Nigeria after Buhari.
“Mr. President, we need a team of first 11 not a captain of first 11. Democracy is freedom of choice and if you can’t choose then there is no democracy.
“Mr. President you have been facing crisis, I have gone through crisis all my life right from PRP days, but because we believed in democracy we are still here.
“No matter the harassment I will not do anything that will harm the interest of Nigeria”, he assured.
The Director General of the Jonathan Presidential, Ahmadu Ali, commended Lamido for bringing development to Jigawa that was once a dessert.
In his remarks in Hausa, the Vice Chairman North West Zone, Ibrahim Kazaure, said, Jigawa is a center of leadership and PDP, a state will not forget the president because of his projects in Jigawa in particular and Nigeria in general.
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He said the President has fulfilled all his campaign promises in Jigawa, adding that as the people voted for him in 2011 and they will again vote massively for him 2015.
He said it was in Jigawa that the Almajiri school programme began and for that the people remain grateful to Jonathan.
He assured the president of nothing less than 100 per cent votes from the people of Jigawa State because of his track record.
This crowd you see here is because of the Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, because he has the interest of the people at heart and therefore the people of Jigawa State will vote for the President and the PDP candidate in the state.
The Minister of Special Duties and Deputy Director General North for Jonathan/Sambo organisation, Kabiru Turaki, said there is no political party that has programmes that have direct bearing on the lives of the people like the PDP.
He said the President has established federal universities in Jigawa and other northern states, commending Lamido also for establishing Jigawa State University.
Turaki said they have not seen a single Almajiri on the road since they came in, meaning the President’s Almajiri’s school programme is a success.
