Why I can never give up on presidential seat - Atiku opens up

Why I can never give up on presidential seat - Atiku opens up

Read and know why former Vice President Atiku Abubakar loves Nigeria and wants to occupy Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“How can I be discouraged? You are just asking me to give up on Nigeria. I have no other place to go. I don’t. So, why should I give up on Nigeria. I cannot give up until I can no longer or do not have the capacity or the strength. There is no way I can give up on Nigeria.”

Those were his responses to a question put to him by a journalist during a press conference in his Asokoro, Abuja residencc.

The journalist had sought to know why he won’t give up on his presidential bid after two unsuccessful shots in 2007 and 2011.

But by his candid answers, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar showed passion, faith, determination and optimism that, someday, the Nigerian nation would be great again.

Indeed, it is called the Giant of Africa, but this is one appellation that many people now struggle to defend. Even the present administration led by Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan won’t bat an eyelid in acknowledging that Nigeria is yet to get out of the woods and, for this reason, has asked Nigerians to renew his mandate in the 2015 general elections.

But this is where his critics get worried. To them, a government that has not tackled insecurity which has claimed thousands of lives, has not built social infrastructures and failed to fix a bleeding economy after four years deserves to be shown the way out. One word which has continued to resonate for a long time now suffices: “clueless”.

But even as Jonathan’s numerous critics, seemingly domiciled in the nation’s main opposition political party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, would parade those propositions, there is also another school of thought.

The view posits that of Nigeria former presidents did not have a vision or mind of their own. In any case, they were mostly hand-picked by godfathers or the elites who used them for selfish gains and so, throughout their reign, the country remained in doldrums.

But there is this man who has spent the greater part of his life diagnosing Nigeria’s problems. He has equally been at the corridors of power before where he garnered the requisite experience that will sure catapult the country from its economic and political quagmires once he is given the opportunity in 2015. He is Atiku.

Going by a chieftaincy tittle—Turaki of Adamawa, conferred on him in his home Adamwa State- Atiku has long declared his intention to run for president on the platform of APC. To tell how serious he is, he has since started enlightenment and sensitization campaigns to old and young, rich and poor across the country. Every day, he is in one town or the other meeting people.

The result of this manifested when his state chapter of the APC unanimously endorsed him for the presidency. Even though he is vying for the ticket with at least three other eminently qualified and influential personalities in the party which included former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, Kano State governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, and the Publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, Atiku’s chances of grabbing the ticket eventually are as large and wide as the sea.

Therefore, the Turaki Adamawa is very optimistic that come December 10 when the primary election will hold, he will emerge the flag bearer of APC.

Below are snippets of his promises for Nigeria if voted president in 2015 as contained in his policy document:

An economy that creates jobs and banishes poverty
A government that listens, cares and plays by the rule
Security that guarantees peace and national harmony
A society that abhors corruption and nepotism