‘I will run a government for all Nigerians’
President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday promised to run a government that will cater for the
yearning and aspirations of all Nigerians, if elected President in
April.
Mr. Jonathan told
the large crowd of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters gathered
at the Kano Polo ground to witness his campaign that he shared a lot in
common with them.
He recalled that he
came from a poor background whereby, at a point in his life, he never
envisaged that he could rise to his current position of power and
authority.
The President
promised that if voted into power, he will live by the ideals of
uplifting the downtrodden which the late political leader of Kano,
Aminu Kano worked for in his day.
“We would play
politics without bitterness, we would offer selfless service to the
people, and we would help the downtrodden because I share similar
background with you too,” Mr Jonathan said.
“I am one of those
from a poor background. If I am here today, it means there is hope for
you too. I will give hope to the young and jobless. We will unite all
Nigerians and bring peace to this country of ours.”
Mr. Jonathan, who
was delayed from mounting the rostrum for about 30 minutes due to break
down of the public address system, emphasised the need to resuscitate
the power sector.
Promising that
over-reliance on electric generators would reduce drastically in the
next four years, he assured the ecstatic crowd that small and medium
scale industries required to provide employment opportunities would
come back to life if the goal is achieved.
Underlining the
importance of agriculture to Nigerians, he promised to revive
irrigation farming, rehabilitate poor road network and ineffective rail
system to further open up windows of opportunities to Nigerians.
Happy Kwankwanso
The elated Kano
State governorship candidate of the PDP, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso expressed
delight to have Mr. Jonathan in the state. He listed the Kano Western
Bypass road project, Irrigation projects at Imawa and Kadawa and the
choice of Kano as an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) as some of the
federal government projects in the state.
Urging supporters
to vote for Mr. Jonathan and all PDP candidates, Mr. Kwankwaso, who was
governor of Kano from 1999 to 2003, described the state as a home of
PDP from 2003 to date
At the heavily
secured venue, the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Bello Haliru,
received dozens of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) decampees led by
former Director General of Kano Pilgrims board Sani Lawan Kofar Mata to
the PDP.
Among chieftains of
the PDP on Mr. Jonathan’s entourage were his Vice, Namadi Sambo and his
wife, Amina who is from Kano; former Speakers of the House of
Representatives, Salisu Buhari and Ghali Umar Na’abba; Tony Anenih,
Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman; Minister of Education
Ruqayya Ahmed Rufai and Minister of power, Nuhu Wya.
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