 Atikoo vows to end banditry and revive dead Kaduna industries even as thugs disrupt a PDP rally. And, Zamfara State Governor shuts down TVN radio stations for broadcasting stories about the opposition. This is Plus Politics, I'm Mary Anacor. Atikoo at Bubakar, the presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party PDP, has vowed to revive dead manufacturing industries in Kaduna as well as end banditry, which has plagued the metropolis for years. Even as suspected thugs disrupted his campaign rally in the northern Nigerian state, reacting earlier to reports of an attack on PDP members by suspected ABC thugs at the rally, Atikoo urged President Bahari to ask all parties to call their supporters and members to order and to ensure that campaigns were kept free, fair and safe. The incident came out as after ABC and PDP supporters clashed at a rally organised by the PDP in Gusu, the Zamfara State Capitol. The mayhem, according to the police, claimed lives of one person and left 18 others injured. Joining us to discuss this and more is Dr Pedro Obasaki. He is a media consultant to former Vice President Atikoo, Bubakar. It's so good to have you join us, Mr Obasaki. Thank you very much. I am happy to be finally. Great. Let's start by talking about all of the build-up to the campaigns and what's happening in the party. But first things first, we cannot ignore the issue of the thugs who attacked the PDP rally in Zamfara state. What exactly do you think led to that situation? Of course, we also saw your candidates and other presidential candidates in Kaduna State where they played guests to the Aroha community. Let's talk about that situation first. I'll say that what's actually occurred is symptomatic of the security failures of the present APC government. And that is replete all over Nigeria. So I think that the disruptions or the attempted disruptions of the campaign activities in Kaduna State and also the one in Zamfara state is symptomatic of the failure of the APC. Nigeria is presently almost like a failed nation and we need to rescue Nigeria from the brink. And we are not going to expect things like this not to continue to happen. But by the grace of God, we believe that all Nigerians will stand steadfast in the face of this continuous break-up. I think that the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should rise to this level of statemanship and realize that he came in by defeating a sitting president. Now he is going out. He should let the politics play out. He should allow people the Nigerian mission to actually reap the most important dividend of democracy. And that is the right to choose our leaders. Either they be in the Sahara areas of Zamfara or in the marshes or in the forest of the south. That is what is needed. The Inspector General of Police should realize that he must stay above the fray. He must not be partisan. He is a public officer who is meant to defend the commonwealth of the Nigerian peoples irrespective of their political leaning. Let's talk about, let's just backtrack a bit. You said that these things that happened or what transpired in Kaduna and Zamfara are symptomatic of the failure of the APC government. Does this mean that the government was responsible for that? I mean, if they were all Fazili's members of a particular party, does that mean that the government somewhat had a hand in it? I'm trying to understand what you meant there. If the sitting executive government of a state, of one of the states so involved, would go to the extreme by banning any known APC advertising or by banning the appearances of persons who don't share same political views, it shows that what we are saying may just be the hand of Iso and the voice of Jacob. Outside of that, on a larger level, we must realize that Nigeria has been faced with monumental security challenges outside of the seeming hoodlums who try to destroy political activities in Kaduna state. When I said it is symptomatic, I mean that it actually is a reflection of the overall failure to arrest the insecurity in the Nigerian nation. And that is what I mean. So the government on whose table the book does stop, the government who is saddled with ensuring that there is security of lives and property of persons who dwell or who are citizens of this country, they must take the blame, head on. And those, PDP cannot be attacking PDP. PDP cannot be holding a rally and then PDP. It is PDP holding a rally and the sitting failed government decides whether via subterfuge or directly to invade the civil open constituted gathering of persons who are sympathetic to PDP. That is how it is. I'm just calling it as paid exactly its name. So I think that the government and the party in power should rise above the fray and rein in their subordinates and supplicants so that these 20-23 general elections will be watershed for the entire nation of Nigeria. So I don't take the blame. I cannot be the victim and the perpetrator. Okay. Let's quickly, before we go into the internal party politics of the PDP, let's talk about the spread of the PDP. The PDP of course had been in power for 16-plus years in Nigeria. And many would say that Nigerians grew weary of the party and decided, and that's how we had the APC here. But now, again, we have the PDP coming back to ask for the votes of the people. Why should they have a Nigerian who sat on the 16 years or 18 years of the PDP's rule want to vote your candidate back into office? What exactly does he have to offer? What has changed between 2015 and now in the person of former Vice President Atikwa Buboka? And what would he say to us that would convince us to give him our vote? The only thing he has to do is to replay your memory bank, your own memory bank, and as well as the memory bank of every other Nigerian. As of 2015, the Nigerian mission had become comfortable with politics and democracy. And we felt that maybe the government of Good Luck Belly Jonathan was not upbeat enough. In fact, the only major reason that that government was removed was because the APC then created a lie, banded it into surface narrative to say that the man was clueless. That was exactly the word they were using. They told us that everything about Nigeria was bad. Many said there were thieves. But in voting in the APC, they told us there was going to be change. APC changed. In the second election, they said they were taking us to the next level. But we all know what that is today. That as of the time, the military were leaving office. Nigeria was one of the most indebted nations in tropical or in Sub-Saharan Africa. But by the time the Obasanjo Attiku presidency was standing down, we had paid Nigeria's debt. Nigeria no longer owed anybody. The Paris Club and the London Club and all the IMF and World Bank debts were paid. Nigeria was a booming, thriving, new democracy. By the time we came to the Jonathan government, before the left office, the IMF and the World Bank recalibrated the GDP of African nations. And Nigeria became the single largest economy in black Africa, not just in Africa. That is a matter of fact. As of that time, Nigeria had experienced a 25 to 30 Naira depreciation of the Naira against the dollar. When Obasanjo came into power, the Naira was about 150 Naira to the dollar. And in 16 years, 16 years, the Naira did not fall beyond the 197 Naira it was when Jonathan left office. But today, taking into consideration the purchasing power parity of the Nigerian economy, today, as I checked correctly, as of this morning on the parallel market, the dollar was 714 Naira. All the promises made by the APC failed. In fact, while Nigerians thought they were driving away some thieves, Nigerians, we voted in motorists. We've had more, more debts of Nigerians unprovoked in a peace time than the entire aggregate debts of Nigerians during the Civil War. Nigeria has become the kidnapping capital of the world. Nigeria has become the most perilous, poorest nation in Africa that is not at war. Today, some parts, some swaths of the country don't appear to be under the command of the federal government. Today, we have become more ethnic, more tribal, more divided than we have ever been in our 62 years of existence as a nation. In fact, since the amalgamation of Lord Lugard. That is a fact. Today, we have more ethnic jingoists. We have more secessionists, Biafra, Odudua, Midwet, Midwet, it is all over the place. Today, Nigeria is like a rudeless ship. A ship without a captain. Today, Nigerians don't even actually know how their president looks like. What we are saying is this. The PDP has the structures. They had a plan, a plan that made Nigeria turn from the pariah state it was prior to the exit of the military to become the investment destination in tropical Africa. Today, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics which is actually a federal government parasitial just released that they are going to be on a year-on-year basis, 24 to 25% inflation. That is what the government says when Jonathan was leaving office. Nigeria had a death profile of less than four billion dollars. Today, in just seven plus years, we now have 42 trillion. Let's wake up and smear the coffee. That is the exact problem the Nigerian state faces today. That is a truism. As much as you've been able to walk us through some of the ills that society is facing today, I ask the question as to why should I vote for you. Yes, I know my problems. What solutions are you offering me? What is this structure that you keep talking about? What is a structure without a play-by-play strategy and plan? And of course, telling me what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, and if I'm convinced enough, I might vote for you. But then, I've not heard it. I'm just hearing a lot of blanket statements. You're telling me what I already know. So again, on behalf of the average voter who I am also, how do you intend to change these walls into some sort of, you know, uhuru, if I might say? Uhuru doesn't come easy. I know. A matter of fact. That is why if you are in the public domain, you realize that Atikua Buboka is the only one so far, up till at least as last week when until the Labour Party also brought us, in the last few months, his manifesto has been in the public domain. It is a five-point developmental agenda that would take Nigeria from the brink and take Nigeria back to where Nigeria is meant to be. And that is what we are talking about. And it's titled My Convenant with Nigerians. And in that, we have a five-point agenda to provide qualitative education because we must understand that the one of the biggest problems Nigeria faces today is the problem of education. Provide qualitative education because you cannot move a people forward if you don't raise their brink power upward. That is a matter of fact. You cannot change the trajectory of the Nigerian nation without first and foremost changing the quality of education of Nigerians. We've been faced with the longest as-you-strike in living memory. But your principal was once a vice president under President Lusie Gour Basant. We also had the same situation. I'm not in any way holding brief for this government. But I do not know what changes have occurred. If ASU in 2023 are asking for the same things that they asked when your principal was a vice president under President Lusie Gour Basant, have happened, nothing. So again, is this not just trying to give a dog a bad name? What did the government of President Lusheko Basando do to change the education in Nigeria at the time? I mean, I'm guessing that we had more private universities begin to spring up as a result of how bad the public education system was, isn't it? No, that is not true. Really? I am talking now as the former ASU financial secretary. I was the ASU, I was one of those who, I in fact, I was imprisoned in Gashua in present day Yobes State from 1994 November to January 1995 when I wrote that our take-home pay can't take us home and that my boss was a comedian and he wedges his space a joke. Most lecturers still have those stickers on their walls. But on that level, we must understand that the only time that Nigeria had the least amount of ASU strikes was between 2001 and 2007. Go check it. The rise of private universities was not as a result of a failure in government policy. It was part of the government policy to reduce the involvement of government in education. Please, let's take this easy. I have taught in certain universities outside of this country and I know that less than six percent of the universities in the United States of America are government-owned. That is the truth. Apart from SUNY in New York, the State University of New York and the City University of New York, all the other universities are private-owned. Oxford is not owned by the British government. Neda is Cambridge. Neda is Albany. Neda is Glasgow University, Caledonia, Norn. So that is why it is. And I can tell you that when the first university license was given to the Canadian University, it was during the military era. It was as a result of the need to privatize the system. That is that for that. So I said, what are we going to do differently? I have a five-point agenda. And the one is provide qualitative education. And like I said, you cannot move the people forward if you don't move their brain power upward. Next is to get a restructure. Restructure the Nigerian polity so as to foster unity and stability. Nigeria is the only, for the last six to seven years of this government. Nigerians have been screaming for the restructuring of this nation. And that led in 2014 to the convocation of the confab of the national confab, of the conference on the devolution of powers. That is key so that Nigeria will move from a paperweight federal system of government to a proper federal system of government with proper devolution of powers. And I said it is not something based on campaign sloganeering because in 2018, Atikua Huwaka launched the restructuring Nigeria movement. Then we have to build a dynamic economy for prosperity. And the pillars for doing that so as to move Nigeria from a consumer economy to a producing economy. Because in normal small-level economics, it is very simple when your situation is demand-driven, prices go up. When it is supply-driven, prices come down. Let me give you a very simple example. In the run-up to the 2019 general elections, Atikua told Nigerians that for us to move forward, there must be a privatization of the oil sector. Because even all the giant oil companies, including the Brazilian oil company Aramco in Saudi Arabia, in spite of the fact that these are dictatorships, monarchical detachment in South Africa, it is privatized. It is actually listed in the New York Stock Exchange and in the food sea in London. Nigerians cried and screamed because the man was not just in Ostradamus. He knew we would get here. And only a few weeks, a few months ago, the Nigerian government had to do a voto pass. And that reversal had not turned today NNPC to NNPC-limited. But the only difference is it has been done and shrouded in mystery. With Nigerians don't know how the shares of that company has been calibrated and devolved. Those are key. Atikua also knows and he has sworn to ensure safety and security of life and property in Nigeria. That is our fourth plan. And then the restoration of our unity in diversity. I am not in my 40s. I am in my 50s. I am actually 55 now. And growing up, the time I grew up with was Nigeria. We held our own native land. Though our tribes and our tongues may differ, in brotherhood we stand. Today, that brotherhood has been turned to shreds. And what the man is saying is, I want to be the bridge. I am the bridge across the Niger. Nobody comes from three, four, five places at the same time. But there must be someone who understands the pains, who understands the special interests across board, across all the six geopolitical zones, so long as you are Nigerian, in spite of your ethnicity and in spite of your orientation. Those are the five pillars upon which the PDP in 2023 would love to build this country. And it's available. You can Google it. My covenant with my Indians. If you want me to send it to you after this program, I will send you a soft copy. It is not something that you've seen it. Yes. I'd like to probe some of the things that you've said. Please. Just imagine that you're educating us. I'd leave the issue of privatization and move on to the issue of unifying Nigeria. Because, as we speak, pundits have said that what Nigeria needs is a unifier, first and foremost, before we're able to get to other aspects of building the nation. In terms of unifying, I'd like to take you back to the issue of Deborah, who was killed somewhere in the north because of some embryo gluiness, a WhatsApp message. She was in a texturing institution. Do you remember the tweet that your principal put out and then it was deleted again? We're talking unity here. How does that unify people? Let's not forget that Nigeria is divided across religious and ethnic lines. Again, he did make a statement recently about the fact that, as a Northerner, Northerners should look to him first in terms of picking a leader, especially at a time like this when Nigeria is very, very sensitive and we're touchy about subjects like that, knowing that most people have also queried some of these candidates and how the campaigns chastities have been taking shape. Most have queried the fact that these candidates seem to be more original. How much of a unifier is your principal if most of the things he's done seems to portray even a light that he's taken a position which is somewhat of a bias? All right. That was a three-pronged question, so I will split them one after the other. Number one, Deborah. Deborah, I also issued my movement, of which I'm the president, the Midwest People's Movement. We had a position and we tweeted and wrote based on the murder and the gruesome murder of that young lady. Unfortunately, all the presidential candidates not one, not one mentioned Deborah, not one. The article problem was article, Twitter handle had denunciated and condemned the gruesome murder of that young lady. Why was the tweet taken down? Why was the tweet taken down? If he took a position on something, why didn't he stay? I beg you to let me answer. I don't answer questions that would make me a Bolle Kaja talker. I like to be historiological so that would be logical. So the man took it down. Pause a minute. Pause. Many people from a section of the country actually screamed why should the presidential candidate take sides when even the government, the sitting government, had not even said or done anything. Number two, the man said he did not like the tonality of the tweet that was put out and he was bold enough to come out in truth and said I told him to take it down because I didn't approve of the lexicon used in that tweet. Then the thing went out of cosmic control. No, seriously. Why wasn't he put out the one that he preferred a tone? Because again, if you are asking for us to vote for you to lead us, you know how divided we are in this country in terms of those kinds of issues. And then when a murder happens, you have to, whoever you are, outrightly, or shouldn't you, let me ask it as a question, shouldn't you outrightly condemn the killing on whatever basis? You should not be excused. It's a crime to kill somebody for whatever reason. So why couldn't he have at least put out another tweet and say, well, I didn't like that, but this is the tweet that I wanted to put out initially. All of that was not done. So telling me that, oh, I didn't approve of the tweet. Well, what's the one you approved of? And how can we tell that you will be, you know, stunned when it comes to issues like this, when, and if you become a leader? Okay. I've been being a man, so I go speak, I go speak, I go spend my own small way. Being a man, say, you send me a kill who, who panned bad by them. What about the man we know panned at all? Kill him. He panned at you, no good rich. What about the man we know even try panned? It's a zero sum game. So for me, I wasn't the advisor then. I actually took a very strong position because I believe as Franz Fanon says, so when you sit on the fence, life will pass you by on both sides. But you see, as at that time, I understood the pressures he must have faced. That is just the truth. And I thank God that behind the sanctuary of lockdowns, things have been made to assuage the families and those who must have fed bad. He came up and said he was sorry. But my own grouse is, yes, he was sorry, but no other person was brave enough at all to even mention the woman. Okay. That is that I just want to say, please, that is what the situation, that is exactly what it was. So I think that it is important for us to see that when you are in the public domain, they are setting both centripetal and centrifugal forces that you have to stay so as to manage their expectations. He had heart and belief and I want that to be put on record. Mr. Basaki, unfortunately, time is not on our side, but I want to say it's a pleasure talking with you. Hopefully we will have you live in the studio sometime soon to continue to have conversations around the campaign. Thank you so much. The way you ask your questions. Thank you. God bless you. Alright, Pedro Basaki is the media consultant to the PDP's presidential candidate at Tikua Babuka. So good to have you on the programme. Well, we'll take a quick break. When we come back, we'll be talking about the shutting down of media houses in Zamfara State by the government and of course, what the law has to say about this we'll be right back.