President Jonathan Deserves To Be
Reelected
…Orubebe
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Ebis Orubebe is the Chairman Niger Delta Youth
Leaders Council and the Director General, Jonathan Youth Vanguard. In
this chat with news men including Uzo Chikere, Orubebe averred that President Goodluck Jonathan
has done well enough and deserves to be re-elected despite the recent
endorsement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate,
Gen, Muhammadu Buhari by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta (MEND) which he described as inconsequential. Exerpt:
As the Director General of the major youth body
drumming support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection come the next
general election, are you not worried about the recent endorsement of the All
progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)?
Thank you very much. Well we at Jonathan Youth Vanguard,
our main aim is to mobilize Nigerian youths and women in support of Mr.
President's transformation agenda and his re-election come February 2015.
It’s also a platform we are using to build friendship amongst the youths of
Nigeria since 2010. We have a very strong network of youths; I can say well
over 10 million youths and women all over the country as at today.
Now remember I have said it before, President Jonathan's
numerous achievements in key sectors of the economy will surely re-elect him
for second term in office particularly in the areas of youths and women
empowerment, agricultural sector, improved education, construction of roads,
housing development, rail sector, industrial revolution, the economy, oil and
gas, healthcare delivery, privatization of the power sector, fighting
of insurgency with strong commitment, aviation sector, you name them.
Therefore, for us the endorsement of the APC presidential candidate, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari by MEND, is inconsequential. Mr. President has done
very well to be re-elected by Nigerians come February 2015. Any violent group
can adopt Buhari including Book Haram, we are not going to lose sleep over
that. Mr. President is unfazed and is working assiduously to transforming
critical sectors of our economy. Nigerians are seeing the transformation of
their nation, democracy and economy.
Also, the major opposition party in the 2015 general
election has anchored it manifesto on the areas Nigerians believe the
president did not do well, like security and corruption. Don't you think it
has created room for 50-50 contest despite power of incumbency?
Anyway, which manifesto by the opposition party are you
talking about? I am yet to see any clear-cut manifestos by the opposition
party, all we hear them say they will fight corruption and insurgency if
their party wins even though most of those opposition elements calling the
PDP corrupt are the same known corrupt people in this country. If they have
the wherewithal to fight insurgency let them tell us how they are going to
handle it. Terrorism today is a global issue. Most countries in the world are
having their fair share. So, it is not just peculiar to us. Mr. President to
the best of my understanding is doing his best in the fight against
corruption and insurgency. He is equipping our military with modern military hardware
as well as training of our military personnel for the current security
challenges facing us.
Without any iota of doubt, the 2015 presidential election won’t be like the 2011 election. What is your group, the Jonathan Youth Vanguard doing to return Jonathan to Aso Rock?
As a youth support group for Mr. President, we are working
seriously to educate and enlighten Nigerian youths and women for his
re-election. We have our structures in all the 36 states and the FCT,
spreading from state, local government, ward down to polling unit. We have
students and campus coordinators in all the higher institutions in the
country, as well as collaborating with other youth groups and
associations who have the same vision like ours. And because this
administration has emphasized on the need for votes to count, we have keyed
in to the one-man-one-vote campaign of president Jonathan and have directed
our coordinators to sensitize youths in their domains to register and get
their voters card as that would be the only basis through which they can
express their support for the transformation agenda in practical terms.
Our various social media platforms currently on for online
campaigns is equally an additional strategy to galvanize Nigerian youths of
the 21st century to vote for the man that is doing his very best in spite of
our challenges. Our campaigns are focused on real issues and as they affect
us as individuals with facts and figures and not based on falsehood as the
opposition elements are doing. If you hear the opposition parties and their
campaign, it’s all about falsehood and empty promises. Why haven't they done
at least some of these things they are promising to do in states they are in
control now. In fact they have nothing to offer rather than preaching
violence, hatred, arrogance, pride, lies and deceits.
Do you think the Jonathan-led administration has done
well to deserve re-election?
Like I said earlier, this administration has done so well
despite the security challenges currently facing us. So as for me Mr.
President deserves a second term to consolidate all the wonderful projects
and programmes he has initiated to the benefit of Nigeria and all Nigerians.
Take maternal healthcare for instance, our pregnant women are now receiving
free treatment courtesy of MDG. We have Youwin and other SURE-P programmes
that are positively affecting Nigerian youths and women. Is it the graduate
intensive scheme or federal government scholarship for first class graduates
to study in any of 25 best universities of the world? There is agricultural
revolution going on now, our farmers are smiling to their banks, our roads
are getting better by the day, trains are now moving in some parts of this
country providing cheaper means of transportation of goods and human beings.
We no longer sleep in our filling stations before we buy fuel. Mr. President
has been able to open up the democratic space for every Nigerian to express
his or her self. He is fighting corruption scientifically thereby blocking
the loopholes for people to steal monies. He is fighting terrorism with all
sense of responsibility; our arm forces are being equipped with latest
weapons to deal with insurgency. Under president Jonathan, Nigeria's economy
is the biggest in Africa. I can go on and on.
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