The Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Boron state, Alhaji Muhammad Alkali Imam in this chat with reporters in Maiduguri spoke on his ambition and his plans to change the situation when he gets into office. DAILY POST Correspondent, MAINA MAINA sent in the report. Excerpts:
It is yet unclear if elections are possible in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. What is your own take on the issue?
I think it is a matter better left in the realms of the security agencies, the Government and INEC to say whether it will hold or not. As a candidate, I will naturally prefer it holds given that my chances of winning are bright. But the issue is not even about winning, it is more of what can one do if elected. It is a question of what have we done or failed to do to create a conducive atmosphere for free and fair elections and for peace to prevail in all circumstances. We have been told it will hold and we are making preparations to participate and win. We pray that there is no further breach of the peace so that our people return to their homes and for the elections to hold. Sincerely these are my prayers, beyond anything else. Your emergence as the flag bearer generated a lot of furor, and your party the PDP seems to be going into the election as a divided house. What are you doing to calm the frayed nerves?
Let me state that a lot of the issues that arose in the processes of the nomination were exaggerated. We have a situation where our own opponents in another political party were the ones crying, while those of us in the PDP know the situation not to be as was being projected. I have the highest regards for Alhaji Gambo Lawan who was first named before the change of mind by our leaders. You know perhaps that because of our situation back home, we opted for consensus as the option to pick our candidates. Nine of us indicated interest in the Governorship, and we were given the opportunity to pick from amongst us on our own, but we were unable to do so.
At various stages attempts were made to pick one out of the nine, until we had to take the matter to the Presidential Villa. A mock Primary was conducted where I came tops with fifteen votes. In the wisdom of our leader after due consultations, he announced Gambo Lawan initially, and we all accepted and congratulated him. I was amongst the first to identify with him and even accepted to be the DG of his campaign organization. I had by then accepted the Senate Senatorial seat which was given to me out of the magnanimity of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. But as a Muslim, I believe God ultimately decides who does what at a particular time. I was asked to come and become the nominee, after further consultations were said to have been made by our leaders. I immediately reached out to my elder brother Gambo Lawan who has nothing against me or my candidature. I have visited all major stakeholders of the party as I did when I was given the senate seat to thank them for their support and seek for their blessings. It is natural that some people might feel hurt by the decision, but I believe it is God’s prerogative and we should not question it. I have been interacting with everybody in the party and beyond since my announcement and only read about the dissents to it from some sections of the press.
As a people and as a party we have no problems that we cannot collectively resolve. Those who beat the drums of war from outside should desist forthwith. Our leaders are on top of the situation and I am doing my best to see that no one buys into the plot being hatched from outside to divide us. We are not going into the election as a divided house, we are going in as a party determined to win and insha Allah the people have demonstrated their willingness to vote us in.
We understand the matter may drag to the courts. Do you have any fears?
It may not be necessary to go to court. It is a matter between brothers and there are more amicable ways we can resolve it. Like I said earlier, those sounding the alarm are not even members of our party. We know their antics is to cause unnecessary delays in our campaigns, so that they can reap from it. The truth is that, you cannot win elections by tricks; the votes will make the division. There is no need overheating an already volatile environment through unnecessary bickering. Even if we do not agree, the PDP has effective machinery for internal resolution of issues. We shall have to exhaust that if necessary before we take our differences outside. You see, the PDP has survived worst crisis than those arising from the choice of candidates and there is no threat to our plans whatsoever. We are going into the elections to win, and we hope to do so without any form of distraction. I enjoy a lot of support from my elder brother Gambo Lawan, and nobody has the right to push him into distracting me.
You were reported to have arrived Maiduguri to a tumultuous welcome. How do you feel about the type of reception accorded you?
It is a reflection of the mood of the state and the desire of the people for change. The people are tired of being taken for a ride, they deserve a Government they can call their own. I am a grassroots politician and that is where the bulk of my support comes from. I was so overwhelmed, and I have vowed that if given the opportunity, I owe this people a deal of gratitude and I pledge to take everybody along. I was elated, I was overjoyed and I was flattered, seeing how much the people love me. My plan is to sustain the momentum right through the elections, so that our victory shall be overwhelming.
It is rather amusing that you are seeking to Govern Borno at a time things seem to be getting awry. Are you not scared and what do you think you can do to make the difference?
I agree with you to some extent that we are seeking to come in when things are bad and our citizens are at the verge of despair. But I also want you to understand that it is when situations like this arise that the sense of patriotism in one should be awakened. I know my brother that it is not going to be a tea party, but we are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.
Let me state here that it is because of the degeneration in our values, the sorry state of our infrastructure, the lack of vision to correct things and most importantly the departure of peace from our shores that we seek to come to the rescue. We have not come to amass wealth, because we have seen wealth right from childhood, we have not come to demonstrate crude power, because we have known power long ago. We are not coming to deceive, because it is ungodly. We have come to rescue our people from the clutches of fear, tears, blood and hopelessness. Those who hope to govern when there is relative comfort often do not have much to offer. I want to assure you that, it does not require magician to change things around. As a matter of fact, some of the problems are self inflicted, and what we need to do is to stop inflicting ourselves. I have come with a seven point manifesto, which if religiously implemented; Borno shall rise from the ashes of this madness and become the pride of its people and the nation.
What are some of the issues on your manifesto?
Every serious minded leader is aware that the priority of Government at this point in Borno is to end this insurgency as quickly as possible. One of the things that had worked against the quick resolution of the crisis is the undue politicization of the whole thing. It is unfortunate that we have tended to relegate the interest of the state and the welfare of our citizens to the background, while we use their blood to water the passions of our political adventures. It is unfortunate that we engage in blame games, rather than promote collaboration towards solving the problems. My first priority is to expand the frontiers of collaboration in seeking for the solution to this mindless bloodletting.
I intend to first stop paying lip services to the collaborative efforts of the Federal and State Government and explore avenues for genuine consultations that will engender a lasting peace and promote healthy inter governmental synergy in ending the crisis and sustaining the peace. Secondly, I intend to aggressive promote educational pursuit amongst our citizens, as the tool that will free their minds from calculated disorientation. Let me point out to you that Islam, my religion preaches educational pursuit, and it encourages relationships with the learned, so we have a duty to avail our people the opportunities to acquire education and utilize same for human development.
Third on my agenda is the issue of agriculture, over which billions of Naira are being expended without results. We intend to pursue a result oriented agricultural programme based on the comparative climate environment we enjoy compared to others. We shall streamline our programmes in line with the federal Government agricultural programmes which have gained universal acclaim. We shall ensure availability of agricultural inputs to our farmers adequately and timely and we shall provide agricultural loans as incentives to our youths to embark on agriculture.
Fourthly, we plan to introduce a participatory poverty alleviation programme by encouraging our youths, women and vulnerable groups into vocational training and empowerment programmes. We plan to open technical training camps where people will be trained on particular vocations and we shall provide them with the starting capitals to be on their own. Lining people up and giving them pittance is not our idea of poverty alleviation; rather we hope to make every idle hand to work to make a living out of what they do. As you perhaps know, the Borno state civil service is at the verge of collapse, due to neglect and deliberate policies that relegate the welfare of civil servants to the background. We plan to re-engineer the civil service and restore her age long traditions of performance, discipline and reliance, As the engine room of government. We plan to diversify our resources in providing healthcare services by building cottage, general and specialist hospitals across the state and equip existing ones to universal standards. We shall aggressively pursue the Primary Healthcare Programme in collaboration with the Federal Government so as to eradicate all forms of primary ailments. I can continue on and on by expanding on the projects we intend to pursue, but in a nutshell these are part of the seven point manifesto, which is in line with that of the Federal Government and our great party the PDP.
You have been labeled an Abuja politician along with other PDP leaders. What is your take on that?
I do not believe in labeling people or insulting their sensibilities to sell myself. I believe in politics of issues. I challenge whoever made that classification to prove that he or she is more grounded in Borno than I am or any of those so called Abuja politicians. The people do not deserve to be further insulted. What they desire is security, peace, development. The ordinary voter knows the difference between those who call others names and those who given the chance can change their lives. No sensible Borno person can accuse the other of being an absentee politician. If some people relocate to Abuja so as to be safe and stay alive in the face of sponsored assassinations, I do not see it as an anathema. You can see that we are on ground having been part of our reception. You can also agree that only those who have no programmes to sell will tend to call others names. We are not prepared for smear campaigns.
We have unfolded our programmes, we challenge others to do so and leave the electorate to judge on Election Day. Period. In any case, you will agree with me that those who call other Abuja politicians are more often in Abuja than others. So, it is a case of the pot calling kettle black.
How would you rate the performance of the Government of Kashim Shettima and what makes you better to want to take over? You do not expect me to give it a passmark, in the face of the reality we face. You see, the truth need to be told now before it gets too late. You will agree with me that there is a disconnect between the government and our teeming masses, given that the Government has a chosen creed of people it patronizes. This is a Government to which promises mean nothing and pledges do not have to be fulfilled. This is a Government which took over at a time all our citizens were comfortable in their localities, but have looked the other way when our citizens are being sacked in their thousands and all it does it to cram them into camps with a view to using them as tools for electoral fortunes. This is one that has shattered the hopes of the citizens of ever getting things right. This is a leadership where primitive accumulation of wealth has become the vogue amongst public officers.
As for why I feel better qualified, I make bold to state that integrity, the fear of God, honesty of purpose, transparency in leadership and above all the desire to serve and to free our people from the shackles of insurgency and a corrupt leadership. We hope to enter into covenant with the people and that covenant shall be our guiding radar insha Allah.
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