BY RAYYANU BALA
First and foremost I wish to congratulate His Excellency, Governor
Umaru Tanko Al-makura and his team for assembling the crème de la
crème in our state to serve in the presidential and governorship
campaign council. His Excellency’s prompt action in constitution and
inauguration of the council is a demonstration of the unalloyed and
unflinching commitment towards the success of all APC candidates in
Nasarawa and the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in the
forthcoming general elections. No doubt Governor Al-makura has by
this action proven to be a man to be trusted and a man that is
passionate about the unity and peaceful coexistence of our people and
peaceful coexistence of the entire APC members in Nasarawa state.
Let me also commend all members of the campaign council for accepting
to serve in the council. I want to specifically appreciate all former
aspirants for their acquiescence to work for the success of APC in
Nasarawa state; your acceptance to be part of the APC campaign train
has also proven to all that you are on the same page with all
patriotic Nigerians who are pleased with the good work Governor
Al-makura is doing in Nasarawa state and pleased with the good work
President Muhammadu Buhari is doing to free Nigeria from the clutches
of corruption, insecurity and stagnant economy. Your acknowledgement
to work for the APC has explained your faith in the APC. It was this
abiding faith in the APC we believe that made you not to dump the
party despite losing at the primary election and also despite all the
wooing from the opposition parties to dump the APC.
As the campaign council swings into action to deliver Nasarawa state
to APC come 2019, what should be uppermost in the minds of all members
of the council is success of their assignment which is to deliver the
state to APC; in other words, success of the APC should be the
overriding interest. In whatever circumstances the council finds
itself in the course of carrying out this assignment, faith in the APC
should be the guiding words. Yes, nobody can claim that the
governorship campaign would be a smooth walk over. There are certainly
hurdles on the way, and to cross them, the campaign team must imbibe
the spirit of tolerance, patience, perseverance and above all, the
team must shun blabbermouths and purveyors of mischief within. It
should be noted that working in a group as large as this campaign
council can be sometimes frustrating as every member would wish to see
his opinion reign. Under such circumstance however, there is the
tendency, the team would work at cross-purposes; to avoid such
unpleasant situation, members of the council must avoid posturing,
they should work as a team and the opinion of each member should be
heard and respected. All members of the council must see themselves as
equal; no superior or inferior member. This admonition if strictly
adhered to can foster good working relationship and can also bring
about a desirable result. In whatever project one ventures into, the
key to success is unity and hard work.
Indeed, members of the council must have it at the back of their minds
that the task before them is a daunting one requiring unity of purpose
and hard work. The two major political parties in the state (PDP and
APGA) though not formidable, the council must however, not underrate
their tricks; as is often said ‘you don’t take even your weakest
opponent for granted’. As things stand in Nasarawa state today, the
PDP and APGA have no single issue to put forward to convince the
electorate to vote for them, the only weapon they may possibly employ
in their campaigns is no other than our ethnic and religious
diversities. Given the pedigree of these two political parties in
Nasarawa state, these diversities would be amply used in their
campaigning against APC especially the governorship candidate.
Already a divisive campaign is on, to the effect that the APC
candidate is not an indigene of Nasarawa state, the council must
therefore work hard to address this issue, head on. Even though the
man at the centre of the storm, Engr. A.A Sule has debunked the claim
of not being an indigene when he asserted “To say I am not an indigene
of Nasarawa state is tantamount to taking Gudi out of Nasarawa state.”
Engr. Sule’s position on this issue of indigeneship must always be
drummed and reinforced in all the places visited by the council and at
every APC campaign rally.
While the campaign council must concentrate its attention on
countering all divisive campaigns to be employed by the PDP and APGA,
it (Campaign council) must also on the other hand ensure that all the
campaigns are issue based. The APC government in the last seven and
half years in the state has recorded enough achievements to serves as
basis for campaigning to the electorates. What the people need is
sensitization; people need to be sensitized on efforts of APC
government in the state and the need to return the party to power. In
this regard the campaign council must enlist the support of all organs
of information in the state and all mainstream, online and social
media platforms to reach out to the people with a view to realize the
objectives of delivery Nasarawa to APC. With the advent of on-line and social media, virtually all campaigns
would be carried out under such platforms, thus attention must be
focused on them for optimum result.