Follow Us on Google
From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Spiritual Director of Soul Revival Ministry, Nnewi, Anambra State, Evangelist Iyke Uzoukwu has said that preparations for the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria would be an effort in futility.
Uzoukwu at the weekend declared that what the country needed now was reformation, rehabilitation and a national conference involving all the ethnic nationalities on how to live together as one nation.
He described the 1999 Constitution as a borrowed one which he said had made it unworkable and called for immediate amendment of all the areas that had stunted Nigeria’s ability to achieve true democracy and federalism.
The Evangelist said that most of those people aspiring to rule Nigeria again were supposed to be behind the bars because of their past misdeeds. He noted that there would be no justification for the politicians to enjoy optimum comfort while the masses wallow in abject poverty.
“A leader is always found among his people. When he walks on the streets, people will hail him. But our politicians are all of the time hiding at their comfort zones in Abuja, traveling from there to any part of the Western World of their choice. They do not even patronize local hospitals.
” The nation’s economy is so bad that nothing is working again. Nigeria is the only country where the masses pay for darkness. Electricity supply in many parts of the country is a luxury and no longer counted as a social amenity that everyone can afford.
” President Muhammadu Buhari is the only President dancing and clapping for himself not minding that the citizens are angry and hungry. Nigeria does not need change slogan, we need change driver. Ask Mr President whether he is the Buhari that promised Nigerians change or shall we wait for another Buhari, please.
“Prices of essential commodities soar high everyday as inflation bits harder on the masses. Indeed, this country is heading for precipice. The nation is doomed. But that does not matter to members of the National Assembly who continue to enjoy their fat salaries and allowances at the expense of the hungry masses, ” he said.
Uzoukwu insisted that National Assembly should be scrapped from the nation’s political arrangement to fashion out a better system that would not be as expensive and nonchalant as the current National Assembly.
He wondered why some Nigerians at the age of 70 and above still struggle to be elected as public office holders. He asked rhetorically when the youths called leaders of tomorrow would be allowed to lead.
He said that one of the Constitutional amendments to be considered should debar those from 70 years and above from contesting for any elective position in Nigerian politics.
The Evangelist in nostalgia paid tribute to former President of Nigeria, Alhaji Musa Yar’Dua whom he described as one of the best Presidents Nigeria has ever had.
He said President Yar’Dua was the only leader of the country who applied dialogue and honesty in his leadership style. He noted that his leadership qualities enabled him to handle the militancy in the Niger Delta region with wisdom to bring peace to the zone.
He talked about Anambra State and described it as a wounded one that needed healing.
He told our Correspondent that he had the solution to the security challenges bedevilling the State and would reveal the PIN to Governor Charles Soludo, if invited to do so. He said that the solution he would proffer must bring absolute peace and tranquility in Anambra within two months after the application.
He expressed disgust at party primaries especially of the mega political parties which he said witnessed monumental bribery and corruption. He called for their immediate cancellation, arguing that such primaries could not produce a credible leader of Nigeria.
He wondered why the EFCC would be after the Yahoo Boys without beaming their searchlight at what transpired during the party primaries.
He expressed worry that the country continued to borrow money from China without using same for the benefit of the masses except for the borrowers’ personal aggrandizement and political gains.
He took a swipe at Mr Joe Igbokwe who he alleged had been living in antagonism with his Igbo people.
“In the 80s, a book was launched at the National Theatre, Igamu, Lagos titled: “Igbos: 25 years after the civil war”. Ask Joe Igbokwe who wrote the book. He should bridle his mouth and stop attacking his fellow Igbo, ” he said.
Evangelist Uzoukwu noted that even a group of Yoruba natives had told the former President Olusegun Obasanjo that it was the turn of the Igbo to produce the next president of Nigeria. How much less a non-native, he reasoned, to think otherwise.
On the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Evangelist said that every average Igboman would demand the release of Kanu.
“It’s only when we have peace that you will talk about election in the South East, ” he added.
