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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has urged organised labour to pitch their tent with him in the 2023 presidential election, promising better fiscal, and monetary policies.
He also told them during a Townhall meeting held in Abuja on Monday that he has a track record for good governance as the most qualified to lead Nigeria among the presidential candidates.
While the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) boss, Comrades Ayuba Wabba and Festus Osifo led the two labour associations to the event, vice presidential candidate Senator Kashim Shettima, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Governors Simon Lalong (Plateau), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa) and Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq (Kwara) as well as James Faleke, Secretary of the Campaign Council, and other APC leaders attended the interactive session.
In his speech, the APC flagbearer who intermittently spoke off his written address said his antecedents as former Lagos State governor, during which he transformed the state and powered it to the 5th largest economy in Africa it is today, stands him out and make him a better candidate ahead of his competitors.
He listed the problems of unemployment, lack of credit system to allow workers to own houses, poverty, challenges in the educational sector, weak industrial base of the economy as what he is coming to address as the President of Nigeria.
“Today, the questions you all must ask yourselves are these: who can be trusted to accomplish all of this? The man who has done it before, or the man whose most lasting achievement as vice president is the corrupt sale of national assets to his friends and cronies?
“Who has the better plan? The man whose blueprint guided the emergence of Lagos State as the fifth largest economy in Africa or the man whose greatest pride is the amount of money he managed to bury in the sand while his state’s infrastructure decayed and its workers suffered endless hardship?
“The choice is yours. But permit me to now talk a little about myself and my vision. I have always been and will continue to be a progressive democrat. In my worldview, the government has a cardinal responsibility to work not only with business but also with labour to ensure that all constituent parts of our society are afforded their fair share of rewards without taking on undue hardship,” Tinubu said.
Enumerating further what stands him out, Tinubu noted that just like the labour leaders, he has been in the forefront of fighting the government for good governance all his life, a move for which he was detained and eventually forced into exile.
“As organised labour, you have been at the forefront of the workers’ rights movement in Nigeria, championing economic fairness and the welfare of the average person, the weak and the forgotten.
“You have also been involved in the struggle for democracy and political rights. Your collective efforts breathe life into the democratic rights and economic ideals enshrined in our constitution.
“I can speak fondly of your impact on our nation because of my personal history on the frontlines of the social justice movement.
“I may be running for president now, but I was not always in this position. Long before I started running for the presidency, I was running away from military dictators angered by my important role in protests against them and their efforts to vanquish our democratic aspirations.
“The defining moment of my public life came during Nigeria’s struggle for democracy and my membership in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement.
“I have dedicated my entire being to that cause. I was detained, then was forced into exile because of my refusal to accept anything less than a government based on the proposition that the will of the people is sovereign and should reign over armed might and imposition.
“I believe that those assembled here today share the same ideals of progressive and democratic good governance. I have spent my political life advocating for the rights and interests of ordinary Nigerians as you also do. We have long been fellow travellers on the same road. I hope that we shall continue as friends and brothers,” he appealed.
Speaking earlier, former Deputy President of NLC and Director of the Labour Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Comrade Isa Aremu, had set the tone for the engagement when he told the labour leaders and workers that the choice before them and Nigerians in the next election is who among the presidential candidates is truly committed, tested and trusted to protect workers and the poor and who is ready to industrialise the country to bring back decent jobs and good pay.
