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| Mr Donald Duke |
Efio-Ita Nyok|2 December 2017
Former governor of Cross River state and presidential hopeful, Mr Donald Duke, in collaboration with other prominent Nigerian politicians like renowned economist Pat Utomi, legal luminary and activist Olisa Agabakoba and Dr. Abdul-Jhalil Tafawa Balewa, son of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Thursday, floated a new political group, NegroidHaven can report.
The group which is identified as National Intervention Movement (NIM) represent the beginning of preliminary activities by eminent politicians to snatch power through democratic means come 2019.
According to Tori.ng, the political movement met in Abuja to deliberate on the state of the nation, and expressed disappointment with the trend of political activities and poor level of governance in Nigeria.
NIM said it had a pan-Nigerian mission and vowed to mobilise Nigerians towards effecting the real change most desired by the citizenry.
Agabakoba, SAN who was named as the leader of the group’s steering committee, and spoke while responding to questions from reporters at the unveiling of a new political group in Abuja, on Tuesday, explained that his daughter had advised him against taking part in the 2014 conference but that he also had its doubts.
His words, ‘But I resolved that (conflict) with Pastor Tunde Bakare by rejecting the N12.5m allowance. It is now clear that the 2014 confab was meant to serve President Jonathan’s political interest.
‘The difference between what we are doing today and what IBB did in his confab, what Abacha did in his confab what OBJ did in his own confab and what President Jonathan did in his own confab is that, they had their own political agenda.
‘So, if we start from saying that Nigeria is a failing or failed state we have about 180 million people who do not take part in the political discuss. If we can get this political movement and get these people to make a political choice, that will be the difference.’
On his part, a labour activist, Isa Aremu, explained that it was sad the country had suffered the misfortune of having individuals who cared less about the people they were supposed to be serving at the helm of affairs.
He recalled that the nation’s first labour industrial action during the colonial era was not about workers’ wages but about allowances.
According to him, it is now an irony that it will take an appeal by the President (Muhammadu Buhari) for state governors to pay workers their salaries.
Aremu said, ‘This is the right time for all compatriots to stand up for our nation and for those of us in organised labour to speak, we need to get political.
‘There is a need for us to have a new set of governors who will regard constitutional provisions.
Other members of National Intervention Movement are a former Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Comrade Isa Aremu; university don, Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim; Alhaji Rabiu Ishaku Rabiu and Dr Elena Okengwu, among others.
It’s becoming obvious how Duke is making deliberate steps towards becoming Nigeria’s president. Hmmm!
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger, the Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of NegroidHaven
