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ADP presidential candidate, Engineer Yabagi Yusuf Sani
By our reporter
Presidential Candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Engineer Yabagi Yusuf Sani attended the maiden edition of the University of Abuja Presidential Townhall.
He is the first to attend the Townhall.
The event which took place in the Faculty of Law Auditorium was convened by the Head of Department, Political Science and International Relations, Associate Professor Sheriff Ibrahim.
The meeting with the theme ‘Education and National Development’ was graced by many senior academics and a large number of students.
Prof Ibrahim reiterated the importance of the gathering saying it was meant to bring society to the university.
Many questions were thrown to the presidential candidate bordering on education, corruption in the public sector, the national question and others.
Speaking on the recurring lock out due to face off between university staff and government, Sani said education is the bedrock of all a society needs to have peace, unity, security and progress.
He stated, “It’s an everlasting legacy. Nigerians are intelligent and talented so they can excel.
“If I am president, I’ll make results of university researches to be commercialized.
“I’ll make sure there’s sure sufficient budgetary allocation to make universities centers of productivity.
“With this level of unemployment, education will suffer because graduates will be idle. It’s not possible to find a graduate roaming the streets in Europe. My government will not allow any child to be left behind.”
He said insecurity is caused by the many out of school children. If voted into power, he said, “My administration will address almajiri (children out of formal school system in northern Nigeria) problem. Laws governing provision of basic education will be enforced. We were forced into slavery. Now we’re running into slavery. We’ll tackle that.”
Responding to a question about national unity, he said, “We’ll govern by the rule of law — meaning everyone is given fair opportunity; basic human needs will be met.”
Nigeria, he said, has capacity to provide everything including security.
“We can provide those things that will make Nigerians like one another thereby deal with the fault lines.
“Everyone will be what they aspire to be. Votes will count. The question whether Nigeria should exist arises because leaders have not been fair.
“When a Nigerian cannot get what they want, they return to their comfort zones to whip up sentiments.
“Leadership in the security system and economy is one sided. Nepotism has been introduced and this breeds saboteurs.
“They can’t identify with government because the very principle of governance is violated and fault lines are widening,” Sani explained, adding that even the presidential candidates in the 2023 elections are said to represent some ethnic groups.
Speaking on corruption in oil and gas industry, the presidential candidate quoted the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) saying Nigeria loses $5billion yearly.
He said, “Nigeria has allowed thieves to ravage the oil sector. 80 percent of oil produced is stolen.”
It should be noted that oil and gas sector is the mainstay of Nigeria economy. It contributes 90 percent to government revenue.
Sani promised to turn around Nigeria’s GDP by going into the many untapped resources of the country.
“Nigeria is a great country. The only thing standing against it is lack of technology. My policy thrust is hinged on Climate Change, Energy Transition and Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“It’s dangerous to give power to one who doesn’t know what to do with it. We should extract resources to develop the economy,” he stated.
Sani identified high cost of governance as one of the things bogging down the country.
According to him, the electorate also share the blame as “a people get the leadership they deserve”.
He said the electorate compromise for lucre, tribe, region, religion.
“We must vote according to conscience. Wake up! It’s no longer the fault of leaders,” he expressed.
