Recently, Dumebi Kachikwu, a media mogul and chairman Roots Television, recently unfolded his agenda as a presidential aspirant on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) platform. In what he describes as a new deal for Nigerians, the media giant believes Nigerians need to do away with “faulty and archaic colonial foundation that now characterises our current existence.” TOPE SUNDAY reports.
What’s your new deal for Nigeria all about?
You are aware I made my declaration recently to contest for the highest office in the land. I didn’t make that declaration for the sake of it. I am of the firm belief that together we can design a new menu for our people. We will rebuild Nigeria from the ground up and do away with the faulty and archaic colonial foundation that now characterises our current existence. We must define our common charter as Nigerians and constitute a new nation that is not only inclusive for all but guarantees equal rights and expressions to all irrespective of tribe, tongue and religion.
This new Nigeria must come first before any other identification. It will be our common bond as we do away with all colonial relics of division, mistrust and hatred. No longer will we engage based on Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba or North and South but on the basis of Nigeria, our only fatherland. We will resist all those who make religion and tribe their mantra. It will no longer be business as usual. We will zone out all proponents of zoning and usher in a Nigeria that promotes merit, character and knowhow above primordial sentiments.
But what do you think qualifies you for that office at a time when the money bags have taken over the whole space?
Yes, I am conscious of that and that’s teh very reason I am into the race. I want to say this to my fellow Nigerians, I have no money to share to you but my love I will give you. I will always lead in love and by example. I have told your story today because mine is not as important as yours. I am you and you are me. We mustn’t continue to recount the sorrows of yesterday. We will fight for today and defend tomorrow. This we can do. This we must do. This is why I am running for the office of President of Nigeria. It is the office of the Nigerian people. Under my presidency, this office will serve the Nigerian people. This is my promise to you. I need your support on this journey because without you I can’t do it. This is our collective fight. It is a generational fight for our today and the future of our children.
Furthermore, let me add here that we will make merit a priority.
Every component part of Nigeria is blessed with those who have the talents and abilities to pilot the affairs of Nigeria and we must create the enabling environment for these people to emerge in government and governance. Nigeria will no longer be associated with mediocrity as we will invest in our citizens, our greatest asset. The toga of lazy youths won’t stand as we build the greatest workforce on earth. We must build a workforce that knows today and understands the demands and dictates of tomorrow. We can no longer be in conflict with what we don’t know as we make policy somersaults over modern age financial instruments like bitcoins.
Tackling the monster called corruption
Now you are raising a very fundamental one there. You and I know what corruption has done to us as a nation and as a people. We will be eliminating corruption by removing the predisposing factors.
The thing is in this new Nigeria, we won’t keep on shouting corruption when our very foundation is corrupt. We will engineer systems and processes that ensure that our citizens don’t turn to corruption by default. We will pay a fair pay for hard work. We will no longer cheat our citizens with the ridiculous minimum wage we offer knowing that we leave them no other option but to steal.
And on top of this, we will make government accessible to all citizens. We cannot be seen to be banning and unbanning platforms like twitter that define the expression of the modern man. No longer will our citizenry be driven to the dark web and unconventional means of communications as they seek to hide from a repressive Government.
Government is and should be a big brother and not a big bully. Millions of our citizenry still live without light and potable water in the year 2022. This is unconscionable.
What of the seemingly intractable epileptic power supply?
We have our agenda for generation and distribution of electric power. Nigerians don’t deserve to live in darkness. There is no rocket science to generating power, neither is there magic in distributing power. Our debilitating challenges are man-made and we must use an iron fist in crushing those whose decades of evil practice in our public service space have led us to the brink. We will treat those who sabotage our nation and way of life as saboteurs.
You also spoke on stopping the culture of foreign medical treatment, particularly among public officials. How feasible?
This is one area we can’t afford to touch. We need to inspire confidence in the people as leaders. We can’t have different rules for different criminals. If you do the crime, you do the time. If given the privilege to lead this country, my first executive interface with the National Assembly will include a bill, I have dubbed the Nigerian Patriot Act. It is a bill of equality and fairness. It is a bill that says we are all in this together. It is a bill that ensures that public servants cannot use the privileges they cannot provide to the common man.
If you desire to be in the public service, you must use the same services the masses use. No private or foreign schools for our families, no private or foreign hospitals for us or our families, no generators or boreholes in our homes. If we desire efficient and effective education, healthcare, utilities, etc we must make it available to all so that we may all equally benefit from it.
On borrowings, investment, others
Borrowing in itself is not bad, but when it becomes unnecessary, then there is an issue. So, what are we saying here? For us as a government, we will stop incessant and unprofitable borrowings by States and Federal Governments. We must resist the wicked urge to take on sovereign debts that benefit a few but repaid by all. We can no longer borrow to build bridges and highways that lead nowhere when the internet is the highway of the future. Borrowings must satisfy the criteria of commercial viability while providing much needed basic amenities.”
The truth is we need governors who understand that the internet is the highway of the future. As you build roads, you must build critical broadband infrastructure. We will make broadband available and affordable for all because this is the only leverage our kids have to compete in the new world.
I will also work with the state governors on a plan that sees the Federal Government investing in national trunks for power and telecoms while the state governments and private sector participants focus on in state distribution. We will harness all sources of energy to provide power to our people while giving preference to clean energies.
Similarly, there is need to modernise Nigerian cities with state of the art amenities. We must replan our cities and build-out modern infrastructure so as to reverse the rural urban migration that threatens most of our communities. It makes no sense to allow the brain drain occasioned by the migration of the middle class when all they seek is security, jobs, good and affordable homes, healthcare, constant power, etc. I will make these a standard in all our cities.”
Where is the place of agriculture in all of this?
Agriculture is occupying a pride of place. Transforming farming into Agribusiness is one sure priority for our administration. We cannot uphold a visionless leadership that continues to lead our people astray. We must elevate our millions of farmer to agripreneurs and transition farming to agribusiness. We will secure our farmlands and protect our men and women from those who seek to do them harm. Our farms will no longer be known as killing fields but the food factory of Africa, providing millions of good paying jobs for the middle class.
Sir, laudable as your programmes are, you will need a safe and secure Nigeria to achieve them. How do you walk us out of the current security quagmire?
It’s unfortunate we have to find ourselves here. But all hope is not lost. We just have to win the war against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and related security challenges. As a fact, for too long our people have cried. Men and women are being butchered, orphans and widows created by the minute by a war sustained by the greedy who profit from defence contracts and the blood thirsty, who seek to destroy our way of life.
We will confront them headlong and destroy them. This war will be fought on our terms. We will arm all the willing and able to rid our nation of foreign invaders. We will take the fight to their camps as we arrest and prosecute their sponsors.
We will no longer close one flank and leave another flank open for further incursions. The full might of the Nigerian army and the united will of the Nigerian people will confront our enemies. Our army will have clear instructions on what to do to the enemy. Our borders will be closed to all those who seek to harm us because we now know the enemy is the enemy irrespective of religion, tribe and tongue. War is war and Nigeria will win this war.
Come on, we need to promote the sanctity and dignity of human life. My administration will revenge the lives of all soldiers and civilians killed. They will pay a huge price for their folly and be told in no uncertain terms that Nigeria is not a no man’s land. This is my promise. The sanctity and dignity of life will be restored under my watch. Ritual killings, trade in body parts and kidnappings have no place in civilised society. We will rid our forests of scam artists masquerading as native doctors who promise riches to the weak and lazy. We will protect our young men and women from these predators.
Taking the youths off yahoo yahoo
Internet has very many good sides and that is what we should be focusing on by teaching our youths how to trade on this platform instead of ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ scams
I do understand that the APC government has succeeded in weaponizing poverty and hunger, but we mustn’t let our basic decency as human beings be eroded. If you can use the internet for Yahoo, you can use the internet to trade. We will guide you and teach you the rudiments of digital commerce. We will build technology parks in every senatorial district in Nigeria that will serve as incubation centres for digital jobs, research and development. We are an English-speaking nation and we will use this to our advantage to provide services to people all over the world from the comfort of our homes.
Arresting the exodus of skilled manpower to foreign land
We are the technology generation; technology will be used to leapfrog Nigeria from third world to developed nation. Nigerians are the brains and engine rooms of most nations why can’t they do the same here? No sensible nation allows their best and brightest to leave. We will reverse this ugly trend. Nigeria will work again for everyone.
We will turn our hundreds of kilometres of beach front land to international tourist destinations providing jobs to our people and bringing much needed foreign exchange.
What plan for healthcare and education?
We will build first class hospitals not just for our citizens but for foreigners desiring first class medical services. We will defend our future by sufficiently investing in education. If this generation has missed it, the next generation must get it right. We owe this to ourselves. Our schools will have modern teaching aids and learning systems and our kids equipped with smart devices. We will retrain all our teachers and pay them better because they are our first line of defence. Our women will join us on the table of equality. They will be respected and promoted. They will be afforded the same opportunities men have. If they can do it, they will do it.
And let me also add that promoting the Arts won’t be mere lip service in my administration. It only makes sense that our movie and music industry are supported. They have made us proud and still make us proud. Investing in and promoting that industry is not only patriotic, but also makes perfect business sense. The technology exists to correct their decades long problem of distribution and piracy. This we will do.
My plea to Nigerians
I want to make a very strong plea to Nigerians. We need alternative leadership to get out of this mess. With your support, this is possible and doable. The odds are heavily stacked against us. We don’t have instruments of coercion or oppression. We don’t have looted funds to buy votes. We don’t have mainstream media on our side. We don’t have the party structure of the APC or PDP, but we have the peoples’ structure. I stand today on the wings andaspirations of over 215 million Nigerians. I represent your hopes and dreams of a Nigeria that works. It is possible and we will make it happen come 2023.
Like I said in my declaration, tell every man, woman and child that Dumebi has come. Let the echo of Dumebi has come ring from every doorway. Go to the market places and tell them Dumebi has come. Dumebi has come is the cry of freedom. 2023 is our year of freedom.