Politics
Nigeria needs capacity not godfathers says presidential aspirant – Stanley Osifo
By Lanre Adesanya
One of the People Democratic Party presidential aspirants, Mr. Stanley Osifo has proffered workable solution to the incessant scourge of insecurity plaguing Nigeria,citing the need to concentrate much more on intelligence gathering to tackle it.
Speaking on the sideline of his news conference with newsmen on his aspiration for the country’s topmost position at Shoprite Alausa on Saturday, the 42-year-old politician said that the issue of insecurity in Nigeria is surmountable.
According to him, “I know that insecurity has been on in Nigeria for a long time and successive governments have tried to see how it could be tackled. We have heard that somehow, though not confirmed, that some people are behind this.
“But if I become the President of the country, I would look at the intelligence aspect of it because I believe that this is how you would know that is going on.
“A lot of postulations have been made, some people have said that the Boko Haram members that were dislodged are behind most of the attacks that we see around, while others are claiming that it is the herdsmen.
“Some people are even saying that it is those that were dislodged in Libya that are giving problems to Nigeria, and the stories are many. “When we get onboard, we will look at where and what to look at to be able to tackle the problem headlong.”
Osifo stated that he is a passionate Nigerian, who believes that things can get better, adding that Nigeria is endowed with a lot of human and material resources, and that things can get better if they are put into proper use.
The young politician discarded the issue of “big guns” in the Nigerian political space, while stressing that he might not have been a Governor or occupy a public office before, but that he had been the secretary of a community association before and that he is the chairman of one currently.
“I have led people before and I was the President of student union in school. I have done a lot of things that made me say I am very fit to contest for the office of the President of Nigeria.
“I don’t believe in “big guns,” I believe in the capacity to do. Most of the people you call “big guns” have been there for a long time and I don’t believe they have done anything much.
“There are so many things that we need to overhaul. It is not just just about change, the change that we have been talking about has not been achieved yet.
“Nigerians want something new and that is what I want to bring about in Nigeria as a young person along with other young people in the country” he said.
Osifo emphasised that the whole world knows that Nigeria is well endowed and that the country has no business with hunger.
He said further that his government would promote agriculture in Nigeria in the area of preservation and storage of food.
He revealed that he had done his own little researches and that he had found out that agricultural products were being produced in large quantity in Nigeria
“But the truth is that most of these products are perishable and they are getting damaged. We hope to set up preservation facilities, storage facilities so that whatever is cultivated is kept for a long time to avoid wastages.
“You have something like tomatoes if you don’t use it in time it would get spoilt. But if you have facilities for preservation, you can keep it for a longer period.
“Then you will have a lot of food and the cost of the good would come down.
“When farmers are able to get value for their products, cost of farm products would come down and more people would go into farming and there would be more production of crops to feed the nation,” he said.
On godfatherism, Osifo revealed that he had no godfather and that he believed that he could do without one.
He said: “I do not have a godfather and I believe that a young man can become the president of this country without a godfather.
“The major problem we have had in Nigeria is about godfatherism. “We have heard it from different states and even the nation that once you are sponsored by a godfather your full allegiance must be to him. “As far as I am concerned, I do not have any godfather. May be the Almighty God is my father. I am 42 years old.”
While not discarding the issue of experience, the politician stated that Nigeria has had young leaders in person of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and others.
He added that what is needed is for someone to be well endowed to handle national issues, and that he has the necessary experience needed to rule the country.
“If you have the vision, the passion and the courage, you want to do something do not let your age be your limitation.
“Now that the “Not Too Young To Run Bill” has been passed into law, the youth now have the privilege to come out to vie for positions.
“We have a movement for youth for those who want to be in leadership position and sponsor young people who want to go into politics,” he stated.