Following the accusation by the All Progressives Congress, APC, that Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) fabricated facts about President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s re-election bid , Dr. Udenta O Udenta, a former Publicity Secretary of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and currently the Director of Communications and Strategy, TAN, bares his mind on the issue. Excerpts:
Following the formal declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition, how do you describe Gov. Babatunde Fashola’s and the APC’s comments that the President’s re-election bid in 2015 is a farce?
The Constitution is very clear on freedom of expression, enabling every individual the right to express his views, even when those views are intolerably cast without facts and not elegant. Gov. Fashola has the right to his opinions even when such views are quite unnecessary. For a start, President Jonathan has done incredibly well and TAN has demonstrated not just through advocacy but with facts, figures and numbers. We have over 100 television jingles and broadcast 7,000 times. Not one single counter program from Gov. Fashola and his APC cohorts to discredit all the President has done. They merely indulge in high falutin, inconsequential noise making. You must be deep, sound and strategically equipped to confront a phenomenon like TAN to even discuss President Jonathan in the course of his campaign. If they don’t have the right tools and intellectual skills, then they should keep their mouths shut! What Nigerians expect from the opposition is counter media programming, to prove that there is nothing going on in virtually all the sectors TAN is showcasing to Nigerians instead of their idle rattle.
Gov. Fashola is indulging in idle prattle. It is clear they are grooming him to be something in APC but should not be to the detriment of TAN. TAN is not a faceless structure, we have people with deep knowledge of the Nigerian system and I am one of them. I had paid my dues through struggle, detention, advocacy and patriotism, fighting for democracy.
They are merely people that were nowhere pre-1999 history insulting the symbolism of Nigeria’s honour by humiliating the President. We will never allow such to happen. Fashola should hold his peace and go take the back seat because he has nothing to offer in terms of his criticisms. APC should set up a civil society like TAN to give us a run for our money and resources, time and intellect. If they cannot do that in any sustainable manner, they should shut up for good.
What about Fashola accusing TAN of fabricating achievements for the President to deceive Nigerians, for instance, in the power sector?
They are used to empty talks, not presenting graphical pictures to buttress their arguments. For instance, in 2011, Nigeria generated certain capacity like 5,000 MW and when GEJ came on board it now dropped. You consider what it used to be and the reformation of the sector before casting aspersion. President Jonathan took the bull by the horn by transforming the power sector. Although it may take time to click, he has privatised and constructed partnership with a foreign body to manage the transition of the power sector without stress down the line. More @ http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/opposition-leaders-fuelling-boko-haram-insurgency-udenta-udenta/
No comments:
Post a Comment