Hurricane Tan Hits The South West
On Saturday 16 August 2014, the Transformation train hit the South-East when the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) pulled an unprecedented mammoth crowd to the Alex Ekwueme Square Awka for the first of a seven-leg pan- Nigerian endorsement advocacy trip for a second term bid for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
With the kind of passion that enveloped the entire South-East in the days leading to the Awka rally, market unions closing down their shops, social and cultural groups mobilising their members in large numbers, students, women and youth groups practically positioned to out-shine each other, while religious and traditional leaders were on ground to ensure that the celestial was agreement with the physical, and that every segment of the society was carried along. It was a foregone conclusion that the rally will be a bang, it turned out to be a success story and a reference point in advocacy aimed at mass appeal.
The peak of the Awka extravaganza was the demands by the people of the South-East that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan throw in the hat for a second term bid. This they did by a collation of about 1.6 million verifiable signatories from across the nooks and crannies of the five states that make up Igbo enclave. To Ndigbo, “One good turn deserves another”, especially for a man who has truly Nigerianise the populace with strategic patronages and qualitative infrastructural developments.
From Awka, the TAN train moves to Ibadan the Oyo state Capital, the former capital of the defunct Western Region. Like an impending Tsunami, the airwaves are dominated by promotional items aimed at re-echoing awareness about the event in the minds of the South-West populace.
As witnessed in the South-East leg of the Rally, lovers of the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck administration are working tirelessly to highlight the high points of the agenda as it concerns the South-West; from the Establishment of a two –campus Federal University in ( Oye and Ikole Ekiti) Ekiti state, the commissioning of the Omotosho power plant, the completion of the Ibadan-Oyo Road, the commencement of the re-construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, the on-going construction of two deep sea ports in Badagry and Lekki respectively, not forgetting the domineering presence of the region in the recent Centenary awards marking the 100 years of Nigeria's nationhood.
The Yoruba nation will also use the opportunity of the TAN rally to appreciate Mr. President for reposing confidence in them with the appointment of General Jones Arogboofa (rtd) as the Chief of Staff to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces (The first time a Yoruba will occupy that position).
Coupled with the massive ethical and infrastructural transformational wind blowing across various sectors of the Nigerian economy ranging from agriculture, education, health, housing, and sports just to mention a few. In the agricultural sector, Nigeria is presently at an unprecedented level of food production and consequent security, while the health sector despite unavoidable challenges has shown tremendous departure from the pitiable recent past. In housing, the Nigerian worker and other low income earners are now positioned to own houses with the recently launched Federal Government backed Mortgage Mass Housing scheme.
The aviation sector has witnessed the up-ward re-modelling of our airports and an unprecedented construction of over twenty new airports across the federation. While in sports the shinning results of our sportsmen and women is a clear demonstration of the massive support they are receiving from the Jonathan administration.
Come Saturday 23 August 2014, the inhabitants of the South-West, from all walks of life, across social, economic, political, and religious boundaries will stand up in unison to add their voices to the nationalist and patriotic demands of progressive Nigerians in asking President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to take the Transformation Agenda to a logical conclusion by accepting the clamour of Nigerians to contest the 2015 Presidential Elections.
Odozi Nwodozi is the Special Assistant to Dr. Udenta O. Udenta
The Director Public Communications and Strategy of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria. (TAN)