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| Owolabi Salis |
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former
governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Owolabi Salis, has described the coming together of opposition parties to form the All
Progressives Congress (APC) as a welcome development that is good for the
nation’s democracy.
He however said no amount of merger by the opposition can
defeat the PDP.
“The merger of three or four parties is a good idea. It is
good for our politics, it is going to make PDP sit up and also make it stronger
as the challenges will be favourable.
“So I think I love what is going on, but I do not see the
APC defeating the PDP the way I see the party and the way I see Nigeria,” he
said while fielding questions from newsmen in Lagos.
“In Nigeria I don’t see any opposition party defeating PDP.
If PDP has to be defeated, PDP will defeat PDP. This is because the real
people, the quality people are all in PDP, so PDP has to defeat PDP,” he added.
He recalled that in Lagos State for example, the PDP had
been defeating PDP since 2003.
He, however, assured his followers that he would remain a
staunch member of the PDP.
“In 2003, you will recall that certain personalities left
PDP to help the old AD to win the general elections then and they were given
commissioners and some other positions.
“In 2007, the followers of the late Mr. Funsho Williams
defected from the PDP to join the ACN
and won the election and they were rewarded with the office of the Secretary to the State Government and about
four or five commissioners. Then in 2011, the same thing re-occurred,” he said.
Salis, a lawyer, also attributed the defeat of the PDP in
Lagos State over the years to what he called “a lot of bad management in the
leadership of PDP”, saying the issue is
being resolved by the current national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur.
He said he would remain in PDP because PDP is the real
democratic party and the party has a great chance of winning the election in
2015 in Lagos State because of its membership strength.
Commenting on how to combat insecurity in the country, Salis
called for political will from the powers that be and engaging people in the
grass roots.
“In Nigeria, we talk but those who are expected to act fail
to act as at when due,” he said, adding, “that is why this Boko Haram
insurgency is not being addressed quickly and is now becoming a big problem and
a monster to the country.”
He canvassed the adoption of what he called the traditional
approach that involves the grassroots scanning by security agencies to fish out
where bad people are perpetuating their nefarious acts.
He added: “You know there are 7,000 wards in the whole of
the country and use the grassroots scanning by security agencies to identify
the supposedly bad wards. The arrest of the leaders involved in perpetuating
breach of peace in those wards would lead to the arrest of their members.’’
Salis, however, lauded the declaration of the state of
emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states as part of efforts to curtail
insurgency.
While bemoaning the rate of youth unemployment in the
country, the politician said because he considered the matter as very serious,
he has had to personally write the president on it and proposed a project he
called grassroots’ governance.
“This grassroots’ governance is a way of tapping into the
intelligence of the youths at the grassroots and the government would be
assisting them to fund such.
“The government would put in place an accounting system that
would ensure that the funds are
disbursed at ward levels to the youths in groups and ensure that they are spent
on what it is meant for,” he said.
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