Governor Adams Oshiomhole: wants Jonathan to emulate Mandela

Governor Adams Oshiomhole has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to emulate the late President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela by jettisoning his second term ambition to earn the respect of all Nigerians and Africans.

This, he said, would be in compliance with the jingle ‎played on television stations across the country that Jonathan is doing what the late Nelson Mandela did.

Oshiomhole who spoke on Friday in Benin City during a visit by residents and various associations in Egor Local Government Area to thank him for the construction and dualisation of the Upper Siluko road in the state capital, said President Jonathan should go beyond empty jingles and truly emulate President Mandela who spent only a single term but impacted on the lives of all South Africans.

“Like in the PDP jingle, the PDP says our President is like Nelson Mandela; it was not easy, but he did it. Then they talked of Martin Luther King, it was not easy but he did it, but they didn’t know Martin Luther was never president. Then they made another grammatical error, where they said for Obama it wasn’t easy but he did it. I say it’s a grammatical error because President Obama is not in the past, he is in the present and he is doing it.

“So how many terms did Nelson Mandela do as president? Is there any black man who does not respect Mandela? Dead or alive, Mandela is respected. He is respected in America more than they respect the American president. He is respected in Europe more than they respect any European President,”‎ Oshiomhole said.

The governor noted that it is not how many years that Jonathan stayed on president that mattered but what he did during the period.

“In Edo State, PDP did 10 years. We in APC have only done 6 years. In those 10 years, PDP did not do your road, they blamed it on Water Goddess (Mammy water), but you have come to thank us for using APC bulldozers to chase away the mammy water and now we are constructing the road.”

Oshiomhole reminded the people that they have the power to send the President and the PDP packing on 28 March with their Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVC, by voting for General Muhammadu Buhari and other All Progressives Congress candidates, adding, “I urge you to use your PVC on March 28 and April 11th to punish PDP and send them packing.”

While calling on the people to shun campaigns which tend to divide the people along religious lines, Oshiomhole said the issue at stake is not whether you are a Christian or you are a Muslim or whether you are from the north or from the south, east or west but about who has the capacity to deliver dividends of democracy to the people of this nation.

“Anyone who collects money to preach hatred to the people will receive the wrath of God. Anybody who does not want Nigeria to conduct peaceful elections or who knows the truth but collects money to lie and deceive the people of God will receive the Judgment of God.

“In Edo State, religion is not a problem. Let them not deceive us at all, this matter is about truth. 16 years ago, N75 was equivalent to $1 but today, it is N230 to one dollar. The hike in the value of the dollar against the naira will have spiral effect on the economy. If the dollar goes up, it affects all other segments of the economy. Prices of other products will go up,” Oshiomhole said.

Earlier in an address, Chairman, Sawmillers Association, Egor Branch, Mr. Lucky Odeh, who spoke on behalf of the residents of Upper Siluko, said they were in Government House to appreciate the Comrade Governor and to salute his courage and determination in enhancing the lives of Upper Siluko residents and its environs.

“The fear of the unknown, the appearance of Mami Water, the goddess of water had prevented previous governments from even attempting to work on the road because no one was willing to die for the people. You took the bull by the horn, approached it with courage and determination and today, the story is better told than imagined,” Odeh said.