From DAN OHIOMOBA
Our East African brothers -the Ethiopians and the Kenyans, who have cut a niche for themselves in the Long Distance Race, will always remind you that victory in a Marathon Race is not for the quick and swift. To mount the podium and cart home the coveted Trophy, you must have the Staying Power (Stamina and Endurance) and above all, you must be Focused.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated these time-tested qualities of the Long Distance Runner. In the face of distractions along the race route, he remained calm and focused. When his detractors and Co-contestants threw empty Pure Water sachets and jeered at him, he maintained his pace and focus. When one of his Co-contestants rushed to the side line and embraced one irrelevant tape (25 % of votes cast at FCT), and began to head to the podium at the behest of uninformed spectators, Asiwaju simply ignored them and trudged on. When other contestants became visibly fatigued and were signalling for the Ambulance, Asiwaju showed off his staying power, as he looked fresh and rejuvenated, maintaining the same pace he started the race.
We at BAT’S 4/4 INITIATIVE are indeed pleasantly surprise as he braced the final tape at the Supreme Court, though we were sure from the on set that it will come to this joyful end. We congratulate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Chairman of APC, Alh. Umar Ganduje and entire members of APC on this landmark victory at the Supreme Court. We consider the distractions, blunt darts thrown at him in the course of this Race by the PDP and Labour Party candidates to have finally come to a sweet end. At BAT’S 4/4 INITIATIVE we bear no grudges on any of the contestants even in the seemingly extreme and unethical gutteral level some of them descended. Our President can now concentrate and continue his good works as we finally announce the birth of the *Renewed Hope Agenda*.
On his part, the president has confirmed the victory as only an invitation to work harder for the Nigerian people whose freely given mandate has now been reasserted by the highest Court in the land. The president is fully aware of the hardship being experienced by the people; his victory at the Supreme Court has now banished all extraneous distractions. It is now a clarion call for all patriots especially Alh. Atiku Abubakar to embrace the path of honour by immediately putting a call across to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and congratulate him on his well deserved victory both at the polls and the Judiciary, so as to re-enact the democratic maturity as established by former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in his famous congratulatory call to former president Mohammadu Buhari.
Consistent with BAT’S 4/4 INITIATIVE resolution as affirmed at Chief Francis Soriwei Nember’s office in Abuja, we believe that it is of great importance now for the president to cut short the victory dance, roll up his sleeves and immediately get down to work with the same single-mindedness he has so far exhibited, with the aim of putting a hedge on the unending rising cost of living; a situation that has been exacerbated by the frightening drop in the value of the Naira to the Dollar.
In the same vein, we have noted with keen interest and admiration the President’s desire for a paradigm shift by appointing young and vibrant persons into critical sectors of the Nigerian economy. We urge all Nigerians, regardless of their ethnicity, orientation, religion or political affiliation to support the president’s mandate which of course we, the BAT’S 4/4 INITIATIVE shall relentlessly champion. As stakeholders, we promise to avail Mr. President, of our well intentioned and well articulated suggestions and input on issues of national importance.
Signed:
Engr. Dan Ohiomoba
DG, BAT’S 4/4 Initiative
