Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that given the mandate of Nigerians, he would harness both human and material resources for national development.
The APC presidential candidate gave the pledge on Sunday night in Abuja, while speaking at an occasion, the Meet the Mentor Dinner, organised by the Progressive Sisters Network (PSN).
While he acknowledged that there are challenges, he urged Nigerians to be determined to confront them, collectively to achieve the nation of their dreams.
He said: “As a nation, we are facing some challenges, but we can overcome these challenges. We can find our ways in situations where it seems there is no way. Please let’s work together to build the Nigeria of our dreams together.
“I know it is difficult not to look for the easy way in today’s Nigeria, but together with our faith in one another and our nation, we can solve our problems,” he stressed.
“We will achieve greatness in this country, let us just believe in ourselves,” Tinubu assured and thanked the organisers of the dinner.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, appealed to Nigerians to be ready to subordinate their narrow interest to the collective good of all Nigerians.
He maintained that for democracy to thrive, the people must imbibe the spirit of teamwork and must place the public interest above their narrow pursuit.
He said:” The success of our democracy and the progress and prosperity of our nation, therefore, depends on each of us knowing and operating in the knowledge that Nigeria belongs to us all, and we each have a responsibility to pursue what is necessary, to do that which is hard and to make sacrifices to build a nation and leave a legacy of which our successors will be rightly proud.
“And we learned from Asiwaju that the private ambitions of any one individual must never take preeminence over the shared interests of the community, the party, or the country.
Some of you in this room will run for office; some already have. You won’t always be successful. There are those whose response to loss is to decide to burn down the house, create chaos and confusion, or sulk away into scheming and sabotage.
“Those of us who came up in the Asiwaju school understand that a loss today is a victory deferred. We know that when you lose in a fair contest, that is the time to rededicate yourself to the good of the community, the institution, the constituency, the state or the country.
That is the way of honour, and those who don’t understand this are dangerous to the common good.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the National Coordinator of the Progressive Sisters Network (PSN) National Coordinator, Rinsola Abiola, said the pro-Tinubu group adopted the former Lagos State governor as their favoured candidate against the background of his achievements while in the saddle as governor of the south-west state
Rinsola, who incidentally is the daughter of the late businessman and presidential candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party, believed to have won the June 12, 1993 election, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, said her group was convinced that based on Tinubu’s antecedents, he would accord recognition to womenfolk in his administration if given the mandate by Nigerians.
“Tinubu understands that tackling the issue of women’s under-representation in all spheres of life is something that must be done from different angles: political inclusion, economic empowerment, and girl-child education.
“Lagos, the state which Tinubu once governed and is being managed by his blueprint, also leads the way in legal protection for women.
“With an agency dedicated to diligently prosecuting all forms of domestic and sexual abuse, Lagos has signalled that there will be zero tolerance for the oppression and violation of women.
“It is also key to note that it was Tinubu who appointed the first female Chief Judge in Lagos State: Justice Ibilola Sotuminu now retired.
“His wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has also shattered records as the first woman in history to serve for three terms in the Nigerian Senate.”
“We are dedicated to his campaign because he has dedicated several decades of his life to the country that we all call home.
“From the bitter, drawn-out struggle against military dictatorship to his relentless efforts to steady the ship of our nascent democracy.
“Tinubu has proven himself to be a patriot in every sense of the word and a man who loves Nigeria and can be trusted to lead the country.
“He has also displayed an uncanny ability to spot and nurture talent, and so we are confident that when he wins by God’s grace, he will constitute a team made up of those who are eminently qualified.”
