The United Kingdom Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has begged Nigerians not to give up on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
Leader of the chapter and Chairman Nigeria Diaspora Voting Council, Prince Ade Omole, made the appeal during a media chat with APC Correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday.
He admitted that though Nigerians have been stretched beyond limit by the various security and economy challenges rocking the nation, they should not give up.
Asked what gave him the assurance that things will be better for Nigerians, Omole said: “I think the confidence is coming from we as Nigerians. We are not weak people, we are people of strength, we are people of valour, we are people that never give up, we are people with tenacity, we as Nigerians never give up.
“Are we just going to raise our hands and said Boko Haram just go ahead and take over. No! Because we are very strong-will people and I know that is where the confidence is actually coming from. I know that we will overcome this and this party is genuinely committed to lifting Nigerians out of poverty.
“It might be quite challenging but this government is doing everything possible to ensure that they lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty and you can see from all the youth programmes, the GEP, the SIP, the N-Power, and all the youths programmes have been put in place – it’s all about taking more people out of poverty.
“You also have the conditional cash transfer to people, the old, pensions are being paid, Nigerian Railway that wasn’t paid for years, they have been paid, the Biafran Soldiers that were actually dismissed have been paid. This is the government that is genuinely committed to the people.
“In terms of challenge, yes there are challenges at this present time but we should not give up. I know Nigerians sometimes there is a limit to what they can bear but I see light at the end of the tunnel because we’re a strong people and that is where the confidence is actually coming from,” he said.
Speaking further, he said: “Talking about the fact that when we come into the country and change Dollars, no, that is not the way it works. The way it works is that for every single Nigerian living outside the country, we got maybe 20 to 40 family members, friends and we also engage with the people.
“I have been around for about two weeks, I go to the market, I actually talk to people and the feedback is “it is tough but we believe in this government of the day, please help us to tell them to do more. I think that is what we should be talking about, it’s about doing more.
“We are doing a lot at this present time but we want to do more. We want people to fill the impact of all those progressive programmes. We want people to feel the impact of all those people-oriented policies that we put in place.
“I think people feel it is not really drilling down to the man on the street, how do we do that. That’s what we are looking at and that what gives us the confidence that we will break that jinx and people will actually support us again come 2023,” he said.
He insisted that President Buhari-led APC has not failed the country, adding that they have been doing well since thet left assumed office in 2015.
“Again I will make bold to say that the APC-led administration headed by President Buhari has done well. We are not where we should be we left where in 2015. and even though we have challenges now, we shall overcome these challenges.
“I can actually bet on that we will, the terrorists will not defeat this country. We will defeat the terrorists and Nigeria will be the better for it. So in terms of security, yes we have present challenges but we will keep working on it until we resolve the terrorism and banditry issues that we have at the present time,” he said.
