A UK SOCIAL GROUP, 'MOVEMENT OF VISIONARY ELITES' (MOVE), HAS AFFIRMED ITS SUPPORT FOR THE GOVERNOR OF KANO STATE, ALHAJI RABIU MUSA KWANKWASO, IN THE APC PRESIDENTIAL RACE. THIS WAS DISCLOSED BY THE GROUP'S PRESIDENT, DR. YOMI SAVAGE, AT THE OPENING OF THEIR NEW LONDON SECRETARIAT.
Read:
FULL TEXT OF INTERVIEW WITH DR. YOMI SAVAGE, PRESIDENT OF
‘MOVEMENT OF VISIONARY ELITES’ OF NIGERIA
(MOVE), UK
Victor Smart:
A very good
afternoon to you, Sir. My name is Victor Smart, and I represent NAIJABLAB. You
are launching your new Secretariat today, with pump and pageantry. It is a very
impressive set-up, in a posh Central London
location, and a turn out of VIPs and celebrities.
Dr. Yomi Savage:
Thanks. Please call me Yomi. You are welcome to this great
occasion. I have read so much of your famous Online Publications. So you are
the faceless ‘Victor Smart’, the Smart Guy! (Laughter). I love your NAIJABLAB.
It says it as it is, without mincing the truth. Welcome. Yes, we have chosen
this location, Edgware Road ,
because it is central, and a stone-throw from Oxford Street . It means that every
Nigerian visiting central London
is invited to drop in for a chat and a coffee. Apart from the secretariat, we
have a Conference Room, and a Coffee room.
Victor Smart:
Thank you, Yomi. So what is the ‘Movement of Visionary
Elites’ all about? And I gather you are the founder of this group?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
As you can see for
yourself, it is a gathering of elites who are sound professionals in their
various fields. We have at least three Nigerian Councillors here today. And
I mean Councillors in London Borough Councils (pointing). Yes, I am the
founder. The initial idea was to have a Social Club, where Nigerian
professionals in the UK
can meet and articulate their thoughts, and come up with how to improve the
appalling standard of living of our people back home. It is open to all elites,
especially those with ‘vision’ for a better Nigeria . I’m sure you have heard
that cliché, about elites being the stumbling block in Nigeria ’s wheel
of progress? In Nigeria ,
it is the elites that don’t vote at elections. It is also the elites that don’t
come out for ‘environmental’ (laughs). Maybe they are right, because it is
possible to be an elite without ‘vision’. But it is my opinion that if we can
have a breed of selfless and visionary elites in Nigeria , then it will be easy to
carry the rest of the population (majority of whom are poor and uneducated)
along in our thoughts and ideology. It is called ‘Enlightenment’.
Victor Smart:
Hmm, I like that word
‘enlightenment’. It sounds very cumbersome and laden with meaning, especially when
it comes from a Media Guru like Dr. Yomi Savage. (Laughter). So who exactly is
Dr. Yomi Savage?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
You are starting to sound like a Naijaman! ‘Guru’ sounds
grandiloquent, and a bit horse-powered. I don’t know about that, but I am a
Media Consultant, and a Research Associate with the BBC, on African matters.
And like you, I love to dabble into everything that concerns my people in Nigeria . I am a
Nigerian with attitude, and very proud of my heritage. But Nigeria is one
country where it hurts to tell the truth.
Victor Smart:
Will it then be fair to say that Dr. Yomi Savage is a potential
politician?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
No no, do not get me wrong. MOVE is not a political party or
group. We are simply a Social Club, so to speak. But you and I know that every
intelligent adult must entertain a reasonable amount of political thinking or
thoughts. It is unavoidable. Even my grand mother in the village does.
(Laughter).
Victor Smart:
Nice analogy. So it will be right to say that MOVE, as a
group, would have its own preference come 2015 Elections in Nigeria .
Dr. Yomi Savage:
I guess it’s only natural that Social thinking is often
affected or dictated by Political conditions and environment. We, as a group
believe that when one option fails, you must apply the next option… your Plan B.
For instance, the PDP and APC are our major political options in Nigeria . A
majority of Nigerians here in the UK will tell you that the only
reason they support the PDP is because they are the powerful/well-positioned
incumbent, and not necessarily because they are performing. I can name many of
their flaws, starting from the abduction of the Chibok school girls and the
disgraceful way they handled it, to our zero-state of security courtesy of
Boko-Haram, to a host of other social and infrastructural malaise and lapses.
So why would any intelligent person who says he is enlightened, want to put his
future into the hands of those that have failed to fix our problems. I’m
talking of a government that appoints Ministers based on Party partisanship and
godfatherism, without regards to professionalism, and expertise. It’s like
pushing square pegs into round holes. Look, for example, at the abysmal
performance of the erstwhile Minister for Aviation, a known associate of the
President. As if that was not enough, we now have a complete novice and
non-performer in the same position, all because he is a ‘person’ close to the 1st
Lady. This is politics of vulgarity, which is not meant for moving Nigeria
forward. We in MOVE are clamouring to move Nigeria forward. Talking about our
Airport, I read in your NAIJABLAB, sometime last month that our MMI Airport
Victor Smart:
Thank you Doctor. I can see you don’t joke with us
(NAIJABLAB). And you really know your politics. Now, are we saying that you and
MOVE believe in trying our second option, the APC?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
YES…in capital
letters.
Victor Smart:
In other words, you do not mind having General Buhari, or
Atiku, as your President?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
NO…in capital letters. (laughter). You see this is what
annoys me about Nigerians. Our politicians shove a whole lot of BS (rubbish)
down our throats. Why must an intelligent population like ours be so mentally
brutalized by so few? Am I not intelligent enough to know that Buhari is an
‘expired product’? Am I not sharp enough to know that Atiku cannot explain the
source of his enormous and stupendous wealth? Do I need a native doctor to tell
me that these people are not right for our future generation, not least the
present one?
Victor Smart:
What about the third option, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
Now you are talking. I don’t know the guy in person. But I
have studied his antecedent and his performances as Governor of Kano, and
believe he is our most tenable and viable option, come 2015. He is a
progressive elite with good vision for our country. He is well educated, exposed
and de-tribalized. Religion does not play a part in his politics. As a matter
of fact, when he was a student in the UK
early 80s, he resided at the Catholic Mission Hostel here in London with a good friend of mine. MOVE has
resolved to put its weight behind this candidate, because we desire to MOVE Nigeria
forward. As I have said before, we want to ‘raise the bar’ in how the outside
world sees us. We believe that the visionary elites have a role to play, and
Kwankwaso is one such person.
Victor Smart:
But how do you intend to make yourselves effective on the
consciousness of the average Nigerian back home, considering the fact that
diaspora Nigerians do not even vote in General Elections?
Dr. Yomi Savage:
Good question, Victor. You are a Smart Guy (laughter). Do
you know that when some of us in diaspora sneeze, millions of people in Nigeria
automatically catch cold? You better do your research. Last year, it was said
that Diaspora Nigerians contributed about 4 billions to Nigeria ’s net income in the form of Western Union , Money Transfer etc (laughter). This is to
tell you that a sensible Presidential candidate worth his salt will not play
with, or joke with our loyalty or allegiance. This is why we believe in
Kwankwaso. The guy is exposed. He has schooled here before, studying Water
Technology in the early 80s. He knows where Nigeria should be, and ought to be
by now. Believe this or not, anyone who spends even a year on British soil
automatically develops a different perspective to politics. You become
people-oriented. This is what Atiku and Buhari would lack.
Victor Smart:
In other words, Kwankwaso is your MAN.
Dr. Yomi Savage:
Yes o. You can say that again. Unless you can show me a more
credible APC Presidential candidate.
Victor Smart:
Yomi, thank you so much for giving me your time for this
interview.
Dr. Yomi Savage:
It is my pleasure. We look forward to having you in our
midst whenever you are in the UK .
We need visionary elites like you to MOVE Nigeria forward.
Victor Smart:
You mean…like me and Kwankwaso!!!
(laughter, and hand shake).
END.
No comments:
Post a Comment