MEETING WITH FELA DUROTOYE

After the talk with fela durotoye, I was able to take a few of his goals and ambitions as well as topics he talked about.

Contrary to the talk going around of him joining one of the ruling parties, fela durotoye has spoken, saying that there is a new party he and a few like minded personalities had created, known as the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN). The website to the party is http://www.alliancefornewnigeria.org (not http://www.ANN.com). He states that it is on this platform he would be contesting for the 2019 elections. He was also asked about the issue of his supposed support for the buhari administration and he said, which I quote “I did not in anyway support buhari or speak against his campaign, all I said was I pray for a better Nigeria”. This clearly states that he was not in any form a part of the elections of 2015 and it was only a trending issue made up blogs, he also said and I quote ” the fact that a thing trends, doesn’t mean its true”.

A question was raised about the fact that he might be a decoy, planted by the government to appease the youths who clamored for lower age restrictions on presidential elections, he however denied the fact and said in fact that he had never been contacted by any of the big men or cabals of the country. Asked about his plans for those people in the government and their parastatals, he said

“I have no plans for them, however, I have realised that we need to vote the right people into those positions, people who think and have the same ideals as you, people who have integrity and can perform as a credible leader”

He was then asked about the corruption risk of his government, what he would do if any of his cabinet was guilty of corruption, he said,

“Let the law have full control, there would be no writing of letter to reduce the punishment or their persecution, as I know that no matter how good a cabinet can be, some will still succumb to the greed of that position. I believe that there is need to reinforce what I stand for”

He also said a particular line that grabbed my interest,

“If you deal with the people close to you, those far away will fear you”

Now, the statistics of the 2019 election is as follows:

1,558 would be elected officials,

29 would be deputy governors,

1 president,

That’s how much people are going into the government and different nooks and crannies of the government.

When asked about his values, he replied he had 10 values he followed:

1) impact lives

2) become suitable role models for future generations

3) to be solution providers

4) give the best to whatever you’re doing

5) to do the right thing always

6) value time use (no waiting for any governor to arrive before starting whatever is about to happen)

7) care and show respect

8) build a good legacy(be so clean that you won’t fear any probing)

9) integrity and honor

10) make God proud

This sparked a lot of questions, such as what was his plans for the nation, he gave an answer , ASPIRE….

A- agricultural revolution

S- Security

P- Production (large scale manufacturing in the country)

I- Infrastructure to support the nation

R- Reorientation of the nation as a whole

E- Essential focus on the economy

Truthfully I agree that those are the main problems Nigeria is facing as a whole, the problem is, where do you start from?, on asking this question, he replied

“From the bottom of course”

The economy will first be stabilized, then the reorientation will come as a form of breaking down the rules and standards that the country currently operates on that allows so much corruption, then on the Infrastructure to hold the new nation together. Then unto the boosting of the production rate of the country which would provide employment for the youths on the streets of the country. Then security will follow which will need a thorough revamping, and then the agricultural Revolution that will bring our nation back to the fore front of the world.

Not to bore you all, these facts should be taken in and assimilated, your comments and opinions should be voiced, the second part will be uploaded tomorrow, thank you

Mopenhouse