As Hurricane TAN hits the South West

By:  Odozi Nwodozi

On Saturday 16 August 2014, the Transformation train hit the South-East
when the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) pulled an
unprecedented mammoth crowd to the Alex Ekwueme Square Awka for the first
of a seven-leg pan- Nigerian endorsement advocacy trip for a second term
bid for Preesident Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

With the kind of passion that enveloped the entire South-East in the days
leading to the Awka rally, market unions closing down their shops, social
and cultural groups mobilising their members in large numbers, students,
women and youth groups practically positioned to out-shine each other,
while religious and traditional leaders were on ground to ensure that the
celestial was agreement with the physical, and that every segment of the
society was carried along. It was a foregone conclusion that the rally
will be a bang, it turned out to be a success story and a reference point
in advocacy aimed at mass appeal.
The peak of the Awka extravaganza was the demands by the people of the
South-East that        Dr. Goodluck Jonathan throw in the hat for a second
term bid. This they did by a collation of about 1.6 million verifiable
signatories from across the nooks and crannies of the five states that
make up Igbo enclave. To Ndigbo, “One good turn deserves another”,
especially for a man who has truly Nigerianise the populace with strategic
patronages and qualitative infrastructural developments.
From Awka, the TAN train moves to Ibadan the Oyo state Capital, the former
capital of the defunct Western Region. Like an impending Tsunami, the
airwaves are dominated by promotional items aimed at re-echoing awareness
about the event in the minds of the South-West populace. As witnessed in
the South-East leg of the Rally, lovers of the Transformation Agenda of
the Goodluck administration are working tirelessly to highlight the high
points of the agenda as it concerns the South-West; from the Establishment
of a two –campus Federal University in ( Oye and Ikole Ekiti) Ekiti state,
the commissioning of the Omotosho power plant, the completion of the
Ibadan-Oyo Road, the commencement of the re-construction of the
Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, the on-going construction of two deep sea ports
in Badagry and Lekki respectively, not forgetting the domineering presence
of the region in the recent Centenary awards marking the 100 years of
Nigeria’s nationhood. The Yoruba nation will also use the opportunity of
the TAN rally to appreciate Mr. President for reposing confidence in them
with the appointment of General Jones Arogboofa (rtd) as the Chief of
Staff to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces
(The first time a Yoruba will occupy that position).
Coupled with the massive ethical and infrastructural transformational wind
blowing across various sectors of the Nigerian economy ranging from
agriculture, education, health, housing, and sports just to mention a few.
In the agricultural sector, Nigeria is presently at an unprecedented level
of food production and consequent security, while the health sector
despite unavoidable challenges has shown tremendous departure from the
pitiable recent past. In housing, the Nigerian worker and other low income
earners are now positioned to own houses with the recently launched
Federal Government backed Mortgage Mass Housing scheme. The aviation
sector has witnessed the up-ward re-modelling of our airports and an
unprecedented construction of over twenty new airports across the
federation. While in sports the shinning results of our sportsmen and
women is a clear demonstration of the massive support they are receiving
from the Jonathan administration.
Come Saturday 23 August 2014, the inhabitants of the South-West, from all
walks of life, across social, economic, political, and religious
boundaries will stand up in unison to add their voices to the nationalist
and patriotic demands of progressive Nigerians in asking President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to take the Transformation Agenda to a logical
conclusion by accepting the clamour of Nigerians to contest the 2015
Presidential Elections.

Odozi Nwodozi is the Special Assistant to Dr. Udenta O. Udenta
The Director Public Communications and Strategy of the Transformation
Ambassadors of Nigeria. (TAN)