from Arise News on YouTube.

People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate & Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed joins ARISE News to address reports that suggest his rejection of obtaining the presidential ticket, alongside Bukola Saraki, for his party. He also speaks on the state of current affairs with the PDP on the issues of consensus candidacy.

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Bala Mohammed was speaking on Thursday, in Abuja, shortly after he received the forms from a consortium of groups of young Nigerians under the leadership of GBAM they purchased in his honour.

According to Bala Mohammed, his administration as the President of Nigeria will ensure a pleasant amalgam to actualise the aspiration of Nigerians by throwing away nepotism, rescuing the country by harmonizing differences, and working hard to make sure citizens from nook and cranny are not disappointed.
While commending the BAM for the gesture, Bala Mohammed said that he is championing the need for consensus and will make sure youths and women are carried along in all channels of leadership.

While describing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the strongest, most formidable, and Africa’s largest political party, Bala Mohammed added that he will be an “amenable, amiable and amicable President for Nigerians”.
He said that the session in which he was presented with the nomination form was not only auspicious but memorable adding that he will reciprocate it by providing Nigerians with exemplary leadership if eventually elected.
He thanked the leadership of the BAM-V under its National Coordinator, Comrade Jibo Muhammad, and promised to continue to come up with initiatives aimed at upgrading the living standard of all Nigerians.

In his vote of thanks, the Bauchi State PDP Chairman Alhaji Hamza Koshe Akuyam appreciated the sportsmanship of the BAM-V saying that Bala Mohammed will no doubt make Nigerians proud.

He reiterated the determination of the PDP in Bauchi state to follow Bala Mohammed anywhere he is going politically because according to him, the leadership style of the Governor is worth emulating.

Earlier, BAM-V National Coordinator, Comrade Jibo Muhammad said that the movement started as a joke in Bauchi one year after the inauguration of Bala Mohammed as the Governor of Bauchi State saying that it was quickly accepted across the country.

Jibo Mohammed added that members of the group pulled their resources together to raise the N40m fee of the forms expressing happiness that the objectives of the BAM-V have been achieved.

He then promised that the second phase of the assignment has now begun as the movement will go around the states to solicit votes from the delegates during the primaries.

Nigerian Tribune

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Governor Mohammed stated this on Thursday while declaring open a citizens’ summit on National integration, peace, and security organised by the Bauchi State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations(NIPR), held at the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, the governor explained that good governance is imperative for peace and security to thrive in the nation, adding that they are requirements for harmonious coexistence among the people as well as the basic ingredient for national integration.

“The convening of the Peace Summit for National Integration, Peace, and Security by NIPR cannot have come at a better time than now as there is a need to examine and interrogate the threats to the existence of our great country as a united indivisible entity.

“The unity in diversity that used to characterize peaceful coexistence among the people of the country in the good old days must be restored. It is my hope that this forum would provide credible and sustainable solutions to the challenges that are facing the unity, progress, and development of our country”

“For a country like Nigeria that is characterized by ethnic and religious heterogeneity to develop, there must be a deliberate and concerted effort by the government to engender peaceful coexistence amongst the various groups in Nigeria,” he said

DAILY POST reports that the governor pledged the continued partnership between the state government and NIPR, saying that the institute is a professional image-making organization with a reputation-building manager for the promotion of the laudable achievements of his administration.

In a keynote address, NIPR President and Chairman of the Council, Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo stressed that good communication is key to resolving national issues, insisting communication must be employed if peace is to be sustained in the country.

The NIPR boss said the Institute decided to come up with the citizens’ summit on national integration, peace, and security with a view to fostering understanding among diverse groups in the country.

“As relationship builders, NIPR has all the necessary skills to bring back the old days mechanism of resolving issues by talking about current issues with a view to finding out how to solve them and that is why we came up with the idea of the citizens’ summit so that our people can once again come together and utilize the opportunity positively for the benefit of all.

“In public relations, we speak as it is so that we can really understand the situation. You will agree with me that the relationship of our people in this country, instead of becoming stronger, we are seeing a negative perception, but we believe that diversity is a positive phenomenon and therefore, we must harness it for collective development” he said

Sirajo said with good understanding, that Nigeria can harness its resources for the benefit of the citizens, stressing the need for all hands to be on deck towards building a progressive society for a better tomorrow.

“Instead of building a progressive society, we are always thinking like yesterday. It is in our interest that we should be thinking about better days. If we think that our yesterdays are always better than our today, then we cannot build a progressive society that way.

“The duty of every generation is to ensure a better society than the one inherited. It is time to lay a foundation of ensuring that we can build a progressive society for a better Nigeria” he said

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The world is replete with people who suffered martyrdom in pursuit of the freedom of their people. Latin American freedom fighter Che Guevara, and the United States Human Rights activist, Rev. Martin Luther King Junior and many more, paid the supreme price in the quest for freedom. Nearer home, Nelson Mandela’s place in history was assured when he chose life in prison for the liberty of his people.

Nigeria is not devoid of great men and women who, at grave personal risk, stood up to be counted against colonialism, official highhandedness and fascism. The late Gani Fawehinmi and Bala Usman, both of blessed memory, are emblematic of a genre of patriotic Nigerians who, through relentless advocacy and public demonstrations, stood on the way of Nigeria descending into fascism as brutal military regimes foisted a reign of terror, on the people. What stands them out from the pack is the boundless altruism that underscored their actions. They were patriots who came at the nick of time.

Today, Nigeria is caught in a new crisis of confidence that calls for patriots to rise to be counted. The country sits atop a time bomb. Forces of disintegration prowl the landscape, ignoring invidious premonitions of danger, even catastrophic implosions. Atop the murky waters of pride, self-delusion and brinkmanship, the ship of state sails perilously towards the precipice. Between 1981 and 1983, as he screamed himself hoarse, a blind elite arrogantly ignored the relentless entreaties of the late Obafemi Awolowo, until the Shehu Shagari Administration was stopped in its tracks by the ‘Men on Horse Back’.

Nigeria was on the same path again in 2010 when the country sailed precariously on murky waters due to the ill-health of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The country stood on edge, almost rudderless because a section of the political class, against reason, stood on the path of constitutionalism by blocking the incumbent Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, from taking over from an ailing President Yar’Adua. The complex logjam had all the trappings of a religious cum ethnic and regional crisis. Yar’Adua, a Moslem and Fulani from the North had barely been in power for two years after succeeding President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian and Yoruba by tribe from the South (who was in power for eight years) when ill-heath effectively ended his Presidency.

As Yar’Adua was moved from one hospital to the other, some powerbrokers, predominantly from the North, spewed various theories to stop Jonathan, a Christian from the South, from succeeding the ailing president. Thus, the stage was set for high stakes political drama, one which outcome was clearly unpredictable. What was clear was the unwillingness of most Northerners to stake their heads against opposition to Jonathan.

Surprisingly, as hope receded, from unusual quarters rose a patriot, a man of straw, a constitutionalist and statesman who, defying every odds, led a group of compatriots in defence of the Constitution. Contextually, this harbinger of peace stood out from others for four significant reasons: First, he was a Moslem. Second, he was of the Hausa-Fulani political stock. Third, he was from the North. Fourth, he was of the minority All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) that was led at the time by Muhammadu Buhari, who maintained a principled distance from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that controlled a majority in both chambers of the National Assembly.

To those who want to know the implication of the above four considerations, here is a simple response. The promoter of that bulwark of defence of the Constitution, the patriot who led his compatriots to roll back the Armada of conceit against the Constitution, had simply offered his head at the guillotine of Nigeria’s chequered politics. He was on his way to political martyrdom. His head could have been chopped off from Nigeria’s body politics forever. Luckily, he survived and for a country that does not have a great reputation for recognising heroes, his celebration may yet be deferred. Just for a short period.

That man, the mover of the Doctrine of Necessity Motion, that paved the way for Goodluck Jonathan, the unassuming scholar from the Niger Delta, to break the glass ceiling of Nigeria’s tripodal political monopoly, was Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, who is today the Executive Governor of Bauchi State where, the mantra of his Administration is inclusive Government. Through astute diversity management, Bala Mohammed, a doyen of the civil service, a seasoned technocrat, an unrepentant constitutionalist, a compassionate manager of men and an astute politician, has welded disparate emotional strata of Bauchi State into a united front that is preoccupied with the breath-taking infrastructural projects that have received the commendation of eminent Nigerians such as former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President of the Senate David Mark, APC Leader Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a host of others too numerous to mention.

The fact that there is a groundswell of support for Bala Mohammed’s second term among both Muslim and Christian religious groups in Bauchi State, all in a bid to thwart speculations that he is nursing a presidential ambition, is ample evidence of his diversity management credentials, in a state that was previously characterised by inter-group suspicion, fuelled by elite insensitivity.

It is also to Bala Mohammed’s credit that, before Bauchi, he had set a record in diversity management, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2010 and 2015. Groups fell over each other with awards for him, all in recognition of the inclusive nature of his administration. He was able to achieve unprecedented stakeholder buy-in because he ensured that the FCT represented Nigeria in word and indeed. Uppermost in his management credo, at the time, was an unwavering commitment to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

By his antecedents, so far, Bala Mohammed has demonstrated that he is, at once, a true Moslem, a proud Northerner, a patriotic Nigerian, a humanist, a bridge builder and an avowed Constitutionalist. He has also maintained the position that a conference of Nigeria’s constituent nationalities had become imperative to resolve the sore points that threaten the country’s fragile unity and stability. It is this pragmatism that throws Bala Mohammed up as, perhaps, the prospective elixir to the deep-seated political and socio-economic malaise presently ravaging Nigeria.

He possesses the genuine disposition, sacrificial spirit and political will, to repress the DNA of parochialism that is the root cause of Nigeria’s political woes. More than ever before, if anybody is in a position to damn sectional Czars and re-enact the 2010 constitutional feat that saved Nigeria from self-destructing, Bala Mohammed can be trusted to provide that leadership.

Will he get the chance? That is the Zillion Naira question whose answer depends on many factors. From what I know about him, Bala Mohmmed’s eventual response to the several endorsements he has received will depend on the way the raging debate over what zone should produce the President is resolved. Besides, his party parades a crowd of highly qualified candidates such as former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, renowned pharmacist and quintessential industrialist Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa and Governor Aminu Tambuwal, not to mention Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a statesman for whom Bala Mohammed has the highest respect. It is a mark of that respect that informed Bala Mohammed’s decision to invite the former Vice President to commission a major road project in Bauchi State, to mark his (Atiku’s) 73rd birthday, a day that was almost treated as a public holiday in Bauchi State.

It is within the above context that Bala Mohammed’s much touted call on the former vice president to step down for younger elements, should be seen and understood. What needs to be added is that Bala Mohammed, by birth and training, revers age, tradition and achievement. He is passionate about seniors, particularly ex-servicemen and women whose patriotic services form the anvil on which the unity and progress of the country revolve. If, in the end Bala Mohammed runs for President, it will be because of his belief that the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain and that, just as our forefathers preserved this great nation for us, his (Bala) generation has a moral duty to prioritise the legitimate demand of the millennials, for a just, fair, inclusive and prosperous society.
Agu was managing director/editor-in-chief of Champion Newspapers Limited.

The Guardian

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Dr Jonathan was speaking tonight when he received in audience, Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed tonight at his Abuja residence where he added that the Bauchi Governor was one of his hardworking ministers.

GEJ appreciated Bala Mohammed for being with him even after office saying that he could imagine a better Nigeria with an empathetic, committed and passionate leader if Bala is given a chance to run the affairs of Africa’s most populous state.

He added that Bala Mohammed will no doubt actualize the aspiration of Nigerians considering his tremendous achievements as the FCT minister and now a governor.

Goodluck Jonathan said as a thoughtful and responsible father, he is confident Bala Mohammed will make a difference by providing Nigerians with exemplary leadership.

He commended Governors Bala, Wike Ortom and Darius Ishaku for making him and their respective states proud calling on their counterparts to emulate their dedication and service to humanity.

Earlier speaking, Governor Bala said he was alongside members of his team at the residence of the former president to seek for his blessings and inform him of his aspiration to run for the office of Nigeria’s President in the forthcoming election.

According to Bala Mohammed Nigeria’s history of democracy will continue to remember GEJ as a hero for his commitments to strengthening it apart from his sacrifices and for ensuring free and fair election prevailed.

The Sun Nigeria

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Mohammed disclosed this at the official flag-off of the empowerment programme on Saturday in Zaki Local Government Area of the state.

He said he decided to use the Democracy Day celebration, which is a special day in Nigeria, to kick-start the distribution of the economic strengthening items in the state.

The governor said the KEEP scheme was an initiative of the state government designed to empower youths and women.

He said that motorcycles and other economic strengthening items worth N75 million were provided for distribution to youths and women in Zaki.

The items included three cars, 54 motorcycles, several sewing and grinding machines.

“We will empower youths and women with incentives to alleviate poverty and provide them with job opportunities,” he said.

Mohammed explained that the gesture would be replicated in other 19 local government areas of the state, adding that this was in fulfilment of his campaign promises.

“Our government has done so much in the area of infrastructure development, it is now expedient that we focus on how to also improve the lives of our citizens.

“We were being criticised that we have been constructing roads without considering the well-being of the citizens and because of the promise we have made, that is why we remained adamant on our quest to develop the state.

“These items we are distributing today is worth N75 million and we are going to extend the same gesture to all the remaining 19 local government areas of the state,” he said.

Mohammed urged the beneficiaries to ensure effective utilisation of the items to engage in productive activities to enable them to become employers of labour.

In a remark, Hajiya Aisha Mohammed, the wife of the governor, said that the empowerment programme would help women to be self-reliant.

She said the gesture would also afford mothers to enrol their children in schools as they now have businesses of their own.

The Guardian

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