TEXT OF A SPEECH BY CHIEF OLABODE IBIYINKA GEORGE, CON, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) AT A PRESS CONFERENCE IN LAGOS ON JANUARY 31, 2025.
PROTOCOLS
As a dedicated life member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) representing the Upper Chamber and embodying the moral compass of our party, I feel compelled to sound the alarm in a matter requiring urgent attention.
What happened on Wednesday during the 79th meeting of this August body in Abuja is despicable, horrific, inhuman, wicked and unheard of. The individuals who orchestrated the use of thugs to invade our Party Secretariat acted shamelessly and this action must be condemned by all of us who value democracy.
It is disheartening that the PDP, the bastion of civility, humility, decorum, harmony and respect for the rule of law since 1998 when it was formed by our elders such as Chief Solomon Lar, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Bola Ige (who wrote the constitution of the party), Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Chief Sunday Afolabi, and others, who did not allow personal interests to overshadow their collective interests of the party, are now dancing on the graves of some of these elders.
This situation arises from the actions of certain disloyal individuals within our party. I strongly believe this should also be seen as a serious offence which should not be condoned. What happened on Wednesday was horrendous, terrible and dreadful. We are all aware that the National Secretariat of our party in Abuja is sacred. The premises must be respected by all members and non-members.
It is sacrilegious that thugs were hired to enter the premises to unleash mayhem, disrupting the 79th Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting. If that could happen, then what do you think those who sponsored the thugs will do during National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings?
I have consistently stated that those with a belligerent attitude, if they are not ready to repent, should be shown the way out. As the largest party in Africa, PDP should not be turned into an ‘Agbero’ party by any member with an inordinate ambition. We have rules and regulations that govern our party.
If we are indeed serious as a party, this is the time for the party leadership to bring the two opposing factions together for a peace meeting. If they are not ready to embrace peace, they should step aside and allow the party to move past the current turmoil.
Enough of this arrant nonsense.
We found ourselves in our current situation due to a self-inflicted crisis. We should bury our individual ambition now and not allow the PDP to crumble. Elders of the party should tell those funny characters to calm down.
As leaders, we must not allow anybody to destroy our party because PDP is the only true national party. The APC is just a mere congregation of strange bed fellows.
This is the time to show members working against our party the way out. No sentiment at all.
Anything else will be suicidal.
Can you imagine a situation in which party officers were attacked and dragged out of the hall by thugs? What a desecration of our office.
Nigerians watched as thugs, sponsored by some so-called leaders of the party, scaled the fence of our national secretariat. What a national shame.
It took the intervention of the police and other security agents around to bring the situation under control, using pepper spray. This is profanity of the highest order.
More security personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were mobilised to our party secretariat to restore normalcy. What a national embarrassment.
I want to send this advice to all that this humiliation of our party and elders must stop. The leadership of the party must also wield the big stick. Nobody is too big to be disciplined by our party. Also, nobody is too important to be expelled. Only patriotic members of our party are indispensable. If you think you are a member of our party and you are arrogantly working against us, I can tell you that your days are numbered.
Unless we are united, with equity, fairness and justice being the pedestal for any political decision taken, this party will be heading to disaster in 2027.
This year, I will reach the eighth floor of life, so I am not afraid to speak my mind on any issue. I am not looking for anything. I was a governor at 42 years (from 1987 to 1990). I was National Vice Chairman and Deputy National Chairman of our great party. So, I have seen it all.
A divided house can never be united. You cannot sleep soundly when you have snakes in your bedroom. That is exactly the situation in PDP today. Nigerians are angry and hungry as a result of the economic policies of the APC Government.
Instead of instigating crisis in our party, why are they not bold enough to defect to APC? Do they fear God at all?
Enough is enough.
A New World Order – THE FAR-RIGHT WIND BLOWING ACROSS THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.
In 1945, the Second World War ended. That is 80 years now. That was also the year I was born.
With the emergence of Donald Trump on January 20, 2025 as the 47th President of the United States (U.S.), we are having a new world order which, if not carefully handled, may snowball into a dangerous conflict in the comity of nations?
According to Trump, the Gulf of Mexico is now the Gulf of America and the Mexican Government has vowed to resist Trump’s aggressive posture in international politics.
Are we witnessing a new world order or Trump’s new world order? After Trump’s second coming, is the world going to remain the same again?
We know what Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer, did in Germany starting from 1932, leading to the Second World War. We all know what Trump did during his first time as the 45th President of the U.S. Just take a look at the similarities between Hitler and Trump.
Going down memory lane, many people are not aware that Hitler was a democrat. In fact, he was elected as German Chancellor and sworn in on January 31, 1933 (92 years ago). Trump was also elected in 2016 and 2024. So, both of them won democratic elections to rise to power.
Hitler got to power through the support of the powerful German rightwing. Trump returned to power through the backing of the powerful American rightwing.
Hitler’s chief propagandist was Joseph Goebbels and that is the role Elon Musk is playing for Trump.
To rise to power, Hitler blamed Jews, Communists, others for everything that was wrong in Germany. Trump also blamed non-white migrants and others for the evil in America, leading to their deportation now.
To deceive German voters, Hitler was shouting ‘Make Germany great again’. Trump also shouted ‘Make America great again’.
Hitler tried to expand German territory by going after Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and even part of Russia.
Today, Trump is going after Canada, Mexico, Panama etc. He has even renamed the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America. As Hitler unveiled his expansionist strategy by invading Poland on September 1, 1939, leading to the Second World War, European powers did nothing. Now, everybody is looking at Trump.
To achieve his expansionist agenda, Hitler raised military spending. Trump is doing same now.
To deal with so-called enemies, millions of innocent people died in gas chambers in Germany under Hitler. Because Trump has no such powers, he is now deporting thousands of migrants in a most horrible manner.
When Hitler, who was born on April 20, 1889, eventually left the scene in 1945 (he was 56 years old when he died on April 30, 1945), people all over were saying, ‘as a democrat, we didn’t expect that he would turn out to be a brutal dictator’, plunging the world into a war.
After Trump’s second coming in January 2029 (a lawmaker is even proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that may lead to a third term for him), what will leaders all over the world say about Trump, his presidency and the U.S.?
After the end of the Second World War, many multilateral institutions were created to engender global unity. Today, Trump is creating power vacuums in these institutions. Through his direct and indirect actions, Trump is saying goodbye to multilateralism.
Washington is pulling out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the pact negotiated within the OECD to tax large multinational corporations.
When Hitler started his agenda, the world was not as sophisticated, militarily, as we have it today.
In the 21st Century, we have nuclear arsenals all over the place now.
In 2025, Trump is determined to expand his influence, making the U.S. an isolationist country. What exactly is the agenda of Trump? I think this is the question world leaders should ask him. Is he trying to create a crisis that will destroy the world? Does he want to destroy the world so that those remaining can relocate to another planet? Is his agenda not going to backfire?
Will Russia, China and Europe be watching Trump the way Neville Chamberlain did nothing until Hitler became uncontrollable?
Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin and others checkmated Hitler. In a world populated by about 8.2 billion people, who will checkmate Trump today? The danger is that Trump believes everybody needs the U.S.
That is why he is saying goodbye to international agreements and hello to isolationism. But is this sustainable?
What effect will this new world order have on our Country Nigeria.
Back home in Nigeria, let me ask this same question: Are the policies of the Bola Tinubu-led administration sustainable? I think the answer is No.
My message to Tinubu is very clear: Nigerians are hungry and angry. This is the time, as the Commander in Chief and the Chief Driver of the economy, to do something about the economic malaise in our Country. You must alleviate the suffering of the people now. 2025 is key in this regard because by 2026, politicking for the 2027 elections will start.
So, 2025 is very crucial to turn around the fortune of this country and make Nigerians safe and secure in their fatherland.
There is no separate market for APC and PDP members. All Nigerians go to the same market. Everybody is feeling the anti-people policies of this government. Bola Tinubu must pause today and reflect: are people benefiting from the policies of my administration?
When he came in 2023, a litre of petrol was less than N200 and in the exchange rate market, Naira was less than N800 to a dollar. What do we have today?
What exactly is the economic policy of this administration?
President Bola Tinubu, Nigerians demand a quick answer to this important question.
Finally, my concern is this: What will happen to our Country if this wind of the New World Order blows across our Nation. With the Francophone Countries surrounding us with political instability and a big quarrel with France their colonial master, are we ready to remain stable and be strong? Let’s start this discussion now as a stitch in time saves nine. Let me wish every Nigerian a bountiful and a blissful New year. It shall be well with all of us In Jesus Name. Amen.
Thank you.
CHIEF OLABODE IBIYINKA GEORGE
ATONA OODUA OF YORUBALAND
JANUARY 31, 2025.
