North has benefitted from Jonathan, says Sambo

Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has said that the North never lacked visionary leaders who have instilled the culture of peace order and good governance in the region.
He revealed this at a lecture organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Arewa House’ Centre for Historical Research and Documentation, at Arewa House, Kaduna.
The Vice President, who was represented at the event by Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State, recalled the years 1959-1966, as golden era of the North and extolled the visionary leadership of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, whom, he said, ensured the unity and prosperity of the region as premier.
“With his maxim of One North, one Destiny and his Northernisation policy, the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the first and only Premier of Northern Nigeria, ensured the unity, uniformity and prosperity of the region to the admiration of all,” he said
While commending the organisers for convening a public lecture aimed at tackling the challenges confronting the region, he, however, assured them that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has put in place strategic programmes of actions to revive the fortunes of the region and make it great again.
The Vice President said that “agriculture has been restored to its pride of place” in the region through the administration’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) where agriculture is now treated as a business and not a programme, while also adding that at the national level, it has articulated a long term strategic development blueprint, tagged “Nigeria Vision 20:2020”.
“This is our homegrown strategic development agenda for stimulating economic growth, diversifying the economy away from Oil and launching the country onto the path of sustainable and rapid economic development. One key element of the vision is the specific recognition of Regional development. This is being complemented by the Transformation Agenda, 2011-2015, which is the medium term strategic plan of the Federal Government,” he said.
Furthermore, the vice president reiterated the administration’s commitment to a sustained improvement in the economic management of the country, which, he said, had impacted positively on the performance of the North and the country at large with a robust growth averaging seven per cent.
Apart from agriculture, the vice president also said their administration has made deep inroads in developing and improving other sectors of the economy which included Education, Healthcare, Transport and Healthcare as well as anti-corruption, employment and wealth generation in the country.
On Education, the Vice President revealed that the Federal Government approved N1.5billion, in addition to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, to further support the improvement and development of all federal and state-owned universities across the country, while N297 billion has been expended under the Universal Basic Education Programme (UBE) to the development of infrastructure, learning and teaching materials as well as capacity building in basic education institutions.
On power and irrigation, the Vice President stated that work has commenced on the construction of the 700mw Zungeru Hydro-powerr project awarded at the cost of N200 billion while contract has been awarded for the 3050mw Mambila Hydropower at the cost of $6 billion
In tackling corruption in the country, the vice president stated that their administration has made laudable progress using their “preventive approach.”
“Our approach to corruption is Preventive rather than Curative. We are aware that we have to deal with impunity and we are taking a systematic approach. With seeming lack of institutions, systems and processes to block corrupt action, we are using technology and biometrics to prevents its occurrence,” he said.
He also added that corruption convictions under the Goodluck Jonathan administration has increased by 88 per cent while the nation has recorded about 91 per cent drop in illegal currency outflow, an all-time low record in the country.
In a keynote address he delivered, the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Ibrahim Coomasie, a former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), said that at the time the North attained self-government, it was led by selfless, hard working and committed individuals who channeled all their energies to build the region without recourse to ethnicity, religion or any other primordial ties.
While calling on the present generation to wake up from their deep slumber, he, however, reminded them that each individual has a duty to the country.
“Each of us has a duty to our community and our country. We can either fulfil or betray it. And when we are tested, as all will be, the judgement of history cannot be evaded. And so, I say to you too that we cannot deny the evidence of our own eyes,” he said
The lecture with the theme: “The North and the Nigerian Federation: Past, Present and the Future” was organised to commemorate the 56th anniversary of self-government in Northern Nigeria.
At the event were the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Dr Ahmed Joda and Gen. Muhammadu Wushishi.
Meanwhile, some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano.
Among those who defected were Hon. Bashir Husari, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Gwale Local Government Constituency at the National Assembly and also the immediate past APC Women Leader in Kano State, Hajiya Maryam Umar Kofar Mata, who is also the Special Assistant to the Kano State Governor on Empowerment Programme.
The duo decamped alongside several of their followers and were received by Sambo.
The Vice President welcomed them, stressing that the PDP umbrella was large enough to accommodate anyone interested in joining the party.
He urged them to feel at home and work assiduously for the victory of the party in the forthcoming elections, so that the party and the administration would continue to move the country forward.
Sambo, who described the PDP as “the party of Nigeria with the most people-oriented programmes that has been transforming the socio-economic well being of Nigerians in the right direction”, also added that “PDP is Nigeria, and Nigeria is PDP. If you go to every corner and the remotest part of Nigeria, PDP has a system in place”.
In their response, the defectors said they left APC because the PDP and the administration of Jonathan and Sambo have been delivering more and better dividends of democracy to Nigerians through their Transformation Agenda. They pledged to work tirelessly to move the party and the country to greater heights.