<\/p>\nThe governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara, Mr. Mohammed Belgore, tells CHUX OHAI about his preparedness to wrest political power in the state from the firm grip of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party A few days after he was adopted as the Action Congress of Nigeria\u2019s candidate in the governorship race in Kwara State, in a ceremony that was well attended by the party\u2019s top echelon, Mohammed Belgore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has literally been everywhere, brandishing the party\u2019s manifesto and trying hard to convince the average people of the state about the pressing need for a change.<\/span><\/p>\nAt the rally, which took place in Ilorin, the ACN had made it clear that it stood for a masses-oriented programme that would guarantee them the much-needed dividends of democracy in terms of free education, free health care delivery, improved social services and facilities, as well as the provision of basic amenities to the people.<\/span><\/p>\nBut to make the smooth discharge of these goodies a reality, the party added that it had to embark on an urgent \u201cliberation\u201d of Kwara State and its people. Belgore appears to be the ACN\u2019s preferred tool for this liberating mission and the pivot of its planned conquest of the state through the ballot, come April.<\/span><\/p>\nInterestingly, the ACN has aptly coined the governorship campaign \u2018Day Break in Kwara State.\u2019 Both the party and its standard bearer in the state, whose youthful looks belie his shrewdness and reputation as a very successful attorney, do not seem to be bothered by the intimidating presence of the famous Saraki clan in the politics of Kwara. Nor do they seem to be moved by the fact that more than ever, the patriarch of the family, Dr. Olusola Saraki, appears determined to consolidate on his position as a kingmaker with his latest defection to the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\nAt a meeting with select journalists in Lagos last Sunday, Belgore, who is saddled with the unenviable task of breaking the hold of the Saraki dynasty, said the ACN in Kwara had been working very hard to persuade the people to look beyond the family and embrace change.<\/span><\/p>\nHe says, \u201cThe fact is that the people of Kwara State will determine who gets what, not Dr. (Olusola) Saraki. Our party is poised to lead a change or a revolution in the state. We\u2019re delivering a message of change for the betterment of the lives of Kwarans and for the restoration of lost hopes, as well as the lost glory of Kwara, which will also empower the people.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe want to come up with policies that are people-oriented. We want to provide free and qualitative education and free medical services for the under-aged, pregnant women and the elderly people. We\u2019re for the creation of opportunities, as well as economic and social empowerment of the people.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re talking about some policies that will uplift the people of Kwara, take them out of their current state of hopelessness, and improve their lives. This is what has been lacking in political debates. We\u2019re going to deliver it. People see sincerity in what we are saying, they see that it is workable, and they see that it is coming at the right time. We\u2019re connecting with the people. So, that is the basis of our belief that at the end of the day, we will become the dominant party in Kwara State.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nEarly last February, Belgore was reportedly severely criticised by the Peoples Democratic Party for accusing the Bukola Saraki administration of under-developing the state. But in a swift denial of that charge, the ACN governorship candidate said he had merely pointed out that Kwara had not developed as much as it ought to have done under the PDP.<\/span><\/p>\nHe says, \u201cIt is a fact that a vast amount of resources has been wasted on projects that are not meaningful to the lives of the people. The barometer for a good government is how well the people are enriched by government policy. We don\u2019t think that has happened in good enough measure under the PDP.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nCurrently, there is evidence that the ACN might have made a considerable progress in its quest to overthrow the PDP in Kwara. The former still relishes its trouncing of the ruling party in the Offa Local Government Council rerun, even as victories have been reported for the ACN in parts of Ilorin, the stronghold of the PDP, and Patigi Local Government areas.<\/span><\/p>\nBelgore takes this development for granted as a sign that the people have eventually begun to warm up to the ACN and its ideals. However, despite being scoffed at by critics for his relative inexperience on the political turf, he managed to prove to them, by picking his running mate from the southern part of the state, that he was serious about running a government that is just and people-oriented.<\/span><\/p>\nIn defence of his choice of a running mate, a decision that was also aimed at selling his ambition to the marginalised in Kwara, he says, \u201cThe truth is that I had to reflect the ethnic and geographical diversity of Kwara. I\u2019m from Kwara Central. So, naturally, my running mate must come from Kwara South or Kwara North. In this case, I chose my running mate from Kwara South.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cSecond, in my view, when choosing a running mate in Kwara, one had to reflect, apart from the ethnic and geographical diversity of the state, on the religious diversity of the state. My running mate is a Christian from the south. For me, I would prefer a running mate that can contribute meaningfully to the business of government; a running mate that shares our ideals and pursue and defend them with passion.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI know the order of the day is that you pick a running mate simply because the constitution requires you to have one and you make sure that you pick the most docile person you can find. But in this case, this is not it. My running mate is an accomplished engineer in private practice that has some political background. We feel that he can also add value to the people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe youths, no doubt, occupy an important position in the ACN overall agenda in Kwara. According to the party\u2019s governorship candidate in the state, any serious contender for the Government House in Ilorin ought to reckon with the youths, who have the largest stake in the state.<\/span><\/p>\nHe says, \u201cThe youths are the ones who want to build a career, complete their education, get married, build a house and buy a car, and so on. So, if you are advocating a change, it is not a one-off thing. It is something for the medium term and for the long term. Hence, the youths have the greatest interest in what we\u2019re doing.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThis is why we\u2019re carrying them along and making them an integral part of what we are doing. Apart from this, we believe that Kwara youths have been short-changed over the years. This is a state where N2.4bn was spent last year in running the Government House and N200bn was budgeted for women, youths, and social development. You can see the imbalance there. We want to reverse that and empower the youths.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAt a glance, it might be difficult to tell what thoughts lurk beneath Belgore\u2019s calm exterior. Yet, it seems that his resolve to lead Kwara to the Promised Land will remain unshaken, in spite of rumoured mass defections from the ACN to the PDP and a general opinion of the former as a party that is still enmeshed in a crisis of credibility. Even the ongoing agitation among the marginalised for power sharing in the state has not been a deterrent.<\/span><\/p>\nReferring to this while declaring his agenda in Lagos, he says, \u201cAt the moment, what Kwara needs is really good governance and a government that will sell the interest of the people in a meaningful and credible manner. That is the major thing. The issue of power shift is secondary. But in spite of that, we have been trying to build a consensus across the state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nA consensus, in this context, he noted, might exclude a coalition of the ACN and other opposition parties with the sole objective of dislodging the ruling PDP from power in Kwara.<\/span><\/p>\nOn the mission of the ACN in the state, he says, \u201cOur number one objective is that the PDP government must go. Therefore, we\u2019re building up our own capacity to get them out of Kwara. At the same time, we\u2019re talking to everybody as to how we can achieve that objective.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIndeed, if the PDP wants to discuss with us as to how they can live gracefully, we will sit down and talk to them. We will continue to discuss with ourselves, but not to the extent of forming a coalition with other parties. If it is to the extent of building a consensus, we\u2019re prepared to talk and it is an ongoing process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nExplaining why he had decided to make education one of the focal points of his campaign, Belgore adds, \u201cWe\u2019re not just talking about everybody having the right to have their children educated, it is about education in a qualitative sense. We will empower the teachers by reviewing their salaries and making sure they are paid as well as teachers in other parts of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe will take the teachers\u2019 condition of service out of the regular civil service structure in the way they have done for judges. We think education in Kwara State is in a state of emergency and therefore, we need to do things like this. We will equip the schools and create a situation whereby not only will we have free medical services; nobody will have to travel far to get treated. We will have a fully functional health care system.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe will create a mobile system where you have mobile doctors go into the trenches on motorcycles in parts of the state that are not passable. A big problem in Kwara State is also the absence of free flowing potable water. We will address that in a meaningful way and make sure that water is available in all parts of the state. Youth unemployment is high. We will set up one graduate scheme, a youth volunteer scheme in which unemployed youths will be used for public and social services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, only a free and fair governorship election can guarantee the ACN victory in Kwara State.<\/span><\/p>\nAt present, the party and its candidate are worried by cases of multiple voter registration reported in different parts of the state.<\/span><\/p>\nYet, Belgore appears to be optimistic.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIf we go by INEC\u2019s assurance that multiple registration will be filtered out, we will get one man, one vote. Also, if we get a level-playing field; in other words, if a reign of terror is not unleashed on the people using the security agencies, we will have free and fair elections,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nSee original here:
\nWe can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara, Mr. Mohammed Belgore, tells CHUX OHAI about his preparedness to wrest political power in the state from the firm grip of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party A few days after he was adopted as the Action Congress of Nigeria\u2019s candidate in the governorship race in Kwara State, in a ceremony that was well attended by the party\u2019s top echelon, Mohammed Belgore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has literally been everywhere, brandishing the party\u2019s manifesto and trying hard to convince the average people of the state about the pressing need for a change. At the rally, which took place in Ilorin, the ACN had made it clear that it stood for a masses-oriented programme that would guarantee them the much-needed dividends of democracy in terms of free education, free health care delivery, improved social services and facilities, as well as the provision of basic amenities to the people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara, Mr. Mohammed Belgore, tells CHUX OHAI about his preparedness to wrest political power in the state from the firm grip of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party A few days after he was adopted as the Action Congress of Nigeria\u2019s candidate in the governorship race in Kwara State, in a ceremony that was well attended by the party\u2019s top echelon, Mohammed Belgore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has literally been everywhere, brandishing the party\u2019s manifesto and trying hard to convince the average people of the state about the pressing need for a change. At the rally, which took place in Ilorin, the ACN had made it clear that it stood for a masses-oriented programme that would guarantee them the much-needed dividends of democracy in terms of free education, free health care delivery, improved social services and facilities, as well as the provision of basic amenities to the people\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-05T07:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/\"},\"wordCount\":1888,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/\",\"name\":\"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-05T07:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"The governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara, Mr. Mohammed Belgore, tells CHUX OHAI about his preparedness to wrest political power in the state from the firm grip of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party A few days after he was adopted as the Action Congress of Nigeria\u2019s candidate in the governorship race in Kwara State, in a ceremony that was well attended by the party\u2019s top echelon, Mohammed Belgore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has literally been everywhere, brandishing the party\u2019s manifesto and trying hard to convince the average people of the state about the pressing need for a change. At the rally, which took place in Ilorin, the ACN had made it clear that it stood for a masses-oriented programme that would guarantee them the much-needed dividends of democracy in terms of free education, free health care delivery, improved social services and facilities, as well as the provision of basic amenities to the people","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore","datePublished":"2011-03-05T07:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/"},"wordCount":1888,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/","name":"We can\u2019t rule out consensus in taking Kwara out of the trenches \u2013 Belgore - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-03-05T07:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/05\/we-cant-rule-out-consensus-in-taking-kwara-out-of-the-trenches-belgore\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}