FORMER Minister of Solid Minerals and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said his party owe Nigerians a duty to apologise for not delivering on their promises.
Asked in an interview on Thursday if the APC owed Nigerians an apology for what they did to remove former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, Dr Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti State, answered in the affirmative.
Recall that the former two-term governor had said the Occupy Nigeria protest against Jonathan’s administration on fuel subsidy removal was politically motivated.
He noted that they knew Jonathan’s decision to remove fuel subsidy was right, but they protested against it.
In his interview with Channels TV, the APC chieftain admitted that the party has failed to deliver what it promised Nigerian people.
According to him: “Oh, clearly, we must apologise to the Nigerian people. We have not succeeded in achieving everything we promised to the Nigerian people. And that’s not just because we were incompetent, but because there were other structural impediments that have made things more difficult for us. But clearly, we haven’t done enough to make life abundant for the Nigerian people.
“And for that, I clearly would not hesitate to apologise to the Nigerian people for that. We can do a lot more. An apology, well, it may give us a feel-good factor, feel-good vibes or feelings, but that’s not really what we need. We need to get our act together, all of us who consider ourselves leaders in that space. Because if we don’t, the risk we run is higher than the returns we’re going to get.
“For me, I have been extraordinarily fortunate, I must admit to have stood on the shoulders of giants. I was brought up by the Enahoros, the Wole Soyinkas of this world. They were the ones who lifted me up as a young man when I started on this journey.
“And I have a duty, which is why my wife and I have decided to settle on one line and say, I have a duty to the youth of Africa to find a way to enable them to become better actors than I have been.”
Eighteen-Eleven Media