Former acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Minister of Defence, Dr. Bello Mohammed, has said that his team at the party hierarchy was fully convinced and believed that President Goodluck Jonathan was, indeed, qualified and competent to lead the nation at a critical point in her history.
He said the team worked hard, and took the president round the country to sell his candidature and the programmes of the party to all Nigerians, based on their belief and conviction that through his transformation agenda, the country will move to the next level.
Bello stated this at the weekend in Abuja when he received a distinguished award from the National Association of Niger Delta Students (NANDS), led by the national president, Comrade Lucky Emonefe.
Emonefe said that Bello Mohammed was considered “A friend of inestimable value to the Niger Delta region for his tireless contributions towards promoting the interests of the minorities as part of party’s core objectives.
In his response, Bello said the president and his team are committed to government’s deliberate policy of developing the region and its people through on-going developmental projects such as the vocational training for ex-militants, the construction of the East-West and coastal roads and, and bridges, which are currently being designed.
He stressed the need for the people of the region to appreciate the government’s efforts through maintenance of peace, security and order, and noted that the rapid development of the region which he described as “the nation’s treasure-house” could only be achieved in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
Emonefe said his association resolved award Bello after reviewing his active association and collaboration with Niger Delta students’ leaders in the 70s, when he was the president of the Ahmadu Bello University Students’ Union and also as vice-president of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS).
“Instructively, history offered him another golden opportunity as acting national chairman of the PDP to lead a team of party chieftains on a country-wide campaign to sell the candidature of a man from one of the minorities of the Niger Delta. You are indeed a rare friend of the Niger Delta,” Emonefe said.