Leadership (Abuja)
16 November 2008
interview
A group of youths under the auspices of PDP Youth Revial Initiative recently took up the initiative to challenge the elders of the party when they embarked on a campaign to provide free medical aid to some indigent communities. Leader of the group a medical doctor, Dr. Umuege Kennedy, in this interview with Chika Otuchikere and Femi Akinola revealed that a new dawn has broken in the party. According to Umuege, the youths who hitherto were deployed as thugs and miscreants have decided to engage themselves in useful activities which would paint them in a better light. Excerpts.
What informed PDP Youth Revival initiative in Abuja?
There are various reasons for this initiative. We want to impact and touch the lives of people positively. We're delivering free medical services to people. They are not very far from the city centre but you can see, the health facility here in Gwagwa is down and that explains the large turn out. There are so many diseases here we're treating.
Secondly, these people are the electorate, the initiative is under the party so it is a form of grassroot mobilisation for the party in a positive light. With this electoral reform and a lot of things going on, very soon it will be hard for any political party to win election without getting the electorate to support them. So we want to be on the side of the electorate to effect positive change. To put in people during the next election that would bring positive things to the country.
Thirdly you can see most of the people we are using here are PDP Youth. Most of them are unemployed, they are the people being exploited by the politicians mostly to forment trouble. They are part and parcel of this initiative.
So we as PDP Youths are preparing ourselves for leadership through service. That's the motto of the group "Leadership Through Service." That's basically what we stand for and we intend to reach all the rural communities in the FCT and to spread to other states. At the end of the day, we'll have a very strong movement of youths that would impact on the lives of the people positively and then work with the electorate to effect positive change in government.What informed your choice of medical treatment?
We have many activities lined up. Medical outreach happens to be one of the strongest tools for grassroot mobilisation. That's why we choose this area, because most of them here even ordinary anti-malarial drugs, they cannot afford. You can see the level of poverty and economic deprivation in this environment that's why we are going to touch rural areas mainly. But then we have other activities lined up. Very soon we are going to start giving vocation training for unemployed PDP Youth. We are going to visit prisons, we are going to visit motherless babies home. There are so many programmes lined up. In as much as we are going to move to rural communities for medial outreach, we'll also have other activities including HIV/AIDs talks, health awareness talks and antenatal talks.
How would you describe the health sector?
Its so unfortunate, in the mist of plenty as a country, we're really lacking behind. You can see the number of children alone condition that leads to blood in urine in this community. We have seen today are more than 200. Not to talk of adults. They've been suffering for a long time. The parent's cannot even afford drugs for them, you can see them queuing up. It makes one to wonder but then there is hope for the country. I believe that our president, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has good intentions and we really hope that Nigerians can give him time to deliver. But then you find out that there are some people working in his cabinet who are not really doing anything. They are not in touch with the people. In as much as we are a PDP body and we are under the body, we know what is happening, people are suffering the suffering cuts across party line. We know what is obtainable. Look at their health centre here. It is down we intend to meet the minister and education secretary. We're going to work together with AMAC chairman and all elected representatives, to deliver things. These people are in dire need of things. Just a little and a lot can be achieved that's what we intend to do.
Give us your experience in this outreach and how much it cost you?
It's a group, there is no external funding for the group and there is no funding from any politician, right now we told them no because you know, in youth activities, if you have any good initiative, most of these politicians, because they know that most youths are unemployed, they would think you want to get their money and run away, so we told them to hold their money. If you want to identify with our initiative fine, along the line you can support us but with the little we have we can start something.
For high blood pressure alone, we've seen more than 100 patients, the doctors are still consulting in diabetes, we're testing blood sugar, level we've seen more than 50 patients with very high blood sugar. The eye care, the optometric we dispensed more than 200 corrective lenses so far they're still working. If I count the number of patients we've seen so far, its over 1000 counting still. Its very amazing. Although we, didn't give them much notice you can see the crowd, were still going to come for follow up. Like this hypertension and diabetes patients we're going to come and follow them up in two weeks time so that we can check their state and update the drugs if possible.
How much has this cost you?
If we are to estimate the financial cost so far regardless of the time and all that, we've spent close to N500,000. Its not much considering what we've achieved with N500,000. Moreover I don't think we can even exhaust the drugs and corrective, lenses we came with. This is our individual contribution, nobody or external body is sponsoring us but we intend to seek funding from Nigerians.People may misinterpret your motives as a PDP youth group.
Don't you think an NGO would have been more appropriate?
Well I'm a registered member of the Peoples Democratic Party. I want to strengthen party democracy in the country. You find the media always complaining about lack of internal party democracy. If you don't strengthen our party you know we have to talk about the same problem tomorrow. We have to start somewhere. I'm a party member, this is under the party, but it's a youth movement. And we are not going to allow ourselves to be hijacked by any politicians. The chairmen of the PDP FCT is our patron.
But we've told the chairmen that, like the national chairman talks, internal democracy must be entrenched in this party so that in the coming elections, you give us credible candidates to campaign for. And if you don't give us credible candidates we cannot identify with just any person. Infact right now we are reviewing the contributions of the elected leaders and representatives in the house of representatives and senate.
We are reviewing their contributions to youths development, to health care delivery and others and were going to come up with the verdict. Whether were going to renew our commitment to them in the next election or not.
We're angry because the suffering cuts across party line. We are not using party cards or party identification letter to treat people here. Most of these people you see here either PDP ANPP, APGA or AG, PP, but they suffer. And when people are suffering regardless of the party, its painful. So we've woken up. Nigerian Youths, especially in the PDP, have woken up and we want to challenge other youths in other parties to wake up to their responsibility. And professionals should not shy away from party politics. If we complain from outside who will change things. We don't have any ulterior motive. Our motive mainly is to change the party and to change the country. It may look ambitious but that's what we want to do.What you are doing is what the larger party should be doing.
Is it that they don't know their responsibility?
Well its unfortunate. We hope that the electoral reform will reform a lot of things because the electorate is weak. If the people in power know that the electorate can remove them if we wish to, then the dividends of democracy will come down very well. What we want to do is to empower the electorate. So that when the time comes for election they will go out there and vote in those people that can effect changes. Bad leadership, bad governance cuts across party lines. We're not saying that all the people in leadership from PDP are doing well no! There are some people that we wouldn't want to be there but they are there now but we'll remove them when the time comes. But then we want to support our president. He is doing well. But he inherited a whole gamut of problems which he's trying to clean up gradually we hope to work with him to try to effect, changes needed in the country. He needs the support of everybody.
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