Fayemi's Opening Remarks At APC Policy Unveiling Dialogue

The All Progressives Congress (APC) today, in Abuja, unveiled the policy roadmaps of the incoming Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government. Below is the opening remarks delivered by former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, who is the Director of Policy and Research Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

Protocols.

This event is the gratifying culmination of an assignment that commenced several months ago. The Directorate of Policy, Research and Strategy has been behind the scenes contributing our modest quota to the presidential campaign of our then candidate in the March 28, 2015 general election, and now president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari. Indeed, prior to this, some of us in the directorate had worked with other patriotic party members to develop a most compelling manifesto. We subsequently ensured the harmonisation of the manifesto with the personal ideals of our president-elect, thus creating a necessary coherence of all aspects of our party’s expressions, that lent a powerful clarity and focus to our message of change. It also involved articulating our message in a variety of ways and means accessible to all our people.

Our task, as we saw it, was to undergird our campaign with an intellectual and strategic rigour that positioned our party as the pre-eminent movement of ideas in the recently concluded electoral cycle. Our desire, right from the onset, was to open a new chapter in the annals of partisan politics in Nigeria – one that departed from the personality-centered incivilities of the most banal kind that characterized the electioneering season. We sought to inaugurate a new model of issues-based, principle-centered campaigning. We believed that the stakes had never been higher in our nation’s history of democratic politics, and a new approach was required. This new approach was evident in our disciplined refusal to depart from a laser-keen focus on the real issues affecting the Nigerian people rather than traffic in distractive rhetoric. Our approach focused on the electorate as being worthy of serious and sincere engagement and sought to bring clarity to the issues at stake.

The outcome of the historic polls attests to the fact that not only did the right candidate and party triumph, the right ideas and the right approach also prevailed. The majority of Nigerians demonstrated their readiness to be taken seriously as voters, and duly rewarded the party that sincerely addressed their pressing issues. This commitment to seriously tackling the themes that affect the lives of our people remains a cardinal principle of our pact with Nigerians and informs the convening of this policy dialogue.

I can disclose with some pride that a majority of the lead presenters in this dialogue are members of the Directorate of Policy, Research and Strategy and have all been instrumental in crafting the policy priorities and propositions that helped decisively swing the fate of Africa’s largest democracy in favour of progressive forces. Our group has been one big family that has thought deeply and broadly about Nigeria. We conducted our work not in a spirit of competition but in one of collaborative problem-solving dedicated to a higher goal of giving our nation an unprecedented opportunity for progress.

In a sense, the phase of policy conception is over and we are entering the phase of execution, governance, of providing tangible developmental deliverables. The challenge of translating ideas into policy and praxis now looms large. Given the degree of work that has been put in by the Directorate and our well documented national problems of policy implementation, the focus should now be on evolving an institutional framework to deliver the agenda for change.

As I indicated earlier, the Directorate of Policy, Research and Strategy customarily operates behind the scenes. This momentary exposure to the glare of the public is, in fact, our final curtain call. It has been the greatest honour to have served with an indefatigable corps of dedicated men and women who have for several months seized the day and burned the midnight oil in the cause of securing a progressive future for our nation.

I wish to thank my colleagues for their service and to thank the party for giving us the opportunity to serve and the president-elect for his faith in and encouragement of our efforts. On behalf of the Directorate, I also wish to express my gratitude to the Nigerian people for finding our ideals worthy of your trust.

Thank you.

KAYODE FAYEMI

DIRECTOR, POLICY RESEARCH AND STRATEGY DIRECTORATE

ABUJA-FCT

MAY 20, 2015

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