I’ve no regret leading TAN for Jonathan –Ifeanyi Ubah

The  entry of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) into the Nigeria political landscape as pro-President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign and advocacy group, certainly changed the political configuration of the country.

At the time, many people thought that the group was just another addition to the growing list of advocacy groups, it did not take long before TAN proved that it has come to blaze the trail in political advocacy by creating an unprecedented record in campaign strategy.
With flamboyant campaign exploits across the six geopolitical zones, it did not take long for TAN to become a nightmare to the opponents of President Jonathan that hitherto enjoyed the lacklustre performance of his managers in the handling of the job of showcasing the President’s litany of  achievements .

In its determination to redefine electioneering  and entrench new method of public engagement, TAN unfolded uniquely packaged programmes that mobilised and moved all public perception, convincing over 12 million Nigerians including the indecisive ones to sign-up to drum support for the President Goodluck’s re-election bid.
After building a sellable brand, distinct from other advocacy groups seeking for economic benefits, TAN, who ab-nitio demonstrated unusual capacity to self-sustenance, left no one in doubt that the group looks beyond mere electoral campaign.

In a media chat to chat a new course for the post President Jonathan era, the National Coordinator of the Non-Governmental Organisation, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah announced  that he has no iota of regret leading the group to campaign for President Jonathan.

Expressing readiness to work with the President-elect, Ubah spoke on the strategies  TAN employed to ensure the re-election of President Jonathan, nothing that TAN will this week come us with a roadmap.


The  entry of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) into the Nigeria political landscape as pro-President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign and advocacy group, certainly changed the political configuration of the country.

At the time, many people thought that the group was just another addition to the growing list of advocacy groups, it did not take long before TAN proved that it has come to blaze the trail in political advocacy by creating an unprecedented record in campaign strategy.
With flamboyant campaign exploits across the six geopolitical zones, it did not take long for TAN to become a nightmare to the opponents of President Jonathan that hitherto enjoyed the lacklustre performance of his managers in the handling of the job of showcasing the President’s litany of  achievements .

In its determination to redefine electioneering  and entrench new method of public engagement, TAN unfolded uniquely packaged programmes that mobilised and moved all public perception, convincing over 12 million Nigerians including the indecisive ones to sign-up to drum support for the President Goodluck’s re-election bid.
After building a sellable brand, distinct from other advocacy groups seeking for economic benefits, TAN, who ab-nitio demonstrated unusual capacity to self-sustenance, left no one in doubt that the group looks beyond mere electoral campaign.

In a media chat to chat a new course for the post President Jonathan era, the National Coordinator of the Non-Governmental Organisation, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah announced  that he has no iota of regret leading the group to campaign for President Jonathan.

Expressing readiness to work with the President-elect, Ubah spoke on the strategies  TAN employed to ensure the re-election of President Jonathan, nothing that TAN will this week come us with a roadmap.


What is next for TAN
Well, before the end of this week, we will come up with next roadmap for TAN. We are planning to invite all our supporters to, first, thank them on the role they played in the presidential election and equally give them a sense of direction on our next line of action.

Don’t forget that the governorship elections comes up this weekend and I think it is very important we chat a new course and give our teeming supporters a  new sense of direction and the role we intend to play during the elections in the states.

We want to commend them among other things for the role they played during the presidential election which has come and gone. But above all, I want to assure you that TAN will continue to wax strongly until we achieve our end results.

Role in state elections
Yes, I have to admit that our primary objective was to re-elect President Jonathan . But, you also know that in supporting Mr President, we equally worked with supporters of some governorship candidates in some states throughout the country.

I think it will be very proper for us to have a collective understanding on the next line of action because one good turn deserves another. Based on this, we will soon marshal out plans for the state elections.


I want to add that as an NGO, we research on the party we are going to support and any governorship candidate for any party we support, we are going to give Nigerians reason for pledging our loyalty to such party and or candidate.

Why President Jonathan failed
All I could say is that it was a very strong contest.  But  I want to add that  we are still picking pieces of information across the  country on what actually happened during the election. However, the good thing is that Mr President has conceded victory and allowed everything to go.
We in TAN would want to toe that line . As a statesman, he has demonstrated goodwill and maturity. We would not want to open an already healed wound so as not to bring back the pain. The best in this circumstances would be to respect the path  of honour Mr President has toed by conceding and congratulating the President-elect.

Keying into the programme of the President-elect
Our primary objective is to advocate good governance and the transformation of Nigeria. We will continue to stand on the legacies of President Jonathan and watch from the sideline  what the President-elect will offer Nigerians.
We will rather wait for events to unfold . Since he made electoral promises to Nigerians, we expect him to respect those promises. Nigerians voted for  him because of those promises.
As I said earlier, we will continue to watch events  from the sideline. I want to however, note that we will support him in every form that he may want us to do to his government. We will look at how open he wants us to be with him and if he grants us access to his government, we will lend our support.
Yes, so much has been said about hate campaign but I want to commend TAN for not involving itself in those kind of campaigns. We did not join forces with blackmailers .  I want to promise that TAN will continue to toe the path  of honour and dignity.

What TAN spent in naira and kobo
The gospel truth is that we are yet to audit our account ,  it will be very difficult to tell you in clear terms the naira and kobo we have spent in campaigning for President Jonathan. We promise to make it public once our account is audited.

Any attempt for TAN to reach the President-elect since his emergence
Honestly, we are still engaged in several  activities The most important thing is that we have sent a congratulatory letter to him which has been acknowledged by his office. We are looking forward to seeing and meeting him in the nearest future.

Any regret leading TAN for President Jonathan
I will say absolutely and emphatically that we have no regret doing so.  TAN supported an honest leader , a gentleman  and a statesman. Our action is further justified by his acceptance of the results of the election   . Don’t forget that our responsibility was to market the achievements of Mr President that have been ignored by the people around him.
I sincerely believe that Nigerians in the nearest future will be the best judge of the man and his numerous achievements. Let me add emphatically that I have no regret leading TAN to support him and I tell you that we will continue to stand by him and his achievements.

Collating and presenting the data of the unemployed to the new government
As I said earlier, we are looking forward to working with the President-elect and if such opportunity comes, we will present him with our findings of the needs of Nigerians and programmes that will provide job opportunities to Nigerians. Since he has promised to give Nigerians job, we can provide him with details of our research.

TAN continuing with building of an industrial park
We made it very clear that TAN has come to stay and I want to add that we will keep to all our promises. We have already started some of them and in no distance time, Nigerians will start seeing them physically on ground to prove that they are not fake promises. We are committed to bringing succour to Nigerians. Our activities are well known all over the country and we cannot allow

SOURCE:  The Sun