Nigerians are in desperate need for competent, humane and empathetic leaders whose drive will open up Nigeria for progress. Nigeria has been bedevilled with bad leadership who stoke ethno-religious fault lines, but get into power in order to grab and share among associates the peoples resources.
After experiencing the chaotic economy and insecurity in the last 8 years, it became imperative for the people, especially the youths whose life and future depends on the quality of the leadership, to determine who governs them.
In a few hours, Nigerians will troop to the polling stations to cast their votes. It will be a test of the people’s resolve to choose for themselves their leaders or allow the politicians to continue with their old ways of winning elections and maintaining the status quo.
Whoever becomes the winner will take over a country in turmoil with the failed Buhari’s policies in tackling the country’s insecurity, food scarcity, debt profile, oil theft, controversial petrol subsidy that deprives the country of oil revenue and the currency swap and cash crunch affecting every Nigeria presently.
Among the issues that affect Nigeria, leadership is identified as paramount. But each election cycle, Nigerians elect leadership that do not serve them and who depends on vote buying to win.
Nigerians in their despair have identified a candidate that will represent them. For the first time in the elections of Nigeria, a candidate has offered hope for a new Nigeria with a promise of implementable ideas that the people can cling on to.
Mr. Peter Obi, has become a poster candidate for every Nigerian that desires for a new Nigeria. Many have said they are running for the elections through him.
A country that has had it bad from the military to the civilian regimes, which generated and consolidated corruption and looting is in dire need of a prudent wealth creator and manager which Obi’s antecedent and person has offered. It is a rare quality for a candidate in the midst of others who already are making plans on how to continue the sharing and looting of resources while Nigerians continue to be multidimensionally poor.
It is a ray of hope.
Saturday the 25th February is a date with history. Should the people succeed in taking their power back or fail?
The motto of the People’s Democratic Party reads; power to the people. That is for the paper but in actuality, the party midwifed the entrenched corruption of vote buying and sharing of money thereby corrupting the power of the poll. Instead of realising the message of the motto, it became power to the politicians.
With the enormous power acquired by the politicians, the people became the fodder that feeds the insatiable appetite for corrupt politicians who have become very established and entrenched.
It is now a fight to retrieve that power from the politicians by the people. It is important they win and by that a new Nigeria will be born where the people have the power to hire their leaders and sack them when they misbehave. It will ensure that the politicians will start working for the people and fear the power of the people. It will give the courage to resign if any politician loses the confidence of the people. Above all, these politicians will work and deliver for the people.
Power to the people is very gainful, but they should be able to decide their fate.
Let me conclude with the words of Bob Marley, he said,“It’s the people that have to change the earth, not the presidents or whatever you wanna call them. The people have to change this thing, you know. Because it’s the people that put them in power, right? So the people have to make decisions for themselves.”
So, let the people decide to continue with the status quo or start building a new Nigeria.