“The Future Started yesterday, we are already late” – John Legend
At the political round table meeting yesterday, my confidence was multiplied by 100 on the fact that come 2011 we can actually ensure that our preferred candidates win more than 60% of all the political offices in Nigeria including the very important positions. I had been motivated by optimism and passion in the past, but now I know behond doubt that we can make change happen in Nigeria! I used to think that if we fight, we may lose, but if we don’t we have already lost. Now however, I know with confidence in my heart that we actually have a good chance of not only fighting, but winning!
I am not a political strategist, I’m a patriotic and visionary Nigerian who had always prefered to be neutral, be non political and not partisan. Just face my business and leave governance and government to those who have nothing more important to do with their lives. All that started changing recently, when I began to get serious nudgings on a regular basis that -“if it is to be, it is up to me”. I discovered very quickly that all the efforts we mustered in education, empowerment, community development, enlightement, re-orientation, sponsorships and scholarships involved too much struggle, too much effort and very little lasting effects. I and a few compatriots discovered, that to make significant difference and progress, we must be involved in the leadership of Nigeria. We must be involved in more than merely voting, we must ensure that we have a voice before the elections, and ensure that our voices cannot be silenced. Knowing all these, I was still motivated by optimistic faith and the youthful passionate belief that all things are possible. Yesterday however, our movement took on a new turn as we had a political strategist with 33yrs experience join our team. This man’s experience was inspiring, haven led two presidential candidate campaigns successfully, led a few State government campaigns and delivered several local governments to power. From yesterday, we ceased operating on zeal, belief, energy and thoughts, our gears have shifted to practical strategies, reapplication of things that have worked in the past, an indept understanding of the current systems and the only ways to beat them.
Honestly a lot of the content of that meeting cannot be shared openly. In the brief time he had, he mentioned a few historical facts that are best kept as building blocks for developing our strategy. He shared with us, how we do not need more than 11 people in our first meeting to guarantee repositioning this country. He showed us that we could do it, and he shared with us how we can do it! Some of the people on our team as well, include some foreign strategists who have been involved in doing similar things in Europe and America. When we get into our caucaus meetings, we’ll talk in details. We need to ensure that all our allies are committed and involved before we divulge too much information.
Our desire is to create a movement, that has the capacity to deliver correct political leadership and enlighted followers – Â people that are easy to govern, difficult to rule and impossible to enslave. In making this happen there are many bridges to cross, many mountains to climb and many valleys to travel through. We are confident though that every mountain will be leveled and every valley lifted up! When we speak like this, and dare to venture into these types of areas, the first question those who know better ask, is who is your God father, who is behind you? Our God father is God the father, behind us is his presence and his promise, underneath us are his everlasting arms. The men that we need, are locating us as we are locating them. When the time is ripe, David’s overcome Goliaths and all that Saul needs to do is allow him. When the time is ripe God declares that it’s time to set his people free, but rather than physically come down, he manifests himself in Moses who positions as His oracle.
Let me assure you my friends, whenever we HOPE for a New Nigeria, we kid ourselves. Our country is destined for doom if all we do is HOPE. Things were better 20yrs ago, things got worse 10yrs ago, but have deteriorated further today. Our country is in a downward spiral, and all the activities we have engaged in (and we have done a lot, trust me) have neither placated nor doused the decline. I was a primary school boy 20yrs ago, but I was old enough to know some things.  Electric power was better in Nigeria 20yrs ago, going by how many times in a day we shouted “Up NEPA”. Back in those days, we could shout “Up NEPA” ten times in day, these days in good areas, once a day, in not so good, once in three days or three weeks. Interestingly I have friends that stay where there is no Electricity supplied and they assure me that there is no difference. At this rate, by 2025, Nigeria will be in outright darkness. We are already the darkest nation on earth, at that time, we’ll have just added new definitions to village and darkness. Education 20yrs ago was much better than 10yrs ago, and much better than now! All our elders went to public schools and are erudite scholars and internationally respected giants today. In those days, Ijebu Ode Grammar school was top notch, in my generation, the decay was evident, the schools that were manageable in my days were Federal Government Colleges, right before our eyes while we were there, we saw the glory departing, but trust me, what we had then was paradise compared to what exists today. Today 13% of secondary school leavers make it into any university. The others do things ranging from hanging out in people packs called pre-degree (which are actually dangerous hangouts from the number of lives that get irreparably damaged in these camps) to idle their time away at home to get involved in all sorts. At the rate at which Education is going, and the drop out rate, the population of people being positioned to fight the system as area boys and girls is alarming. Our position as the 15th failed nation in the world seems likely to head north. At the current rate,  we’ll have failed completely as a nation by 2025.  Should I talk about corruption or the decline in quality of leadership? Let’s face the cold facts friends, if we do not get involved in insisting on correct political leadership today, we can as well just move to Ghana and naturalize there! It’s better we do this now, than wait for 2019 when it will be a clear next step.
When yesterday’s meeting finished however, I was again filled with faith. Faith that if we decide to mobilize ourselves, mobilize resources and lend our support to ensuring that 2011 goes right, and lands us with a credible system and credible leaders, we can indeed make change happen in Nigeria! This is the best time to be alive friends, it’s the time when the future seems bleak, and the present seems fast eroding. It’s the time we have to place our names in clear prints on the stones of time. When the names of great men and women are reeled out world over – India features Ghandi, America features Martin Luther King Jr and the names go on. Great men are not made in times of peace, they are made in times of war. When the sun is hidden and the moon is out of sight, when the city is in it’s darkest night and evil prevails for lack of vision, that is the time that the lights are meant to shine! Â These are the opportunities for greatness and for the creation of history.
Let me warn you, our movement will not evolve into a machine that endorses merely individuals, we will evolve to endorse individuals and systems. True democracy must have the power to put people into position and call them out of position. We will not get ourselves into the same scenario as the proverbial man who supplied monkey who needed a cup of water. The monkey climbed down from the top of a very tall tree to collect the cup of water, he now climbed back up, drank the water and started beckoning to the supplier of water to climb the tree to come and collect his cup. We are going to build our weight, build systems, develop the policies that our nominees will run with, establish committees that will address critical issues. In fact we are going to continue doing all that we have done, but this time around without neglecting the root issue – our polity! If we do not find a political party willing and capable of birthing a New Nigeria, then we must be ready to evolve into one. Time is not our ally, we must act with urgency.
We need people, we need money! Please register your presense at either of these two sites or both, www.newnigeriaclub.net or www.thefuturemovement.org/register . They will not succeed without us, and we will not succeed without them. We need to build ourselves up, and we’ll find each other!
