“Advertorial – An Alliance for Progress meeting on behalf of Prof. Pat Utomi, would be holding at Golden Gates on the 10th of July, 2009. It’s a fundraising dinner organized for all who have interest in electoral reforms, and practical solutions to ensuring that the people we vote for in 2011 and beyond win! If you are interested in being a part of this dinner with the greats, the entry ticket is N25,000 and N10,000 for young professionals. For more details email : joshua.olaomi@newnigeriaclub.net”
Sitting beside the intensive care unit of the hospital in Ilorin where my mother was before she finally transited to glory, gave me a shocking realization. Every time power shuts down, some lives are endangered. I noticed with amazement that even my mother who was in the most funded section of the hospital regularly had her existence dependent on a UPS. The UPS was no different from the small ones supporting a personal computer. My mind wandered back easily to the road accidents that I have seen on my road travels over the past few weeks, and to the other thousands of lives lost uncelebrated. It is real, that we are losing people who ought to be alive daily in this country. And no, we are not to blame, it’s all the fault of the government, isn’t it? I’m here today to show you that our enemies are closer home than the government. In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the lord!
Everybody who has the capacity to lead us, who has the potential to be voted for, who is a leader and has earned the trust and respect of people in this nation, has committed a great offense. Our negligence has put the wrong people in power, made our hospitals unequipped, left our roads as deathtraps, and have assisted in killing, murdering and sentencing many young talents and future leaders to early graves! The silence of your pastor, your CEO, your mentor and yourself is the reason for our bad roads, is the reason for the deplorable state of power in Nigeria, is responsible for poverty and the deathroll in this country. If you know how it can be better or know leaders, like we all agreed a few days ago, that can make things better and don’t position them, we have sinned!
Quote me if you want, but no matter how many dead your pastor or imam raises, he is by negligence, responsible for killing more. No matter how much good works we do, our silence has destroyed more! You and I are guilty as charged! Guilty Guilty Guilty! The events that will catapult us to change, the Rossa Parks in our society are many too many to base our stories on just one event. We are in a deplorable state, the most churchy country in the world and yet the most corrupt! Our most influential man was counted because of the opposite of the reason that we are condemned as a nation! Our silence speaks loudly! Our silence and and non-verbal endorsement of vision-less leaders have made our paradise potential nation a living hell! Our land is flowing with milk and honey and our people are living on dirt and leftovers!
I’m not left out from the culprits in this pontification, so this is not about pointing fingers. This is about acknowledging that we have offered words where we should have offered action. We have gathered and had meetings where we ought to have taken decisions. We have been diplomatic when we ought to have taken a position. We call ourselves good people, too clean to be dirtied by the politics of Nigeria, yet in our negligence we have murdered, we have killed and made many go to the grave early. May God forgive us and spare us. May we awaken also from our slumbers, turn away from our wicked ways and offer more than prayers for our countries ailing health.God has heard us, but we have refused to hear him! He has answered, but we have refused to take corresponding action.
I learnt long ago, that he would be the star of any field is the one who is not too careful not to make mistakes. In football as in Surgery, the fittest feet and hands, are the ones comfortable with trying new territories. I have decided to not talk alone anymore, but to venture into new territories. I have lead the New Nigeria Club – a non partisan social network of Nigerians who indicated interest in being involved in the change we desire, I have been a part and support of many non governmental, non profits e.t.c. I have however come to that place in my life where I have seen that we will remain mere instruments in the hands of those that have purpose if all we engage in are gatherings, meetings and intellectual masturbation. If all we do is reorientation seminars, and community development, we will never have the power to do the magnitude of what we are capable of doing! If we gather and have numbers, we’ll get hijacked by other political parties who will come in as wolves in sheep clothing and rubbish our rights to endorse or get us to back their objectives.
What does Nigeria need? Right political leadership and enlightened followership. How different will things be if we have 30 great governors? Very very. Is a New Nigeria Possible? Not without political voice and power. Do we need to be president or governor? No, but we must be able to select who and who is qualified to be, and may the best man or woman win.
If we do what we need to do for this country, we may die! If we run, we may live, at least for a while! But in days not far from today, we will die, on our beds, on hospital beds or on the deplorable roads! Are we willing to trade all the days and years, from now until that day, for once chance, just one chance, to gather ourselves together and tell those who lobby to lead us, Â that they might take away our national cake, they may defraud our nation, they might even rape our land and empty it’s resources, but they will never take away our future!
Don’t worry about what the process is to set up a political party, it is being done, and it will be done! Don’t worry about the constitution of the party and it’s drivers, it will be made public to interested groups and individuals. I wish this was premeditated, and was something I was aware that things would evolve into a few years ago, it’s not. I have learnt and moved and changed every step of the way to have the clarity that I have and see today. A political party we can, we must, we will! Join us, the future started yesterday and we are already late. Is anybody on the lords side?
