A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections, Sam Ohuabunwa, has said if elected he would fight to a standstill four demons that have been milking Nigeria dry over the years.
He maintained that this was possible and achievable because he possesses the necessary experience and poise to salvage the country in these trying times.
According to a statement signed by his Media Office and made available to journalists, Ohuabunwa stated this at the just concluded Greater Nigeria Conference, held in Abuja, on Tuesday.
He listed the four ‘demons’ buffeting the Nigerian system to include poverty, corruption, injustice and insecurity, saying absence of the right leadership was responsible for the nation’s current economic and security quagmire.
The statement read, “I have offered to serve in the office of the President of Nigeria in 2023 to accomplish two principal motives: to resolve Nigeria’s conundrum and resolve the Igbo question in Nigeria.
“I am fully acquainted with both issues having been very active on both issues over many years.
“Nigeria, a blessed country by God with exceptional human and material endowments, a country with so much promise has remained only a “potentially great country” which today is seen as the poverty capital of the World with 71% poverty level and 53% unemployment among the population, with one of the worst insecurity situations in the world, completely divided on all seams- a chronically underdeveloped 3rd World Country.
“Nigeria’s conundrum has arisen essentially from two critical factors. One, primarily by the extreme deviation of Nigeria from the fundamental structure on which our founding fathers established the country. Two, a painful and distressing deficit of the stock of enlightened, visionary, competent and courageous leadership with integrity.
“The Igbo question has arisen primarily from the difficulty of many of our compatriots to accept the unique attributes of the Igbo and his unquenchable appetite for progress anchored on justice, equity and fairness. His desire for economic empowerment and expression is wrongly interpreted as excessive acquisitiveness and love of money.
“His desire to develop his environment and make home everywhere he finds himself is misinterpreted as a desire to dominate others. His disdain for injustice, oppression, inequity, mistreatment and marginalisation is often mischaracterized as rebellion.
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“He lives in a nation he deeply loves and for which he makes the maximum sacrifice for its well-being, yet that nation treats him with suspicion and a mixture of derision and fear. In return, sometimes he feels unwanted and even develops a complex – “they will never allow us”.
“I want to lead Nigeria to become a globally competitive Nation that will become a first World Nation- achieving its manifest destiny to be the leader of Africa and the face of the Black man in the world.
“I want to mobilise like-minded citizens to install enlightened, visionary and committed leadership in Nigeria that will motivate the country to optimize its human and material resources to attain global competitiveness in a nation where justice, equity and fair play shall reign supreme, resulting in happy and contented citizens
It added, “By deploying the core values of knowledge, industry, integrity, patriotism, justice, freedom/liberty, security and godliness, we shall drive out the four Demons that are buffeting Nigeria: poverty, corruption, injustice and insecurity and replace them with the angels of shared prosperity, justice, security and integrity.
“I want to show to Nigeria the true Igbo essence by offering leadership that will treat all Nigerians as equal citizens in the true Igbo credo of, “Egbe bere, Ugo bere, recognising our diverse ethnic nationalities and faiths
“I will institute a collective leadership that will enthrone true democracy (not quasi democracy or pseudo military/civilian autocracy), responsibility a d accountability in a truly rejigged, re-engineered, restructured and revamped nation that will set Nigeria, it’s federating units and all Nigerians free to flourish and prosper in a happy, mutually satisfying and beneficial united nation.
“That is our call. May God grant us the enablement as we seek to leverage our resources as one people to enthrone a Nigerian president of the South-East extraction in 2023 in line with the godly tenets of justice and fairness.”
Credit: PUNCH