Deji Elumoye and Emameh Gabriel in Abuja
Ahead of the 2023 general election, some Nigerians of diverse professional background converged on Abuja, Tuesday, to express lack of confidence in the nation’s two popular political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
They said the quest to rescue Nigeria from imminent danger informed the idea to form a coalition, which would serve as a platform to galvanise Nigerians across political spectrum to free the country from its current woes and give it a fresh lease of life.
At the national caucus Meeting of Rescue Nigeria Project (RNP), where a proposal for the Rescue Nigeria agenda was unveiled, participants at the event took their turn to express dissatisfaction with the current state of the nation and leadership under the present administration, saying the country could not afford to continue in the same direction of selecting its political leaders.
Those in attendance included a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Usman Bugaje; former governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed; ex-Chairman of Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega; renowned Economist, Professor Pat Utomi; former Minister of Education, Prof Tunde Adeniran and two members of staff of the United Nations, Prof Terhemba Shija and Dr. Rose Indi Dalandi, among others.
According to them, The Rescue Nigeria Project, was founded on the premise that the problems of Nigeria emanated from poor leadership, adding that the deepening crises in the leading political parties were all the more the reason the re-calibration was necessary.
They noted further that any attempt to rescue Nigeria from its troubles must first rescue it from the current leadership recruitment mechanism that seemed to leverage on money and connection or ethnic sentiments and no premium on knowledge or competence.
In his welcome address, the National Coordinator of the group, Usman Bugaje, described the current leadership recruitment mechanism in Nigeria as a threat to national development.
His words: “We have been unable to exit the leadership conundrum precisely, because the leadership recruitment mechanism in our political parties is so flawed that, except for accidents, they are incapable of producing competent leaders with the requisite knowledge, discipline and commitment to make a difference. We are living with, or better still, groaning under the consequences of this folly.
“The challenge is how to introduce a set of criteria or better still re-calibrate the recruitment mechanism in our political parties to prioritize knowledge, competence and character.”
Ahmed, former Kwara governor, said the various separatists agitations in the country were fueled by the level of divisiveness at witnessed today.
He said: “A new platform should be put in place to take us out of the current quagmire if we must survive as a country. We are starting with a Rescue Nigeria Project, which we ultimately hope to drive into a strong coalition. And we to see this generating ideas and new ways of doing new things.”
Also speaking, Jega described the current arrangements in Nigeria as one of the worse in the world just as he harped on true federalism and restructuring.
“Nigeria is one of the worst models of political accommodation of diversity, as well as power and resources sharing.”
Jega, who admitted “that there are no perfect federations or for that matter true federalism”, said, “the better the framework/structure for management of diversity, power and resources sharing is in a federation, the more stable, peaceful and socio economically developed it would be.”
In his remarks, Adeniran described the current leadership in the country as a disaster.
His words: “What we have in our hands today is disaster. We know where we were coming from in this country. We know the average Nigerian, particularly the youths, they look ahead and it’s difficult for them to see hope.
“What was build by our founding fathers in this country; the values they upheld that kept this country together are in tatters. We have not done enough to do the needful to ensure that there is justice, equity, commitment and focus… It’s a tragedy, it’s a disaster. We have to rise up and rescue this nation.”
Donald Duke Clarifies Position
However, Donald Duke who was earlier associated with the new political group clarified that he is not a founding member of the group, even though he believes their intention are good and patriotic.
“While I do not contest the good and patriotic intentions of the conveners of the Rescue Nigeria Project, I wish to state categorically that, I am not a part of its formation and hereby reconfirm that I’m a bona fide member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and also a member of its Board of Trustees,” Duke said.
