VICE President Yemi Osinbajo, at the 61st Independence Anniversary Interdenominational Church Service, opined that in spite of our security, economic, religious and ethnic challenges, the founding visions of Nigeria “remain undefeated”.
Being at the helm of the leadership of our country, we can understand the effort by the vice president to remain upbeat in the face of the daunting odds. Unfortunately, he belongs to an administration that has failed to give Nigerians across board a sense of belonging; a regime which, by its policies and actions, has provoked our call to “bring back our Nigeria”.
Before Independence in 1960, Nigerian leaders, along with British colonial officials, hammered out an agreement to build a multi-ethnic, multi-religious republic founded on liberal democratic principles with the fundamental freedoms of the people fully guaranteed. With her unlimited abundance of material and human resources, Nigeria was to become the showpiece of Africa and the Black race.
The unity of the country was so important that when the post-independence crises steamrolled into a secessionist attempt by the defunct Eastern Region, the rest of the country, along with Nigeria’s allies, joined forces to fight a war to “Keep Nigeria One”.
However, centrifugal forces of regional and religious domination have continued to hack against efforts to unite the country. It was responsible for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Though we again survived that upheaval, the same evil forces now have a choke-hold on this country.
Today, Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism, the North West “Bandits” and Fulani militants posing as “herdsmen” and claiming “ownership” of indigenous people’s lands are running this country ragged. The Federal Government is less than convincing in the manner of its security engagements, especially with the bandits and herdsmen terrorists. This is unacceptable.
We want the Nigeria which our founding fathers fought for and our gallant military die for to “Keep Nigeria One” to be brought back.
The elections of 2023 should not be about where the next president comes from. It should be about searching for that nationalistic, intelligent, patriotic, bold and visionary leader who is fanatically committed to the founding principles of Nigeria. It should be about leaders who will reunite the country, give every section a sense of belonging, restore our patriotic instincts and galvanise the people to bring out the hidden greatness of Nigeria.
We want a Commander-in-Chief who will flush out all illegal armed groups from our forests, farms and communities, defeat Boko Haram conclusively and expose and bring their sponsors to book. We want a leadership which will make every Nigerian feel safe and at home in any part of the country and provide an enabling atmosphere for wealth/employment creation.
Enough of empty platitudes and sterile rhetoric about Nigeria’s future greatness. Let us walk the talk. The time is now.
