Being Speech delivered at Faculty of law, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. 4th November 2017
The role of active citizens in an effective democracy cannot be
overemphasized. Nigeria is believed to have a population of over 180
million of which 120 million are said to be of voting age and yet in
the last election only 28,587,564 votes were cast.
For Nigeria to develop, we will most definitely need to tap into our
greatest resource, which is the people. The people must begin to
participate in governance by holding elected and appointed officials
accountable for the expectations on the backs of which they rode into
office.
There are many ways by which Nigerians can hold elected officials and
appointed representatives accountable, but I will focus on steps which
relate to my audience for today. I believe that most of the people
present here are between the ages of 16 to 35, have access to mobile
phones which can send SMS and access the internet.
The first step to being active in governance is to ensure that you use
the power you have to elect those that will best represent your
interest and that of your community. Sadly today in Nigeria, if we are
to take a sample of registered voters in this immediate room, I doubt
we can have up to 20%, which clearly is the sad state of the
reflection of the larger Nigerian population.
Having played a somewhat active role in Nigerian politics for over a
decade, with my first stint being with the North American group that
examined the possibility of Project 007, a brief attempt by IBB
wanting to be the president of Nigeria, followed by consultations for
Honorable Abike Dabiri, followed by appointment as Special Advisor to
UNESCO, consultant to Senator Obanikoro when he was Ambassador to
Ghana and worked deligently as the North American coordinator for Dele
Momodu Presidential campaign, then now with the President of Nigerian
Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola saraki. I have come to realize that
Nigerian politicians can only rig where citizens fail to come out to
defend their votes. If the citizens can stand up and challenge the
powers that be from the polling unit level to the federal level,
things will definitely change.
My friend, Debola Williams got a standing ovation from Barack Obama in
Chicago this week for saying that the highest office of any country is
the office of the citizen. It’s about time for us to start exercising
the powers of that office.
So how do we activate the highest office in the land?
We must first begin to expand the conversation of the enormous rights
and powers Nigerian citizens have to influence election and checkmate
political office holders.
We must never allow ourselves to be pushed into substituting
availability for popularity. A large acceptance of the majority is
what popularity thrives on and this is the bedrock of democracy.
People can only be elected based on popularity and how much trust the
people have in them. Even in Nigeria that rigging is still a regular
occurrence, it is the level of participation that allows rigging.
It is necessary that decisions of representations must be challenged
from the Ward level to the Federal level. We need not fear for
harassment or rigging because those are machinations of the
mischievous and as such we need to defend our votes with our sweat;
betraying our conscience means we have betrayed the man in us and
succumbing to threats and intimidation in such situation is
subscribing to what a great Alumnus of this great University of Ibadan
said ‘The man dies in every man who keeps silent in the face of
tyranny.”
There is power in a united front and for far too long, we have allowed
those before us to divide us along political, religious and tribal
lines, and in fact, any other lines they decide to create. I see
citizens all the time praising and wailing simply based on where
someone is from or the party they belong to even when the policies in
question will affect them negatively.
Permit me to say that with much power comes great responsibility and
as much as we have the power to ensure accountability by our
representatives, we as citizens must also act responsibly.
The Nigerian state is one with its unity as the core of its existence.
It is our duty as citizens to stand up for and protect the unity of
Nigeria.
Responsibility entails that we live in peace and mutual understanding
with each other to preserve the co-existence that has lasted more than
50 years and was borne out of the sacrifice of our fathers and
ancestors. We cannot afford to betray the sweat and blood that was
shed to defend our unity and our freedom. There is unity in purpose
and as such there must be purpose in unity, our diversity gives us
strength.
The power of a citizen is also wielded by the use of his/her voice.
That voice has to be respected, no matter how it’s expressed, and that
is why our power of expression has been magnified by social media.
It is a power we must utilize for great things and not to hail or wail
based on ethnic sentiments or political affiliation, without thinking
about how decisions and policies affect the general good. The moment
we can realize that our commonwealth thrives when our interest aligns
with those of others for the general good of all, is the moment we
start using our voice consciously.
Those before us stood for what they believed in and the world has
noticed, we need to not only stand for what we believe but also
consolidate on the principles of truth, equity and fairness in which
great alumni of this university have been known for.
People like Wole Soyinka, Bola Ige, Chinua Achebe and Ken Saro Wiwa
have laid a foundation so great that no student of this institution
must betray by selling out on their conscience and the spirit of true
democracy.
When France elected Macron, and Canada elected Justin Trudeau And
Austria broke the historical political cabal to elect 31yr old
Sebastian Kurz as their chancellor, with the passage of the Not To
Young Bill, now is the time for the Nigerian youth to start taking
what belongs to them. That promise in the words of Awolowo, the desire
in the thought of Azikwe and the determination in the action of
Tafabalewa. Reminding us of their deeds that the future belongs to
those few youths that have the courage to take their destinies into
their own hands.
Let us use all within our means to ensure that the status quo is
transformed, there is a need for citizen participation and political
consciousness that helps us breed good leaders, it is our collective
responsibility and not that of one man. Thank you all and God bless.
Like Us on Facebook!
Do You Need a Sugar Mummy, Sugar Daddy, Girlfriend, Boyfriend Wife or Husband? If Yes, Then Click Here For Details
0 comments:
Post a Comment