If everything goes as planned in the great families of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Nigeria may surely be on the way to greatness from 2015 and I am being mature about it. An attempt was made in 2011 to pull material and human resources together to confront the arrogance and impunity of the ruling party, PDP but our efforts were not sufficient to checkmate the moles and blacklegs in our midst who put spanners in the works. That inability to drive the merger got Nigeria into another big mess for another four years. We have been paying the price of our lack of commitment since 2011. But here is the good news. ACN, CPC and others are talking again and this time, the parties are dead serious and desperate to rescue Nigeria . We have fully gone back to the drawing board to know where the rains started beating us and to possibly kick-start an irreversible process that will make the merger a reality.
ACN has put together a 19-man committee of decent men and women to work with committees of the other parties to produce a blueprint for the real merger. I have no doubt that the committees will put aside primordial sentiments and ethnic preoccupation to drive this process to a logical conclusion and this merger a reality for the sole purpose of sending PDP out of Abuja. There is little doubt about the potentials of this merger and if one wants to know, all he needs is to visit the jitters that are riffling through the PDP and its supporters at present. Each day, you will hear one PDP operative or the other telling you of how the merger will not work. That we have come thus far is leaving the PDP deeply troubled.
Modifying J.G Holland’s lamentation for lack of quality men to help in times of crisis will be suitable for Nigeria now.
God give us men Nigeria needs men among men in the committees A time like this demands Men in Nigeria who cannot be bought Whose word is their bond Who put character above wealth Who possess opinions and a will Who are larger than their vocations Who do not hesitate to take chances Who will not lose their individuality in a crowd Who will be honest in small things as well as in great things Who will make no compromise with wrong Whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires Who will not say they do it because everybody else does it Who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity Who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, hard-headedness are the best qualities for winning success Who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular Who can say ‘no’with emphasis although all the rest of the world say ‘yes’ Give us such men and women-such Nigeriansâ€
After sixteen years of confused and inept leadership, Nigeria needs a change of leadership to move forward. After sixteen years of national waste, we need real men among men to be in the driver’s seat. After sixteen years of foolishness and selfishness in governance at the highest level in Nigeria , I think Nigerians need a break. Nigeria needs a recreation. Nigeria needs a reinvention. Nigeria needs rehabilitation for it has been wrecked in sixteen years of recklessness, corruption. Impunity and incompetence.
Let the committee members of the various opposition parties realize that Nigeria is at cross roads and therefore make conscious and spirited efforts to make their own history. Mindful of the need to sustain the argument that history remembers only the winners and that leaders make decisions that create the future they desire, I urge the committee members to declare war on those who throw big stones on the project Nigeria . Men among men who can make the difference here in Nigeria are not in short supply. They live with us. They see our problems and they have solutions to those problems. History beckons on them. More than half of the country’s eligible voters do not vote because they do not believe in the process. They are undecided voters. This time I want them to come out and speak with their votes. The people get the kind of leaders they deserve.
In 2015 Nigerians must take a stand for change. We need a brand new president, even if he is a carpenter, to take over from President Jonathan. Education is useless if it cannot be used to solve problems.
I appeal to corporate bodies, institutions, civil society groups, universities, media, professional bodies, students, market men and women, artisans, etc to get prepared for 2015. All must endorse the present merger plan for the change that we all need. Yes, real endorsement is the right word. We must be mindful that this is our last chance to pull the chestnut out of a raging fire and we cannot afford to mess this golden opportunity. We will continue to suffer the rules of idiots if we fail again to do what is right.
Joe Igbokwe
Lagos