Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, presidential candidate of the Young Progressive
\nParty (YPP),\u00a0 has received a huge boost in his quest for President from
\nProf. Wole Soyinka.<\/p>\n
The Nobel laureate in a statement signed by him has endorsed Kingsley
\nMoghalu for president.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me reiterate: there is over-abundant, but stifled leadership
\nmaterial, and there can be no excuse, now that that potential of high
\nquality is being manifested, for constricting the political space in a
\npopulation that is nudging two hundred million, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201d And that statement is of course specially addressed to those who took
\npart in this exercise, those who deliberately opted out of it, some of
\nwhom were assessed anyway. Such potential compelled us to exercise utmost
\nrigour in what proved to be a most daunting exercise. The final
\ndetermination however is \u2013 the flag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party
\n\u2013 KINGSLEY MOGHALU.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shall conclude with a somewhat interesting aside. I met Moghalu again
\non Monday morning, February 4th, and informed him of the Forum\u2019s decision.
\nDuring our discussion, I happened to ask him \u2013 what is the meaning of
\nMoghalu. I was curious, because it had taken quite some time along the way
\nfor me to know to which ethnic group the name belonged. He replied, it
\nmeans \u2013 \u201cEvil Spirit, Leave me Be!\u201d Then I asked him for his other names
\nand he spelt them out: \u201cActually my full names are Kingsley Chieedu
\nAyodele Moghalu\u201d. Eyebrows raised, I asked, How come, Ayodele? A piquant
\nrevelation resulted: \u201cOh, that came from Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She
\nwas friends with my father. Mrs. Kuti was my godmother, and she gave me
\nthe name Ayodele\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was learning this for the first time. Moghalu\u2019s CV is however in the
\npublic domain \u2013 his publications, record, and vision. The above is just a
\nside-note that contains its own mild, thought provoking instruction, for
\nthose who care to examine the distractions of ethnic equivocations, and
\nthe rigid mind-sets and stereotypes imposed on products of circumstance.<\/p>\n
THE FULL STATEMENT:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nation has been brought to her knees. Internally, the blaring media
\ntestimony needs no augmentation. Beyond her borders, Nigeria is the tale
\nof citizens designated pariahs of the global community for whom special
\ndossiers are opened, and units of security agencies are specifically
\nassigned. Online transactions are programmed to reject basic usage once
\nthe word \u2018Nigeria\u2019 is inserted in the Data profile. There are few nation
\nleft, within or outside the continental borders where \u2013 no matter the
\ncodeword \u2013 a Nigerian \u2018room\u2019 has not been designated. Her humanity litters
\nthe sand trails of the Sahara, it lines the Mediterranean sea-bed with the
\nbones of a desperate generation, seeking \u2018green pastures\u2019. Lines from my
\npoems have been appropriated and embossed as epitaphs on the tombstones of
\nNigerians washed up the isle of Catania and accorded dignified burials by
\ntotal strangers, certainly paid more respect than Nigerians themselves
\nconsider due to their own humanity. Other would-be migrants have been
\nslaughtered by religious fundamentalists on the shores of Tripoli, while
\nwaiting for their precarious crossing on suicidal boats. Yet others end up
\nas commodities in the slave markets of Libya and Mauritania, hundreds
\nrecently rescued and airlifted \u2013 credit where credit is due! \u2013 repatriated
\nby government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not always thus. Numerous Nigerians believe that it need not
\nremain so. There is always a choice to be made outside any presumptuous
\norders \u2013 in reality associations guaranteed to perpetuate social disorders
\nand the politics of inequality. This is not the thinking of any one
\nindividual but of a large section of this populace. If it were not, there
\nwould not have been a record number of nearly a hundred political groups
\naspiring to take over the reins of governance. We do not need any
\ninstruction however to estimate that several of the aspiring groups are
\nmere plants, raised to sow confusion. It redounds to the credit of a few
\nindividuals, including some of the candidates themselves, who embarked on
\nefforts to winnow down their own ranks, then seek a consensus candidate as
\nstandard bearer for the battle against the two political behemoths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did not succeed, but that is no cause for despair. They still
\ndeserve the gratitude of Nigerians for their uniquely principled efforts.
\nThe CITIZEN FORUM \u2013 last heard of during the time of the dictator, Sani
\nAbacha \u2013 was pulled out of retirement to join in their effort to arrive at
\npeer consensus. The Forum worked peripherally with them. It made no
\nattempt \u2013 I stress this \u2013 no attempt whatsoever to impose its own
\npreferences, but utilized material from the deliberations of at least four
\nsuch selection groups. It remained on the fringe, except on invitation.
\nOur mission today is simply to present the result of that effort by
\nCitizen Forum which, I am especially gratified to reveal, coincides with
\nmy own personal preference. The CF conclusion is obviously not binding on
\nother groups or individuals involved in the exercise. May I take this
\nopportunity to advise the public that neither Citizen Forum nor myself,
\nbelongs to any Third Force or other Consensus seeking councils by any
\nother name. Please ignore any such attributions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past few months, we studied the careers, experiences and track
\nrecords of most of the presidential aspirants, and most intensely those
\nactually short-listed by the opposition parties themselves. Like millions
\nof Nigerians, we watched the debates. I physically interacted with some of
\nthe acknowledged top contenders, in some cases several times. We
\nparticipated in HANDSHAKE ACROSS NIGERIA, where some candidates presented
\ntheir briefs. Among others, I delivered a keynote address. We watched
\ntelevision interviews. We have exchanged notes with highly respected
\ninternational Civil Servants. The drive towards Consensus among these
\ndedicated groups sometimes took the form of test questionnaires to the
\naspirants, including items such as: \u2018Who among the contestants would you
\nchoose, if you did not emerge as the ultimate preference?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was nothing complicated about assessment parameters: mental
\npreparedness, analytical aptitude, response to the nation\u2019s security
\nchallenges, economic grounding, grasp of socio-political actualities,
\nincluding a remedial concern with the Nigerian image in foreign perception
\netc. etc. not forgetting a convincing commitment to governance and
\nresource decentralization \u2013 commonly referred to as Restructuring. The
\nForum rejected retrograde propositions of a political merry-go-round,
\nwhich urge the electorate to choose this or that candidate in order to
\nensure \u201cour turn\u201d at the next power incumbency. Overall, the exercise was
\nexacting but also \u2013 therapeutic. It proved yet again that there is
\nover-abundant leadership quality locked up in the nation, and that it is a
\ncollective shortcoming that the political space has not been sufficiently
\nopened up to let soar such potential. Well, to cite the Chinese proverb: a
\njourney of a thousand miles begins with the first step.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me reiterate: there is over-abundant, but stifled leadership
\nmaterial, and there can be no excuse, now that that potential of high
\nquality is being manifested, for constricting the political space in a
\npopulation that is nudging two hundred million. And that statement is of
\ncourse specially addressed to those who took part in this exercise, those
\nwho deliberately opted out of it, some of whom were assessed anyway. Such
\npotential compelled us to exercise utmost rigour in what proved to be a
\nmost daunting exercise. The final determination however is \u2013 the
\nflag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party \u2013 KINGSLEY MOGHALU.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shall conclude with a somewhat interesting aside. I met Moghalu again
\non Monday morning, February 4th, and informed him of the Forum\u2019s decision.
\nDuring our discussion, I happened to ask him \u2013 what is the meaning of
\nMoghalu. I was curious, because it had taken quite some time along the way
\nfor me to know to which ethnic group the name belonged. He replied, it
\nmeans \u2013 \u201cEvil Spirit, Leave me Be!\u201d Then I asked him for his other names
\nand he spelt them out: \u201cActually my full names are Kingsley Chieedu
\nAyodele Moghalu\u201d. Eyebrows raised, I asked, How come, Ayodele? A piquant
\nrevelation resulted: \u201cOh, that came from Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She
\nwas friends with my father. Mrs. Kuti was my godmother, and she gave me
\nthe name Ayodele\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was learning this for the first time. Moghalu\u2019s CV is however in the
\npublic domain \u2013 his publications, record, and vision. The above is just a
\nside-note that contains its own mild, thought provoking instruction, for
\nthose who care to examine the distractions of ethnic equivocations, and
\nthe rigid mind-sets and stereotypes imposed on products of circumstance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat immediate task being now completed, Civic Forum will now join forces
\nwith those who pray, \u201cEvil Spirit, leave us be!\u201d \u2013 at least those who
\nsubscribe to the belief that political elections are not a Do-or-Die
\nAffair!<\/p>\n
\u201cWole SOYINKA Convener, CITIZEN FORUM 2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP),\u00a0 has received a huge boost in his quest for President from Prof. Wole Soyinka. The Nobel laureate in a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n