An Update On The First Open Conference call of the Leadership Agenda For Nigeria

Even though the notice for the call was relatively short, Nigerians from all walks of life and across two continents called in to the first open conference call of the Leadership Agenda for Nigeria held last evening. Nigerians called in from Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Illinois, Canada, the United Kingdom and of course Indiana. It was a fruitful first meeting of minds, except for minor technical glitches, I would submit that the call went smoothly. The participants were very engaged and seemed aware of the pressing issues facing mother Nigeria.

Of course there were suggestions of broadening the scope of the agenda to include a mandatory selective service type of organization for young Nigerians to foster a continued sense of nationhood or better still an increased sense of citizenship. There was also a suggestion to include implementation as a part of the agenda, I believe implementation should fall under a committee but we will definitely consider all ideas.

Before the meeting was adjourned, there was a consensus on the need to liaise with the administrator of the nigeriavillagesquare.com and have a dedicated forum to co ordinate all activities of the group. The suggestion to network with other existing organizations is also welcome, in particular projectNVS. If the people behind projectNVS are reading this, please send us your contact details at nigerialeadershipagenda@yahoo.com. Over all, there was a sense of camaraderie amongst the participants and the meeting was adjourned to meet again on the 24^th of May, 2009. 6pm EST. Nigerians and friends of Nigeria that are interested in joining this organization should please send their contact details to the email address above.

Below is the text of the remarks that yours truly made at the opening of the conference call.

 The State Of Nigeria’s Political Ideology

Introductions

Acknowledgements

Before I proceed, happy Mothers’ day to all the ladies here, our wives, sisters, mothers and grandmothers.

Thank you all for joining this call even at a short notice. It is evident that the passion for Nigerian excellence runs deep in all of us. I will seek your indulgence to make the following brief remarks about the state of Nigeria’s political ideology, its past and present.

Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you all this evening that the state of Nigeria’s political ideology is none. Post independence Nigeria had three distinct ideologies personified by three individuals. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello. They were not commonly held ideologies across the nation, nevertheless, they served some type of purpose for their respective regions. The gains that were made during this period was because despite their shortcomings, all three of them believed in something and through their different leadership skills they delivered on some of their promises.

As of now, there is no clearly defined political ideology for the most populous black nation on earth. This brings me to the issue of Nigeria’s many political parties; what exactly do they believe in besides graft? Any re orientation or rebranding of Nigeria has to start with defining what Nigeria stands for.

It is my humble belief that Nigeria should stand for the eradication of poverty, illiteracy and disease within its borders. I believe her global aspirations should be as a beacon of hope to all who are black. And it should be a welcoming place for all black citizens and art.

Progressive Nigerians have demonstrated through their participation on this call that what we want is nothing short of a radical overhaul of the Nigerian government through intellectual power and peaceful means.

I will suggest as we embark on this journey that we take a radical departure from existing notions of us vs. them. The pervasive suspicion of the other is what has divided us all along and has made a working relationship impossible.

Barack Obama is an example of what is possible. But he didn’t happen in a vacuum. He had to go through the Democratic Party machinery to emerge first as the democratic nominee and later as President of the United States. He couldn’t have done this without the financial and man power support of the netroots(led principally by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of the dailykos.com) this is akin to the support that BigK of the nigeriavillagesquare is giving to this young organization by participating on this call.

The relationship between Bola Tinubu and Governor Fashola has yielded some fruits we are told in Lagos state. What we need to do going forward is to identify up and coming leaders like Fashola, support them intellectually, financially and contribute hours to their campaigns and their emergence.

Most of us here in North America witnessed the massive voter registration that was embarked upon in 2008. Those who wanted change so bad; some quit their day jobs, some reduced their work hours and some volunteered after hours to be able to register people to vote.

When was the last time young educated Nigerians embarked on a national voter registration drive?

Here at leadership Agenda for Nigeria LAN, we need to raise an army of young Nigerians and have them engage in the democratic process. The last university matriculation examination had over a million candidates. Essentially, the emerging generation has made Nigeria a nation of mostly young people.

I believe that taking Nigeria back would require us to have our fellow citizens engaged in what is happening within their municipality. Our biggest challenge going forward is how we confront apathy.

As I handover this conference call to the moderator, I want us to focus our energies on building a lasting legacy not on fleeting victories. 

Thank you and May God Bless the Republic of Nigeria.

Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia

- When a team of dedicated individuals makes a commitment to act as one…..The sky is the limit

Robot  # 1 | 11.05.2009 08:00

Even though the notice for the call was relatively short, Nigerians from all walks of life and across two continents called in to the first open conference call of the Leadership Agenda for Nigeria held last evening. Nigerians called in from Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Illinois, Canada,the United Kingdom and of course Indiana. It was a fruitful first meeting of minds, except for minor technical glitches, I would submit that the call went smoothly. The participants were very engaged and seemed aware of the pressing issues facing mother Nigeria. ...Read the full article.