09 May 2009 |
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Moving from Talk, Introducing Leadership Agenda for Nigeria
In his monumental essay, The Trouble With Nigeria, Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe declared “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership” The sage went on to say in reference to General Murtala’s particular style of leadership “In the final analysis, a leader’s no nonsense reputation might induce a favourable climate but in order to effect lasting change it must be followed up with a radical programme of social and economic re organization or at least a well conceived and consistent agenda of reform which Nigeria stood, and stands, in dire need of” Acting on this premise, yours truly and a group of other likeminded Nigerians have come together to form the Leadership Agenda For Nigeria (LAN). Because while talk is important, actions they say speak louder than words. Fundamentally we agreed that come 2011, we will not be caught regurgitating the same talking points, for Nigerians and progressive Nigerians in particular, the time for action is now. Here is a summary of our main priorities, as we grow, we hope to incorporate other ideas as well. Leadership Agenda For Nigeria - LAN Founded: March 14, 2009 Vision: LAN seeks a Nigeria that allows all her citizens to pursue their dreams and one that lets them prosper. Mission: LAN is dedicated to electing progressive Nigerians into political office across the land, from the city council to the state legislatures and the governor’s mansion. LAN intends to bring progressives together towards a common dream, the task of taking Nigeria back one village at a time. Three Main Priorities 1. Redefined Citizenship
2. Mandatory public funded K-12 Education 3. Primary Health Care Accessibility for all Nigerian children and seniors Summary of Agenda 1. Electoral Reforms 2. Police/Security Reforms
3. Land Use/Property Rights 4. Nigeria's leadership within the black world
5. Reduction in the size of government
6. Basic Human Rights must be respected.
7. Open Governance. All activities of Government except in cases of national security should be open for all Nigerians to see. This includes finances, taxes, expenditures etc and should be available in real-time. 8. Social infrastructure based on renewable Natural resources. An aggressive push for solar-powered electricity and the creation of a master plan for roads, dams and bridges that connects all parts of Nigeria , designed and published for all to see and updated with status reports. 9. Federal allocation with no mandate should be stopped 10. An end to rotational presidency and other tiers of government
As part of this effort here in North America, we have established a bi-weekly conference call to discuss strategies for a progressive agenda in Nigeria.We are encouraging Nigerians everywhere to join us on this conference call so that we can begin the work that is necessary to take Nigeria back. We will be holding one in May. The debacle in Ekiti has made this the urgency of now! Conference call #: 1 641 715 3635 Access code: 385577# Time: 6pm EST Date: 05/10/2009 Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia Indianapolis, Indiana nigerialeadershipagenda@yahoo.com “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever does” - Margaret Mead
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