By Dr. Dayo Kayode
I write to you today with a profound sense of urgency and a passionate plea for unity.
As we stand at this critical juncture, the words of the late Nelson Mandela should echo in our hearts: “The world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect.” It is incumbent upon us, the sons and daughters of this great continent, to realise as well as rise above these challenges that currently threatens our collective dignity and honour.
Our nation, Nigeria, bears the responsibility of being a beacon of inspiration and pride for all African states and the entire black race. We are entrusted with upholding standardized moral norms and values within our society.
However, emerging events have cast shadows on our integrity, both nationally and internationally. We cannot afford to let the actions of a few tarnish our reputation and impede our progress.
It is therefore incumbent on us to come together against the whole conundrums of international embarrassment of identity theft, felonious engrossment, involvements in narcotic trafficking and money laundry as been recently revealed in the personality of Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
These zero integrities have become more embarrassing and ostracizing which should not be tolerated as other world leaders will be finding it difficult to condone any relationship with the newly imposed Nigeria leader based on his moral deficits that will ultimately impugn a negative backlash effect on them back home; as no amount of rainfall can wash away the Leopard’s spots.
An example can be drawn from the recently aborted well publicised meeting of the Nigeria President with USA’s President Biden on the sideline of United Nations General Assembly 2023.
Let me thus implore you to join hands with me and countless other patriotic Nigerians in our quest to restore the democratic standards that our nation and Africa deserves.
We should not turn a blind eye to the erosion of our values, as exemplified by individuals who compromise our integrity with their inordinate shady character, deceitful plus Machiavellian attributes. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that our democracy remains untainted; our leaders must be held accountable for our nation to stand tall among the committee of nations.
Consequently, I am therefore reaching out to all the leaders of government in Africa and Black Race in its entirety without any form of primordiality to join voices together with other Western world leaders (inclusive of International League of Jurists) that manifests democratic purposes with the intention and resolve to treat decisively the current democratic systemic cancer bedevilling Nigeria.
This task must be seen as a world’s collective responsibility.
_Let us draw inspiration from the unwavering non-violent democratic value’s courage of leaders like Alhaji Abubarka Atiku, who embodies the democratic virtues of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi._
This is considering if the present political quagmire were to be reversed, the attendant conflagration would have been more challenging to endure in view of the recent confessions of Dr. Kayode Fayemi that, the PMS subsidy removal’s ferocious demonstrations of 2011 were politically orchestrated as a means to wrestle political power from the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR).
Together, we can redirect the course of our democratic journey and reaffirm our commitment to Africanism and the black race.
I urge each one of you to actively participate in this coalition for change. Let your voices be heard; for in unity, there is strength. The audibility of many voices in the wilderness cannot be over emphasised when compared with a lone voice.
Together, we can reclaim our democratic heritage and pave the way for a brighter future for Nigeria, Africa, and the entire black race if only, we all play our parts.
Dayo Kayode, PhD, a Socio-Political Technocrat and Aviation Safety Expert writes from Lagos.
He is the convener of the Coalition of Nigeria Stakeholders Forum.
