Why I am running

Why me, why now?

Our motherland has received a battering. She has been stripped of her traditional values; those values that led to the emergence and sustenance of such great empires as the old Oyo empire, the old Benin empire and the Hausa sheikdoms of old. We need a government that will once more respond to the people’s needs like those governments of old. We need a movement that will bring change to our people and renew hope and revitalize our country in all spheres. The wind of change is blowing, reliable, informed qualified, visionaries are beginning to step up and fill the need for responsive government. I am willing, able, qualified, well positioned and ready to represent my people in this movement.

Many Nigerians are helpless and frustrated about the state of our country. Our civilization seems to have failed and now our country remains stagnant and underdeveloped. We have made some efforts in our reform and governance but there seems to be no visible difference. Only a collective effort can change the status quo. Everybody needs to get on board to help Nigeria attain her rightful place in the League of Nations. Nigeria has untold wealth in terms of natural resources as well as manpower, she should be running neck to neck with the developed nations of the world in terms of infrastructure and standard of living of its citizens. Several questions then come to mind –

o Are our elected officials actually representing the people’s interests?
o Why is there a massive divide between the legislature and the people it serves?
o Why are we failing as a nation to exercise our power through a democratic electoral process?
o Why is that we enjoyed more prosperity during the traditional kingship system?
o Can we work together and bring changes to the process of electing our representatives?
o Could we develop a mechanism to make them accountable to us?
o How could the voice of common man be heard?
o How do we remind our representative about their charges?

Ostensibly, we have an excellent system of government – the executive, legislature and judiciary. Each arm supposed to be independent, part of an internal control mechanism designed to ensure efficient and effective running of government. Each arm is supposed to have clearly defined roles and act as a means of controlling the excesses of the others. This system of checks and balances is supposed to eventually translate into the best possible governance and the resultant well being of the citizen. Unfortunately, the representation of our constituency doesn’t seem to be strong enough. Instead of a selfless devotion to the commission, it is business as usual in Abuja. The voice of our local people are not heard, our representation is weak and thereby denying us any chance of participating in our governance. The whole purpose of representation is being defeated. The constituency project is supposed to be the outcome of deliberation and to address actual needs of the people, it is supposed to address the fundamental problem of the constituency but unfortunately, the reality that we face is a very different story.

Our people feel disenfranchised; many are apathetic to all things concerning the government. The election process has been twisted beyond recognition, it has been mauled by a very few people. The majority of the populace has completely abandoned the electoral process. Pessimism is rife; many are convinced that no good will ever come out of ‘government’. People want a change but are unwilling to roll up their sleeves and get to work to effect that change. People suffer in silence. People pray for their agony to cease but are unwilling to get involved and make the sacrifices necessary to bring about that new day that we all yearn for. We cannot continue like this so I have chosen to make my contribution to bringing about that new dawn, the dawn of hope, the dawn of accountability, the dawn of the era where the voice of the man on the street will reverberate in the annals of government. This is why I’m willing to abandon my lucrative career in the USA and join in building our nation. I believe that I would be better served taking the bull by the horns and actively working to bring about that change that we yearn for rather than sit in my comfortable cocoon and whine about Nigeria’s socio-economic malaise.

I thought to myself – are we going to send another yes man, someone who will become yet another leech, someone who will go and join his predecessors in the looting of our nation without any form of actual representation? Are we going to send someone who has nothing to lose? Are we going to send someone who had not made any personal sacrifice on behalf of his people? Are we going to send people that see politics as a money making venture and personal career, people that see political office is a birthright instead of an avenue to serve the people? Or are we going to send a principled fighter, an individual driven by compassion, who has the strength to stand up on behalf of our families and those yet unborn, one who will defend our way of life and our values, one who is selfless and is willing to serve and sacrifice for his people?

Our people deserve a champion; they are tired of liars, looters and thieves. People that assume that they can eternally manipulate the system. I am ready to champion this cause; I want to fight for our values. I want to do my part to restore our trust in government. I seek to bring back the support we had given to our empires and kingdoms of the old that made them great to our Nigeria of today. This is why I am running to represent my people in Odo-Otin/Ifelodun/Boripe/ federal constituency in the Federal House of Representatives. This is why I seek your support and your mandate to bring this about. It will not be easy but I believe that our goals will be realized as we continue to work together and contribute our best to the development of our nation.

Thank you.