|
2007: Nigerians will not be stampeded, says Fasehun
By Habib Aruna
Assistant
Politics Editor, Lagos
Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress
(OPC), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, has said it is not too early for Nigerians to
begin to determine the quality and personality of leadership that will rule the
country in a post-2007 era, saying that experience has shown that retired
military officers cannot dump their regimental postures.
Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday on behalf of
the Civil Society Movement for Credible Leadership, Fasehun, who is the group
protem chairman stated that before the 2007 general elections, the electorate
needs to be educated to be on guard and guide against the use of money to
influence election results. He noted that the people would not be shortchanged
next time.
According to him, the civil societies will
be fully involved in mobilizing the people to vote for the right people, adding
that the concern of the movement is to make sure that those who come out to
contest the next elections have impressive credentials.
“If a good leadership emerge in the
next election, the country will be the best for it”, he said.
Continuing, Fasehun said: “Five years
of Olusegun Obasanjo have shown that even the most benevolent dictator is far
from being good enough. By the end of this year Nigerians will have less than
two years to grapple with the Herculean decision of a new leader for this
country.
“As a result, a group of eminent
Nigerians decided to form a group that will merge together the civil society
and the civil populace in the country. For, experience has shown that this arm
of the Nigerian society, the civil society, has always been taken for granted
by the so-called democratic movements and the political parties”.
Fasehun insisted that, there was the need
to have a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) that would then pave way for a
new constitution, saying that only those who are against the unity of the
country will be against a roundtable discussion among ethnic nationalities.
“
We know our problems and they are many, it
is better to address it once and for all”, he stressed.
Beside, the OPC leader explained that when they started the
call for an SNC, they were negligible, but that through their persistence over
the years, a lot of people have now come to realise the efficacy and the
absence of an alternative to SNC in addressing many of the problems facing the
nation.
|
