The Nigerian Patriotic Quest, a group of professionals mostly based in the Diaspora, has again asked the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to join the 2023 presidential race.
The coordinator of the group, Ahmed Ja’Usman Tijani, in a statement Sunday said Nigeria was at a crossroads and would require the “care and nurture” of a man like Godwin to take her to the promised land of rapid development.
Tijani said Nigerians have in the past two decades, entrusted their fate in the hands of professional politicians who had run the country aground.
He slammed the Peoples Democratic Party for asking Emefiele to resign and be investigated following his appearance in the All Progressives Congress’ campaign posters which, the PDP had alleged, confirmed the CBN governor’s partisan affiliation and entanglement with the APC.
Tijani said the allegations were baseless because “at no time has Emefiele declared himself to be a presidential candidate of the APC. To further expose this hatchet job for what it is, there is no single poster of Emefiele with the insignia of APC on it. The fact remains that Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele never appeared in any APC poster till date.”
According to him, the group believed that Emefiele fell “squarely” into the mould of leadership Nigeria deserves at this time.
“We’ve watched, with great admiration, his dexterous and self-effacing management of the affairs of the CBN. We’re astonished by the skilful manner with which the CBN intervened in the major sectors of the economy – agriculture, finance, industries, etc.
“Only recently, as Nigeria is once again enmeshed in the man-made tragedy of fuel scarcity and power failures, we read of his intention to use the instruments of the CBN to try and bring succour to our long-suffering compatriots. This is the hallmark of a leader.
“What distinguishes a great leader from others is his ability to proffer solutions; that capacity to visualise and pursue relentlessly the vision that things could and would be better.”
