A former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has said that Nigeria is heading to doom if left in the hands of conscienceless politicians.
The ex-governor said this on Friday in Abuja at the public presentation of a book ‘Nigeria’s Next President’ published by the Citizens Intervention and Accountability Network (CIAN).
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“Nigerian politicians have lost their conscience. We need to go back and pray hard for cleansing. Our politicians have lost their conscience, no fairness, no justice. If we continue like this, there will be greater challenges ahead.
“The only solution to the problems this country is facing today is for an ordinary citizen to be elected. We have a lot of talented individuals that can move this country forward. We need to come out and seek for the right people because we are really blessed,” Ezeife said.
Speaking on the security challenges in the country, he urged Nigerians to go back to their root which is love, as no religion encourages killing.
The Director, Information and Strategy, CIAN, Dr. Candyfidel Onwuraokoye, in his keynote, said that the National President of CIAN, Mr. Mofe Jeje, and others members of the network are concerned on the well-being of citizenry and the leadership that can progress Nigeria.
He said that CIAN in 2021 initiated a novel move, to extract from the younger generation, students of secondary schools, the characteristic of whom their ideal next Nigerian President.
“We kick started what we called “Presidential Advocacy Essay”, adverts to create such consciousness was massively pushed out through newspaper publication and radio jingles. Thousands of essays were received and in order to ensure transparency and straightforward process a U.S base I.T software was employed to shift through the candidates.
“By the end of the day, after a painstaking process, 10 were eventually picked and they were brought into Abuja from their various locations and within the week of their being in Abuja, a physical face to face debate were conducted among the 10 and three winners eventually emerged,” Onwuraokoye said.
He also said that from one election cycle to another, Nigeria has had the misfortune of having voters’ education that are not only delivered in non-local languages, but also in nomenclatures that confuse the people with simple understanding of democratic norms and values.
He said that this, in turn, resulted into lack of psychological involvement in public affairs, emotional detachment from civic obligations, and abstention from political activity among others.
“We offer to Nigerians a new ray of hope to get a fighting chance over these developments which have intensified hopelessness, despair, and depravity. Nigerians need to urgently wake up from their slumber!
High-point of the event was the presentation of cash gifts to three students who performed exceptionally during essay competition.
The first winning students were awarded N1m, N700,000 and N500,000 respectively.
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