* As NNDI unveils Dream Project, Says it will Support any Presidential Candidate Nigerians want

* Says all hands must be on deck to monitor the 2023 Votes 

By Henry Umoru

A group under the aegis of the New Nigeria Dream Initiative, NNDI has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on the nation’s security, saying that the continued cases of terrorism in the land are sad and disturbing.

According to the group, the problem Nigeria is confronted with at the moment is bad leadership, poor infrastructural development, no amenities, a poor economy, increase in crime, among others. 

Speaking with Journalists yesterday at the unveiling of the New Nigeria Dream Project and NESC inauguration of the New Nigeria Dream Initiative, NNDI, the National Coordinator, Dr Onwubuya Breakforth who condemned in very strong terms the Kaduna -Abuja train attack on Monday night, said that it has become very imperative for the Government to take very serious action on the level of insecurity in the country, with a view to nipping it in the bud.

According to the National Coordinator, ahead of the 2023 Presidential and general elections, Nigerians must be very careful in arriving at how should be the next President of the country as it must be based on credibility and not the political party that produces such a candidate, adding that the era of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC is over, adding that even assumed smaller parties in Nigeria when the present credible candidates will win the election.

He stressed the need for all hands to be on deck as Nigeria prepares for the 2023 elections to ensure that votes count.

Breakforth said, “As the 2023 elections draw near, Nigerians must awake, the Nigerian Media must make a difference in recommending the best candidates for Nigerians. If you desire the enthronement of a responsible government every citizen- men, women, the old and the young, the powerful and the powerless, no matter your profession-

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“We must arise to ploy a port in this coming election by exercising our civic responsibilities.

“Fellow countrymen, this is not a time for pleasure, this is not a time to watch the voting process on TV, or stay in the comfort of our homes monitoring the elections. Except you desire the continuation of this suffering, except you subscribe to the continuous backwardness of our great nation, except you desire the present high cost of living,

the growing insecurity in the country and the monumental looting of our commonwealth by a few evil people in power, except you desire the sustenance of this rot in the socio-economic-political system of the country, then remain aloof. Otherwise, join us in this struggle.

“This is not a time for any grumbling or beer parlour lamentations over the devastating condition of the country. This is not a period to remain indolent in 2023 politics. Do not also get frustrated under the excuse that “Whether our votes count” How will your votes count when we are not vigilant over our votes; how will your votes count when we take bribes from those contesting elections, how will your votes count when you vote based on ethnicity and religion rather than voting a candidate based on his/her capacity, capability, competence and visions?

“The New Nigeria Dream Initiative (NNDI) project is a child of circumstance. NNDI, a project of the New Dream for Grassroots Development (NDGD) was born out of the need to create a sustainable movement that advocates for responsible leadership and followership,

“We recognize past movements and Trade Unions that have come and gone, but theirs were ad-hoc. NNDI will remain a sustainable

political reformative social movement that provides alternative voices to separatist movements, unifying Nigerians and enforcing Political leaders to end their leadership rascality in governing the people. Nigeria has over time continued to suffer hopeless management of its affairs by those voted into power with its attendant ugly consequences.

“Of all the social movements in Nigeria’s history, ours is the first of its kind. We shall dwell only on political enlightenment, sensitization and mobilization of citizens on political and social goals. We shall rise in defence of the populace when necessary and also reprimand the populace when found napping in their civic responsibilities as good citizens.

“Addressing Americans in January 1883, Theodore Roosevelt on, “Duties of American Citizens said “It ought to be axiomatic in this country that every man must devote a reasonable share of his time to doing his duty in the Political life of the community. No man has a right to shirk his politico I duties under whatever plea of pleasure or business; … the people who say that they have no time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community. Their place is under despotism; or if they are content to do nothing but vote, you can take despotism tempered by an occasional plebiscite, like that of the second Napoleon.

In one of Lowell’s magnificent stanzas about the Civil War he speaks of the fact that his countrymen were then learning, that freedom is not a gift that tarries long in the hands of cowards: nor yet does it tarry long in the hands of the sluggard and the idler, in the hands of the man so much absorbed in the pursuit of pleasure or in the pursuit of gain, or so much wrapped up in his own easy home life as to be unable to take his part in the rough struggle with his fellow men for political supremacy”

“We quite agree with that postulation that says that Freedom is not a gift. Citizens must fight to get such freedom; our countrymen and women must demand how their country is ruled by those they elect to govern them. But you don’t get such freedom by demanding to be bribed before you vote for a candidate under the flimsy excuse of hunger. Those who sell their votes for their stomachs sell their rights and freedoms automatically.

These are the people that Roosevelt referred to “as men and women who are so much absorbed in the pursuit of pleasure or in the pursuit of gain or so much wrapped up in their own easy home as to be unable to take their part in the rough struggle with their fellow men for  political supremacy”

“Notably, during elections, most Nigerian voters make blunders by electing Dealers as Leaders, whose greed and desperation know no limits. We also understand the role played by bad eggs in our security forces, along with greedy youths. They collaborate with the politicians by adopting violent measures like ballot box snatching and all forms of irregularities to run aground the moral conscience of the nation, just to win elections at all costs. Remember that whatever you do against the progress of the people shall hunt you back tomorrow.

“Within the period of the election, NNDI Project will engage the public in a series of orientations and public enlightenment on the criteria to be used in electing those contesting for elections at the various levels of government. NNDI will also conduct pre-election polls to ascertain the choice of Nigerians, ahead of the 2023 polls.

“We shall also be involved in election monitoring, to protect the votes of the people. This is because in the NNDI project we strongly believe- that the foundation of realizing the new Nigeria dream is predicated on electing credible people and ensuring that the Votes of Nigerians count.

 “Luckily, we have so far over 25 million Nigerians as members from across the six geo-political zones of the country with the number expected to grow geometrically across the country in the coming weeks. For effective grassroots mobilization, we are setting up Ward-to-Ward voters’ education across the 8,809 wards of the federation where voters meet for voters’ education and sensitization.

Similarly, we are working out empowerment strings for 2000 women and youths at each ward for the registered members of the NNDI. Because we value partnership, NNDI Project will partner with other groups such as Nigerians in Diaspora, Persons Living with Disabilities, Civil Society Organisations, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the political parties for the overall objectives of building a new dream for Nigeria.”

Vanguard News Nigeria