Why Activists Must concentrate Their Effort On Nigeria Development

Source: Egr. Kayode Idowu, Leicester, Uk.

For most of us Nigerians, our orientation has always been: Government must do everything, government is the means of amassing riches, government should be the only provider of employment, government must provide all social services, government is responsible for creating the enabling environment for security, and all our problems must be solved immediately, if not now, then there must be change in government. Lastly, changes in our society must be “Top Down” not “Bottom Up”, that is when the government of the day is removed (By force or through the ballot box), and then everything else will be fine. In short a “Utopian Orientation”

It is about time we begin to think, and act proactively, and as true “Social Technocrats”, and not just political activists. Social technocrats are not afraid to share ideas, solutions, know-how, and resources. Their ultimate goal is the end result. Moreover, they approach and deal with issues or problems by identifying the issues, developing and providing solutions to those issues, and helping to implement those solutions. For them political empowerment is secondary, that is the end result of their activities will lead to social and political empowerment. The masses will feel and be impacted by real results, as changes in their situations, and daily lives accelerate upward. They will take notice of those actors, and those actors become the true leaders that are derived out their actions, and decisions during the political or due process.

The kind of activists we have in Nigeria today are nothing but mere political activists and this is actually leading Nigeria to nowhere. They derive joy in shooting the government at the center in all front and it look as if the blames belong to the government alone. The people of every nation has a role to play in their society, though the government has the greater responsibility. Election has come and gone and I want to advice some of these activists to deviate from unnecessary criticism and engage the government in building a better Nigeria for us all. The like of comrade Shehu Sani (President of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria), I honestly do respect his personality because of the way and manner he fought the military junta. But of recent Comrade Shehu Sani has dedicated most of his struggle to fight the central government, which should not be so, I am glad he is now part of the government and he will sure have to do his best in the legislative arm of government. Ishaya Bajama (leader of the Jar Consensus and Coalition Forum), though he is another unique personality and very resourceful, I want to see him advice the government on what he feel is best for Nigeria and also make that available to the public domain. Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, needs no introduction in the Nigerian polity, he is like an icon to many of us. His exploit is rare and commendable. I would also love him to extend his tentacle to cover both the activities of the ruling government and that of the opposition, so that pressure can be put on government at all level. This will help bring about rapid development in all sector. Omoyele Sowore another political activist and founder of Sahara Reporters has help bring information to the door step of the Nigerian populace and help expose corruption in government, but most of us know that a balance media reporting is what will help move this country forward. In as much as I will commend Sahara Reporters for a job well done in exposing corruption in government, I will also want them to beam their searchlight on other prominent Nigerians. Dr. Josephine Odumakin, one of the few female Nigerian human right activist, which most Nigerians have much respect for her excellent work. I do really cherish her person, I felt she should be more engaging on developmental issues and concentrate most of her effort on the emancipation of both genders not only the female folks. Comrade Ahmed Omeiza Lukman, the youngest among all the group of activist mentioned so far, a political activist base in Ukraine, who see nothing good about any ruling government. When I read his open letter to the president published by Leadership newspaper (Feb 15, 2015) and The Nation newspaper (February 16, 2015), I felt his points and understand his pains, though the manner in which the letter was articulated will have simply thrown Nigeria into chaos had GEJ won the election, thank GOD that never happened. Others that I could not mentions their names should simply know that Nigeria belongs to us all and the generation unborn, so we can’t afford to endanger the entity called Nigeria.

As we dangle with the idea of change, we must not be antagonistic towards the ruling government; it must be engage positively, and maturely. Additionally, we must begin the process of re-orientation, that is social, economic, and political re-orientation.

Egr. Kayode Idowu, Leicester, Uk.

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