By Giwa SHILE
Let’s Get Involved, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), on Monday urged Nigerians not to allow politicians to use money to decide the fate of the nation as 2019 elections approached.
Convener of the group, Mr Omagbitse Barrow, who made the call addressing newsmen in Abuja, also cautioned young politicians aspiring for elective positions not to depend on “money bags’’ for funding.
Barrow said that the advice was necessary because the “money bags’’ would in turn hold the beneficiaries of funds to ransom “and steal their souls when they get into office by controlling them to do their bidding’’.
“I am not naive about the importance of money in winning political campaigns; the reason good people have failed in the past to get into office was simply because of money.
“This is the time for well-meaning Nigerians to support aspirants with good intention into offices rather them reaching out to some political god-fathers to finance them.
“By not supporting honest people to get into office, Nigerians keep shooting themselves in the foot because of the type of leaders they allow into office, yet they keep complaining about the country.
“The Nigerian renaissance will take place, but only when forward-thinking Nigerians decide to act and do something about their country rather than just complaining,’’ he said.
Barrow urged Nigerians to learn to question political aspirants on issues like “what the antecedents of the politicians are, how they performed, and how they hoped to meet the challenges of Nigeria to determine their values’’.
He advised the public to do something beyond complaining and allowing a handful of “over-experienced politicians’’ and their thugs to hold the country to perpetual ransom.
He said that the situation required a paradigm shift and that specific actions needed to be taken.
Barrow said that part of the action was for Nigerians to believe that the country would get better when “forward-thinking people decide to do things differently and participate actively in elections’’.
He urged Nigerians to join political parties that offered alternatives to the established party system and also learn to select candidates willing to make a difference and add value.
According to him, Nigerians should begin to focus and play politics around real issues and get beyond ethnicity, religion and money politics.
The CSO’s convener also advised the people to stop getting impressed by candidates promising to provide roads, power and hospitals, which responsible government would provide, and begin to challenge leaders to deal with issues of value-re-orientation.
He also urged them to look out for leaders with capacity to for human capital development and building strong institutions.
Barrow, who is also a House of Representatives aspirant for one of Federal Capital Territory’s seats, urged citizens, especially youths, to get involved in politics and change the narratives of Nigeria.
Mr Mike Utsaha, Legal Adviser, Abundant Nigerian Renewal Party (ANRP), said that this was not the time for Nigerians to sit back and not get involved in the affairs of the nation.
According to him, failure to get involved is failure to support the right people to office.
He said that ANRP was formed by a group of Nigerian professionals who believed that it was critical for forward-thinking people to get involved in politics.
Utsaha said that the party’s core values were anti-corruption and transparency among others.
