A former presidential aspirant, Prof. Pat Utomi; has teamed up with the ex-Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega; and other like minds to form a coalition to rescue Nigeria.
The group, Rescue Nigeria Project (RNP), was unveiled on Tuesday in Abuja with the mandate to provide an alternative political platform to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Other members of the coalition are former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke; his Kwara State counterpart, Abdulfatah Ahmed; a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; Senator Lee Maeba, Dr. Usman Bugaje, and Amb. Nkoyo Toyo, among others.
Ahmed, who delivered a keynote address at the event, expressed sadness at the inability of the current administration to manage Nigeria’s diversity.
He said: “It is based on this that we decided to set up this Rescue Nigeria Project. We want to salvage this country and see how we can fix the mess. We want to set a template that leaders must have before they can attain any political position.
“Despite the great opportunities of the past, Nigeria has failed to live up to the dreams of its founding fathers and the hopes of successive generations of its citizens.
Perhaps, at no other time have these failings become more apparent than in the past decade or so.
“In 2015, Nigerians overwhelmingly embraced the promise of change. These hopes have not only been dashed, but they have arguably turned out to be the worst political statements ever to be made in this country. Nigeria today appears set to fulfill all the prophecies of doom.”
On his part, Bugaje, who is the National Coordinator of the RNP, said: “When you reduce the problems of this country to what they are, ultimately, it all comes to leadership.
“We have been unable to exit the leadership conundrum precisely because the leadership recruitment mechanism in our political parties is so flawed that, except for accidents, they are incapable of producing competent leaders with the requisite knowledge, discipline, and commitment to make a difference.
“We are living with, or better still, groaning under the consequences of this folly.”
