True democracy and good governance depend on the people. In Nigeria, a set of passionate and progressive citizens has started educating themselves and others to make our collective voices count and to take our democracy back. We no longer trust our elected representatives to represent us, rather than their greed and political patrons. We no longer believe that we can make our concerns heard only through the ballot box. We no longer have faith in our so-called democratic institutions, which have become the means for unscrupulous groups to continually loot our national coffers and push our country to the brink of disaster.
Therefore, we can no longer remain passive. Nigerians Demand is a group of citizens who have decided to engage in direct, peaceful democratic action, to Participate, Educate and Disseminate, in order to be heard in Nigeria. We do this to inspire one another to speak up. We also do it to remind our representatives in every sector of government and the moneyed interests that direct them, that: We, the people, still know our power!
Nigerians Demand was born of the principle that, together, we can be the change we want to see in Nigeria. We are one of the movements the larger “Occupy Nigeria” movement, made up of diverse communities and organizations that came together around the January 2012 protests, has given birth to. We are autonomous individuals with no particular political affiliations or affiliation to any other group or organization, volunteering our core skills for the cause, as we believe it is our generational duty to. However, there is involvement by cause groups, civil society groups, and existing social justice organizations. We are committed to democracy, nonviolence, inclusiveness and real change – not just talk – in Nigeria.
The Platform
Our web portal www.nigeriansdemand.com was launched on January 23rd 2012. It allows Nigerians from every demographic to submit and categorize the demands they wish to make of the Nigerian government. These demands will then be authenticated, filtered and geographically mapped, as well as compiled into a Nigerians Demand “Manifesto” that will serve as the voice of the ordinary Nigerian who wants a New Nigeria.
Nigerians can make their demands via:
Our Online Form: on www.nigeriansdemand.com/demand
Twitter: #NigeriansDemand[Demand][#Location][#Category] e.g. #NigeriansDemand[create anti corruption court & empowerment of EFCC to ensure prosecution & adequate sentencing][#Lagos][#Governance]
Email: By sending an email to demands@nigeriansdemand.com. The Email must contain
[Demand][Location][Category]
Nigerians Demand
+234 1 2160475
info@nigeriansdemand.com
www.nigeriansdemand.com
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Nigerians Demand platform (www.nigeriansdemand.com) is an interactive tool for Nigerians to map their
governance demands with the aim of getting the true democracy we deserve. In recent times, Nigerians have
become more and more willing to engage in policy-making processes, due to greater political
awareness. Nigerians Demand is also a movement that allows Nigerians of every demographic, countrywide, to
make their demands known in a unified voice – because our voices must count.
Thursday 9 February 2012
My Letter to the Man Nuhu Ribadu
Dear brother,
It is my great pleasure writing this to you. Meanwhile, my purpose of writing this short note to you is not only because of my concern for you but because of my great concern for good governance and democracy in Nigeria which a vibrant opposition is a sine-qua-non. For the fact that one of the main opposition parties in the country featured you as a presidential candidate is even of more concern.
I write to you in respect of your recent appointment as the chairman of the Task force and you acceptance of same. In retrospect, accepting such Greek gift is tantamount to a political suicide. You have just succeeded in digging your own political grave.
I always appreciate students of history, not only because I am one, but because they have the sense of looking back so as to judge the future. In retrospect, such acceptance by Bola Ige in the anal of Nigeria history should be an eloquent testimony that this kind of offer is dangerous; though Chief Ige is not here to narrate it better.
If that was far, can you compare the much-talked about track records of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala before she joined the crew to after? What has she done to our economy since she became the first “Glorified Assistant President” coordinating supposedly fellow colleagues? Reuben Abati used to be a great person before he accepted such offer that you (Ribadu) accepted with pride today. What can Nigerians and posterity say about Abati today? Oh! No Nigerian politician wants to hear such word- posterity. They don’t even believe in the word. But even if they don’t want to hear posterity, they should love nemesis because it will soon nab them.
I will charge you not to play politics with Nigerians in your response. We are all familiar with such response of ‘love for duty for country’. Don’t hide under the façade of community service. For what you care, with the advent of Mr. Twitter that President Goodluck Jonthan accused of ‘misinforming’ Nigerians, we have woken up beyond such smokescreen.
Don’t get me wrong, brother, I have no reason to doubt your intellectual capability and military zeal to effect change, but the truth is you cannot beat them; you can only opt out or join them. Remember, you will be reporting directly to the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Recourses, Allison Maduekwe and all the members of Cabal. They will tell you what to do and what not to do per time. NEITI was created in 2004 or so to perform almost the same functions of your task force.
Come to think of it, even if you discover anything, because they know you will, who would you report this to? During your hay days in EFCC, you were reporting to Mr. President. What are the changes you think you can bring under this choky environment?
To me, this is a litmus test for your democratic ability and sense of purpose. Moreover, If your quote about your father wasq true, I hope your father would be expecting you to go back to your Local Government Area and contest for chairmanship or councillorship. I guess that was what your father meant by love for community service. Like the Confucian adage goes: “person who chases two rabbits catches neither.” If Madam Allison appointed you, it follows that she also reserves the prerogative to sack you at will.
I cannot imagine John McCain or Romney taking such appointment from President Obama. Let tell ourselves some truth here. We don’t want Government of National Unity, it’s a fraud; it has never work anywhere. If we must stick to democracy, out opposition parties must be vibrant.
Your acceptance of this juicy offer makes you an opportunist and rent seeker, if not political scavenger. You have not proved yourself worthy of leading our dear nation by this offer. There are thousands of areas that you can serve you country without taking this offer.
Perhaps my zeal for you was born out of my wrong perception of you and your pedigree. Whatever, but my candid advice is that you should not take the offer, if you are still member of opposition that we are expecting to snatch power away from PDP. Of course a lost dog will not hear the warning whistle of the hunter.
God Bless Nigeria!
Yours Sincerely,
Olujide ‘Gbenga
08/02/2012
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