The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has called on Nigerians to utilize the ongoing broad-based coalitions and platforms to rescue the country from the prevailing bad governance being witnessed at the federal level.
The coalitions and platforms, according to Fayemi, are beyond parties and personalities but all-embracing enough to those who subscribe to the core values of integrity, honesty and dedication to the transformation of Nigeria.
He expressed dismay that Nigeria is still afflicted by bad governance, illiteracy, injustice, inequity, incompetence, want and misery despite earning over $400 billion from oil sale alone over the last five decades.
Fayemi stated these in a paper he delivered as the visiting lecturer for the monthly ‘Nigeria in the World Series’ at the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachussettes, United States of America on Tuesday night.
The lecture which was entitled: “From the Barricades of Resistance to the Verandah of Power: Personal Reflections on Democracy, Governance and State Reconstruction in Nigeria”, had in attendance distinguished Nigerian academics, students and faculty members of Harvard University, diplomats including former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, political scientists and policy makers.
Fayemi disclosed he is joining hands with other politicians of like minds with the determination of building a strong opposition platform, which can wrest power from the ruling party at the centre.
The governor canvassed a strong resistance to the reactionary elements reminiscent of the long and tortuous struggle in Ekiti State, which led to the restoration of the people’s mandate that brought a new lease of life to the Land of Honour on October 15, 2010.
He said: “If free and competitive elections can be pressed towards the service of the consolidation of a small elite, even an autocracy, such as in Tanzania, it is easy to imagine what then happens when elections are not even free, fair or competitive.
“In such contexts, we will be in the zone which some African scholars have described as one of the ‘abrogation of the electorates.'”
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