E PLURIBUS UNUM

Bored with the deafening rigmarole of the vast majority of our politicians, we need to start debating, in concrete terms and healthy manner, the way forward for our country. Thank goodness we're still left with that most important commodity that is free speech. How we make the utmost use of this political facility is up to us. I'm certain that millions of Nigerians have a lot to say about the status quo and ideas about what to do to herald in effective changes, but what is lacking is a formidable forum to coalesce these thoughts into one action plan. Hence the title of this post.

Our political landscape is littered with self-opinionated and self-serving do-gooders that breathe fire and brimstone on the edges, and get sucked into precisely what they were agitating against before they got a sniff of power and influence. They said much, and they ended up doing little or jack; in many cases, they even turn out to be much worse than their hitherto nemeses. They get comfortable and develop a sense of invincibility and they grin from ear to ear like Cheshire cats. They start building castles for houses, owning a fleet of ridiculously expensive cars and being accompanied by slippery, callipigous ladies. Overnight, they've gone from hero to zero; we've seen them, we know them, we've heard about them. Treachery is their stock-in-trade; they revel in debauchery 24/7.

However, we also know those who have remained steadfast in their pursuit of equity for the generality of their fellow countrymen. The lure of money and riches have not influenced their psyche; they haven't been allured to the glitzy lights of infamy. We only have a trickle of them when we need an irrestitible flow. We need them now to merge their political nuance with political grit. We need them now to start making inroads in their noble pursuit of justice and fairness in this country. We need them to form a broad base, encompassing like minds in the Presidency, Senate, House of Representatives, Houses of Assembly, Local Goverrnments, Civil Service, Educational Institutions, Human Rights Groups, Organized Labour and NGOs up and down the land.

We need your leadership. You owe us. Agitate tirelessly for meaningful constitutional changes. Why can't we allow independent candidacy at elections? Why must an aspirant come from a particular State in order to contest for a political post within the State? Why can't we allow constituents the power to recall any elected representative found wanting? Why should we allow convicted criminals to aspire to political positions? We need to dilute the system to make it work for Nigerians. The way things are, all the odds are stacked against the common man. Nigerians need a voice and you represent that voice. Nigerians need the ability to bite and you represent those teeth. The system is broken and we need you to fix it. Show your mettle now and see how quickly Nigerians will gravitate toward you. You cannot afford this opportunity to pass you by.