A Lagos based pro-democracy group, Nigeria Peace Advocacy Group (NPAG), has cautioned opposition in the state to desist from any conduct capable of detracting the government from the good work it has been doing since 2019, saying, “Rather, we should rally round the sitting administration with a view to allowing it to fulfil its promised better second term in office.
Convener of the group, Comrade Omolola Olukayode, in a casual chat with the press in Lagos Wednesday said the word of caution was imperative going by the unnecessary controversy stirred up by a section of the opposition on the recent procurement award approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the purchase of some necessary items for the smooth running of his administration.
Olukayode, who exonerated the governor of any misdeed said, “having studied the processes that led to the governor’s approval and all the amounts involved, we realised that the governor acted within his boundary,” saying the problem with his antagonists is their ignorance about the peculiar nature of procurement procedure which headline can be a bit confusing to a lay man.
The youthful group leader expressed a surprise that a personality of the calibre of the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Funsho Doherty could claim ignorance of procurement procedure through his open letter to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu where he queried the workaholic administrator on an issue that needed not too much investigation to arrive at reasons the governor acted the way he did.
The concerned right activist reminded the letter writer that, Lagos State’s procurement procedure meets the global standard and is one of the best (even if not the best) in Nigeria, warning that, “We of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) will not fold our arms and allow any group, individuals or opposition to distract the governor whose preoccupation now is how to fulfil his promise of a better second term in office.”
He therefore joined the Convener and National President of the Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG), Comrade Razaq Olokoba in urging the electoral umpire-Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to realise the urgent need to train and retrain the opposition and the political class to understand that there are certain characters not expected of certain categories of politicians.
“For instance, anybody contesting for the post of governor or senator, there must be certain standard conducts expected of such a person. He must not be seen as getting involved in conduct capable of sabotaging the government and by extension the nation.
“We have to get the concept of opposition and constructive criticism right. Opposition is meant to state where it differs from the incumbent. And also come up with their alternative solutions. There are examples all over the world about how opposition operates. When their country is threatened they set aside their differences and come together to combat the elements of insecurity confronting their nation.”
He however regretted that, in Nigeria, often time, the political class don’t recognise their boundary and their limit. They do their opposition without restriction to the extent that they may not even be bothered if their conducts could plunge the country into chaos.
Olukayode therefore challenged Nigerians “to ignore the political class that attempts to mislead the people by stopping from submitting their intelligence to those who know nothing about governance which is the fact with us in Nigeria.”
While lamenting that, “about 75% of the political class in this country strategizes only to win election and nothing about how to run government,” he advised that, “as a people we must supervise our government and must also supervise our political class,” asserting that, “It is our duty and responsibility to make them measure up to the global standard and should not be allowed to play us against the government the way they did during the last election when people were pushed against their fellow Nigerians.”
That episode, he emphasised should never repeat itself rather, “We should encourage ourselves to be serious about political education as obtainable globally,” submitting that, “That was how America was able to come out strong when Trump came up with disruptive tendency similar to what confronted us here in Nigeria of recent.”
Nigeria, as undisputable giant of Africa, he stated should rise up to the calling as a role model where her political class will know when to play opposition constructively and when to team up with the incumbent patriotically to move the country forward progressively, warning that, “any divisive tendency would be resisted and crushed by our teeming members across the country and beyond with every democratic gadget at our disposal!”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Olusola sanwo-Olu “are hereby assured of our total support and cooperation at this time when Nigeria desires political stability and economic sustainability to survive the gestation period,” declaring; “this is not the time to distract the government but time for all hands to be on deck to move he country forward collectively.”
