Be mindful of the circumstances of your emergence, group tells Jonathan

In a statement signed by the NDLF Executive Director and former Secretary of PRONACO-US Bukola Oreofe at the weekend in New York, the NDLF, the president was asked to appreciate the circumstances that produced his presidency.

Addressing President Jonathan, the NDLF, the group, while organising the Nigerian Peoples Parliament, told the President that, “we expect that he would appreciate the trajectory that took him to power and ensure that the country moves towards a rebirth.”

The group expressed concern “that President Jonathan is a product of a corrupt political system, and also beholden to forces that have kept the country in a state of economic stupor.”

To that end, the NDLF called “on all Nigerians not to let down their guards. We need to be vigilant, involved and demand that we would not settle for anything less than a country that we all would be proud of in the community of nations.”

The group also noted that passage of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua ought to create a renewed opportunity for the Federal Government and Nigerians “to critically focus at the state of our health care.

Expressing their condolence on the death of the former president, the NDLF observed that the nation had “witnessed the embarrassment caused the people of Nigeria by the extended period of stay of the former president in foreign hospitals ostensibly because there are no hospitals that could adequately provide the health care services he required.”

NDLF noted that it is sad that in spite of the enormous resources at the disposal of the Federal Government, Nigeria still does not have a hospital where early detection and care of serious ailments could be undertaken so that the people including the low and the highly placed could be spared avoidable deaths.

Expressing shame that such a healthcare dispensation is not within reach in Nigeria, the group added that while Yar’Adua was ill, the reported roles of those who were around him should be condemned.

Short of calling for a probe of those events, the NDLF stated that it expects that those who have found themselves in public offices to realise that they would also be confronted with the consequences of their failure in ensuring the development of the country if they continue to neglect the well being of the people.

The NDLF called on government officials to rededicate themselves to the service of the people bearing in mind the transient nature of power and also the mortality of mankind.

It called on the National Assembly to ensure a total review of the 1999 Constitution “as a continuous exercise to address provisions that are palpably incongruous or simply do not promote good governance noting that the constitution in place was handed over by the military.”

The NDLF is composed of US-based Nigerian professionals including doctors, accountants, journalists, lawyers etc and it is the organisers of the US-based populist Nigeria Peoples Parliament.