The advocacy group, rising from its inaugural meeting yesterday, in Washington DC, which drew 247 participants from other various advocacy groups across the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK), Europe and Nigeria, said that Nigeria could no longer afford to continue on the path of political decadence that has blighted the promises of Nigeria in the past decades.
The participants, also unanimously declared that as stakeholders in the destiny of the nation, they could no longer stand aloof, while some unsavoury characters continue to decimate and destroy the glory and prospects of this nation.
The meeting also resolved that for Nigeria to achieve her full potential, it is time to totally reject the politics of religion and ethnicity, saying that the career politicians have used these props for long as a means of gaining and perpetuating themselves in power to the detriment of the nation and the people.
In a communique titled: ‘Time for Politics of the Unusual’, which was read by the Co-ordinator of NPQ, Ahmed Ja’Usman Tijani, the Diaspora citizens stated that a number of them were forced to flee Nigeria because of the inanities and destructive politics, which has brutally dimmed the potentials of both Nigeria and Nigerians.
“We believe that working together with all Nigerians, we can begin the arduous, but not the insurmountable task of pulling this nation back from the path of self-destruction. There is no more time,” he said.
This task must start with the forthcoming general elections in 2023.
“The biggest drawback to Nigeria’s emergence as a strong progressive nation lies in the failure of leadership. This leadership failure can be attributed to the stranglehold on the reins of power by the old class of career politicians. This set of leaders have failed to use the instruments of power to build the nation, but are only interested in acquiring power for the sake of power.
“This has been the bane of Nigeria and it is disheartening that such characters are already parading the national space, with the intention of attaining power at various levels come 2023 in order to continue their destructive politics of self-aggrandisement. Nigeria cannot afford to toe this path again. It is time for new leadership to emerge.
“Those of us in Diaspora have seen how the advanced countries developed their economies by attracting talents, labour and resources across race, ethnicity and religion.
“Until we retire the career politicians, who have created and used these divisions to attain and perpetuate themselves in power, we will continue to wallow in poverty and under-development.
“It is time to build a new vanguard of leadership, which is totally anchored on competence and track record of verifiable achievements,” Tijani said.
