The National Leader and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, has challenged Nigeria’s political class to rescue democracy from the grip of money, political opportunism and the relentless pursuit of power, saying the ideals that inspired the country’s early democratic actors are rapidly disappearing.

Dickson spoke in Abuja at an epochal reunion of former leaders and associates of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), where surviving members of the political generation that helped shape Nigeria’s return to democratic rule revisited the sacrifices, convictions and principles that defined their political journey.

The former Bayelsa State governor said the AD was built by politicians who had little money but possessed something he considered more important—an idea of the Nigeria they wanted to build.
“At that time, nobody had money to give to anybody. Money was not the most important currency of politics at that time. What was important then was ideals, values and commitment.”

Dickson said the strength of the old political movement lay in its ability to mobilise ordinary Nigerians around ideas rather than financial inducements, adding that the AD’s victories demonstrated that political establishments could be challenged without enormous financial resources.
“We had our Alliance for Democracy. We were winning elections—six states.

The people who had money, those who controlled the establishment, the resources and the power, could not stop us.”
The NDC founder said his own political journey illustrated how dramatically the political environment has changed.

As a young activist and lawyer in Bayelsa, he recalled confronting powerful political interests despite having limited resources.
“How could I, a young, loyal, idealistic ideologue and activist, lead a party against a big establishment politician in Bayelsa and yet become a senator and produce three members of the House of Assembly?”

His response was stark: “None of these people had money, their joy was building a country’
Dickson recalled a period when political candidates depended on the sacrifices of party members rather than vast campaign finances.

He said he personally used his resources to support candidates who could not meet electoral expenses.
“I took my cheque book. I took my cheque and paid the deposit to INEC. Yes, I gave them the deposit and cheque.”

The sacrifice, he stressed, was not an investment in personal wealth or political appointments.
“The candidates didn’t have money. They didn’t even know about it. But our joy was in building a country and winning for our people.”

It was a political culture, he said, in which individuals were prepared to spend their own money to build institutions they believed could transform the country.
Dickson recalled receiving only ₦60,000 from South-West leaders to support his political activities during the formative years of the AD—an amount that, he said, reflected the limited resources available to the movement but also the depth of its ideological commitment.

‘The sacrifices are being forgotten’

The NDC leader expressed concern that the story of Nigeria’s democratic journey is increasingly being told without the sacrifices of those who made it possible.
“Very often, when the story of Nigeria’s return to democracy and this dispensation is told, the little sacrifices that we made are conveniently left out.”

He said many politicians who now occupy positions of authority inherited a democratic system built by people who received little recognition for their contributions.
“A number of people in positions of authority today are beneficiaries of the hard work and sacrifice that we all made. A number of them didn’t pay any price. You did. All of you were there.”

According to Dickson, some members of the old political generation paid the ultimate price.
“Our leaders and others who have gone to be with the Lord, indeed, some had to pay with their lives.”

“They didn’t have money, but they had their vision and their values. They paid for it. They started it.”
Dickson said Politics must not become a career in government. The former governor also criticised politicians who, according to him, treat membership of the ruling party as the only route to political relevance.

He argued that genuine politicians must be capable of supporting the government when it gets things right and challenging it when it fails.
“If we support what you do, we say we are supporting you. If we disagree with what you do as politicians, we speak against you. We will organise against you.”
“That is the calling of a politician.”

Dickson said the AD generation was shaped by a political philosophy that emphasised true federalism, constitutional democracy, restructuring, equitable resource allocation and environmental justice.
Those principles, he argued, should not become obsolete simply because political circumstances have changed.

The Abuja gathering was therefore more than a reunion of former political associates.
It was an attempt to reconnect a generation that Dickson said still possesses the wisdom and experience necessary to contribute to Nigeria’s political renewal.
“We are here to share old memories, to recount our experiences and to remind ourselves of the journey we have taken so far.”

Participants observed a minute’s silence for deceased AD leaders and founding figures who contributed to Nigeria’s democratic struggle.
Dickson also paid tribute to Professor Udenta Udenta, the party’s founding National Secretary, and other national and state-level figures who helped establish the movement.

He said the gathering was only the beginning. “Today, we are taking the very first step of reconnecting ourselves.” Several former colleagues who could not attend, he disclosed, had already contacted him and requested a larger gathering. They are requesting that we have another meeting in the not-too-distant future so that more and more people can come.”

The reunion was convened under the aegis of the NDC with the theme, “Reclaiming Our Moral Mandate: A National Democratic Conversation for a Reborn Polity.”

The organisers said the initiative was designed to move beyond nostalgia and create a platform for interrogating Nigeria’s democratic experience while drawing on the wisdom of those who helped build it. For Dickson, the message is ultimately about what kind of politics Nigeria wants to leave for the next generation.

“In the spirit of the AD Alliance, we are bonded, and whenever we find ourselves, we bind together. True ideologies don’t separate. Time and circumstances can, but we find time to reconnect.”

The former governor’s intervention amounted to a call for Nigeria to recover something its early political generation considered indispensable: the belief that political power is a means of serving society—not an end in itself.