NigeriaFIRST, a non-partisan movement anchored by the pioneer National Chairman of Young Democratic Party (YDP), Arc. Ezekiel Nya-Etok, sets a redefined template for political office seekers in 2019, Ibom Telegraph authoritatively reports.
Interacting with newsmen in Uyo recently, Nya-Etok said “Nigerian will move from mega party to mega persons in 2019.”
In his words: “Mega party is not going to define 2019. It is going to be an aberration. NigeriaFIRST is all about appreciating the imperative of good governance. Good governance must be about service; it must be a platform of sacrifice. NigeriaFIRST seeks to have a redefinition of the essence of seeking public office. It seeks to redefine the rules of the game for public office seekers so that in 2019, Nigerians are adequately enlightened; adequately mobilized, and adequately empowered to make informed decisions and right choices. NigeriaFIRST seeks to give capability to those that have capacity to run public offices. Mega party is an insult on the intellect of Nigerians.”
“That one, two, three persons have decided to get together and form a party does not make that a party mega. The fundamental question we need to ask is how did the mega party of 2015 benefit us? In NigeriaFIRST, we are going to change the narratives and move from mega party to mega persons. We are going to look for capable Nigerians to man the offices we need because that is what will save us as Nigerians, not mega party. Very soon we are going to launch a campaign called My Thump, My Rule. The reason is simple. You want my vote; you want my thump, no problem. Just as you have your right to decide that you want to run, I have my right to decide who to give my thump to.”
“Every Nigerian must own their thumps and set their rules. For instance, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows a school certificate holder to be my Governor, but my thump, my rule says that you must have at least a Degree to be my Governor. So, I am not stopping you because the Constitution allows you but my thump says you cannot. This is why I had to leave the YDP (Young Democratic Party) to take up another platform where integrity is redefined within the context of character, ethics and values. We are networking with Leadership Training Institute.”
“We want them to give us a course content that will last for three weeks. The reason is that everybody seeking public office must undergo a 3-week leadership training if he or she wants to get the certification of NigeriaFIRST. The movement is very massive and people are going to have the logo of NigeriaFIRST on their posters. That logo gives the electorates the confidence that this man or woman has subjected himself or herself to the rules that we have set; rules of service. Our target is to get just 60%. In 2019, we are going to have a National Assembly that has service as the essence, as the driving force.”
When asked who the financiers of the movement were, he said “I have been able to make real investment within a short time and for me, this is payback time. I need to start off. Just like I funded 80% of YDP, I intend to do same here but I know that the movement will be funded by Nigerians.”
On why he left YDP and what will be the fate of NigeriaFIRST, he maintained that “We must move from persons to ideas and ideology. If you cannot step out of an office then you are not worthy of that office. I got into YDP and it was deliberate thing. People should not follow me; they should follow the constitution and the ideology.”
On how soon he will want to see the results of NigeriaFIRST on Nigerians, he said “Let me leak one secret to you. I keep saying that we are Nigerians but we do not understand Nigerians. NigeriaFIRST is certainly going to redefine politics in Nigeria. Who would have believed that Nigerians would have accepted Card Reader when it was presented to Nigerians by the then Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega? But we accepted it. By 2019, we are going to demystify the office of the Governor. We must start now to change the narratives. If what we have now in the system continues in 2019, it means we are doomed as a country. So, we must redefine the rules of the game. There must be love for country and love for state. American have done that, we can do it. Let’s change perspective. Let’s deemphasize party and emphasize persons.”
Akenyine adom