Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi, 38, media entrepreneur and youth development advocate has declared her interest in running for the office of president in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
Speaking at a media conference, Monday, held at the Freedom Park in Lagos Island, Okunnu-Lamidi, disclosed that her motivation in vying for the Presidency stems from her desire to make Nigeria work for its diverse populace, while also harnessing the power of its teeming youths to unleash the country’s latent potential as a force to be reckoned with across the globe.
Okunnu-Lamidi, who is the founder of Slice Media Solutions, lamented that despite the abundance of natural resource endowment the country had stagnated and offered no hope to its citizenry due to bad leadership while advocating for a new focus and shift in the leadership recruitment process.
She stressed that Nigeria needs a better class and a better crop of leaders that are selfless, disciplined, have integrity, and love the country and are ready to invest in her future to make the desired progress.
“I seek to change the direction of our country because time and chance will happen to all of us and the time for action is today.
“We need a better class and a better crop of leaders that are selfless, disciplined, and bound with integrity, and above all, who love the country and are invested in her future.“I am here to activate all people, the old, the poor, the rich; to unite around a common ideal on the basis of a consensus about a superior national development agenda.
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“We are all guilty for surrendering to temporary powerlessness, we can and must start to think differently”, she said.
She further stated that 2023 is a defining year for the country in which she was ready to play a leading role in writing a new history and restoring hope for Nigeria and Nigerians while lamenting that Nigeria had missed important milestones in building a united nation.
Okunnu-Lamidi bemoaned the plight of the youths in the country, in which she said despite forming the bulk of Nigeria’s population, have borne the most impact of bad governance, saying it was time for them to be recognize and given the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the country.
According to her, “A nation desperate for leadership needs the young, the strong, those who have the vision, those who have ideas, those who have a united Nigerian identity and a belief in this country.
“I do not come to this lightly or out of vanity or frivolity. I come to this with humility and with responsibility and with the burden of a generation to whom the future of Nigeria belongs.
‘‘Nigerians of our generation believe in the promise of an equitable and just political union which consolidates the diverse strengths of our people and which harnesses the vast untapped resources of our great nation for the common good.
“Nigerians of our gender believe that we are heirs to the same promise and that our contribution to the character, stability, peace and progress of Nigeria deserves recognition and reward”.
Okunnu-Lamidi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Human Resources Management from the University of Bolton and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Project Management (MSc) from Heriot-Watt University
