• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

State of the nation: Naaba, Utomi, others call for nationwide mass action

Pat-Utomi

The newly initiated group of eminent Leaders of Conscience in Nigeria under the auspices of National Consultative Front (NCFront) has charged Nigerians to urgently team up with its emerging political movement and put an end to official corruption and flagrant abuse of public trust constantly playing out in Nigeria’s power centres.

This clarion call was made in a national address jointly issued on behalf of the Steering Leadership of the NCFront at the weekend by Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Ghali Umar Naaba and a two time Presidential Candidate and public intellectual Pat Utomi, while felicitating with Nigerians and the Muslim faithful worldwide on the occasions of the 2020 Eid Kabir celebration.

A statement signed by the Head of Publicity of NCFront, Tanko Yunusa made available to BusinessDay on Sunday, noted that this clarion call has become urgent if the country is to survive the “present rapacious political rip off and rape of its economy by the present rampaging ruling class.”

The statement reads in part: “All Nigerians of Conscience are again being passionately enjoined, during this occasion commemorating the Eid Kabir, which symbolises faith and sacrifice to mankind, to stand up and join hands with the unwavering resolve of the National Consultative Front, NCFront to make the required sacrifices towards cleansing and sanitizing Nigeria’s centres of power and in smashing and flushing our prevailing corruptive political system being sustained by a tiny clique of power mongers and political merchants marauding as the country’s Leaders.

“In view of the various unimaginable melodrama and macabre dance of corruption and chaos within the top echelon of the Nigerian political leadership and government, which has been exposing the cause of high level insecurity and hunger in the country today, it has also become imperative for us as victims of the increasing mis-governance and official impunity to halt the festering rot and political Coronavirus in the country’s power centre.

“Consequently, all of us as citizens of conscience should have no choice but to urgently rise in unison to utilize our collective power as a vast majority of united citizens capable of chasing out that clique of ruinous political cartel ravaging our common wealth enabled by their self serving capture of our Government and State, now being ruthlessly deployed to milking us to stupor, while riding rough shod on us as a people.”

The group said further that it is for this reason that the ongoing nationwide consultations and mobilisation of the NCFront are being strategically deployed towards engendering a credible alternative political leadership and government for the Nigerian people through an all inclusive nationwide mass resistance and action.

“This is because a situation, where the President of Nigeria is caged and his office is being run by some unelected clique of proxies and power traders, operating without pretence to any form of mandate from the Nigerian people, is unfathomable and unacceptable and must be massively resisted and neutralized before we, as a country are all thrown into a major disaster and turmoil,” the statement added.

The group said that in strengthening its budding national consultations and mobilisation towards a historic nationwide political resistance programme, the NCFront shall be flagging off its Zonal Political Structures in the six geo political zones of the country and also set up its Strategic operational Committees. These include; Mobilisation Committee, Publicity Committee, Diaspora Committee, Finance/Fundraising Committee and Women Affairs Committee.

Others are Youth Affairs Committee, Media Team and Secretariat Working Committee, Policy & Strategy Committee, Ethics and Conduct Committee, Orientation & Education Bureau and Conflict Resolutions Committee.

Meanwhile, a list of Coordinating Facilitators for each Zonal Structure and Strategic Committee shall be announced on Thursday at a world press conference to be addressed virtually from strategic centres of the country by the Conveners and Promoters of the NCFront, the statement added.

The setting up of the NCFront political structures in the six geo political zones of the country and the inauguration of the Front’s Strategic Operational Committees are also expected to prepare ground for the success of the novel mobilisation template tagged: “NCFront Circle of 12 Concerned Citizens” adopted recently by the NCFront Steering Leadership as Circle of Concern, (CC) for creating a groundswell of active members at the grassroots and to drive popular ownership of the NCFront in various localities and communities of Nigeria and among Nigerians in Diaspora.

Other notable leaders of the emerging political movement, who already have the mandate to facilitate zonal structures for the Front in their various geo political zones and also expected to lead NCFront delegations to brief Media Chiefs, Labour Leaders and Civil Society Champions this month are;  Chidi Odinkalu, Shettima Yerima, Bolaji Ayorinde, Isa Aremu and  Chris Ekiyor.

Others include;  Shehu Sanni, Grace Bent, Tanko Yunusa, Ezekiel Nya Etok, Inuwa Garba, Remi Sonaiya, Peter Ameh,  Segun Osinowo and Kassim Balarabe Musa.

Some others include; Funke Awolowo, Abdulmamud Aminu, Ali Abubakar Wakili, Jude Feranmi, Kadijat Abdullahi, Alistair Soyode, Habiba Balogun, Nasser Kura, Bunmi Lawson, Jophia Gupar as well as national icons in the Elders Advisory Council of the NCFront to be named after due consultation.