Rescue Nigeria project not a political party – Wole Arisekola
One of the conveners of the Rescue Nigeria Project (RNP), Mogaji Wole Arisekola has said that contrary to reports making the rounds, the group is not a political party.
Mr Arisekola clarified that the RNP is a group of prominent and well-meaning Nigerians who have the country at heart especially considering the current deplorable state of affairs in the country.
The group comprises the former governor of Kwara state, Ahmed Abdulfatai, Prof. Pat Utomi, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Ambassador Hassan Tukur, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke.
Others are Senator Lee Maeba, Usman Bugaje, Amb. Nkoyo Toyo, Yomi Awoniyi, Dr. Rose Idi Danladi, Dr. Sadiq Gombe among others.
In his keynote address yesterday, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed decried the recent developments in the country. He said that the ‘change’ Nigerians embraced in 2015 is not what they are getting now “as insecurity has taken over the nation.”
The former Kwara State governor also noted that the high level of nepotism and lack of inclusiveness in the present dispensation has given rise to agitations by different ethnic groups. It was on this backdrop he announced the formation of the RNP.
In his words, “It is based on this that we decided to set up this Rescue Nigeria Project. We want to salvage this country and see how we can fix the mess. We want to set a template and key criteria leaders must have before they can attain any political position.”
Abdulfatah Ahmed also clarified that he remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP notwithstanding his status as one of the leaders of the RNP.
Other members of the group who spoke yesterday clarified the aims and objectives that the RNP have set out to achieve.
Former Minister of Education, Professor Tunde Adeniran in his speech noted that there was a disaster at hand and that has made the group take steps towards rescuing the nation.
Adeniran said, “You only rescue when there is disaster and when you fail to rescue during disaster, it is more dangerous.
We have a disaster at hand and we need to rescue the country. We need to look back and see how we get here. We know where Nigeria was before now. We know the task is not going to be easy, but we have to determine how to rescue the nation.”
This sentiment was also conveyed in the speech of the former National Secretary of the defunct Action Congress, Hon Usman Bugaje who said that the challenges bedevilling the country were largely due to poor leadership, they had come up with the RNP to rescue “it from the current leadership recruitment mechanism that seems to leverage on money and connection or ethnic sentiments and no premium on knowledge or competence.”
Although the enthusiasm that greeted the announcement of the RNP yesterday suggests that Nigerians rly looking for an alternative to the two present major political parties, the RNP is not a political party.
“Most of the deliberations of the RNP are just to improve good governance in Nigeria and rescue Nigeria from the present precarious situation it finds itself”, Mr Arisekola said.