Dr. Bolaji Akinyemi, convener of Apostolic Round Table (ART) conference has urged Nigerians to reject at the 2023 presidential poll the choice of the purported owners of Nigeria. He said it is the collective rights of all Nigerians to choose their leaders. Akinyemi made this appeal in an exclusive interview with Christian Benefits to all Nigerians ahead of the 2022 ART conference holding on February 24, 2022 in Lagos, Nigeria.
It will be recalled that Chief Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation magazine, said recently that a highly placed Nigerian ambassador called a clique of powerful people in the country the owners of Nigeria that decide who becomes the president of the country.
Akinyemi said it is the collective rights of all Nigerians to choose their president, saying the power to hire and fire president is within the rights and might of all the citizenry. Therefore, he urged Nigerians to rebel against the choice of the acclaimed owners of Nigeria in the forthcoming presidential poll in the country.
“We must rebel against the choice of the purported owners of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential poll in the country. The power to hire and fire president is within the rights and might of all the citizenry. The Nigerian masses should elect as their president someone who is not in the tiny clique of the so-called owners of Nigeria. We must elect a president who is raised by the people and for the people, and who will run the affairs of the country on behalf of the people,” Akinyemi advised.
The political activist, who is also a respected gospel preacher, identified Omoyele Sowore as one of the new generation of vibrant Nigerians that can revolutionize the country but said his fellow political activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters must evolve into a political enigma. “The like of Omoyele Sowore is no doubt a general God has raised for revolution in Nigeria. He is visible, bold and daring, but he needs to evolve into a political enigma who can bring everybody together” the preacher cum activist said.
Akinyemi disclosed that the ART conference through political education, training and enlightenment programmes is poised to raise 25 million eligible Nigerian voters that will change the political narrative of the country in the forthcoming presidential poll in 2023.
“We are starting early the activities of the ART conference ahead the 2023 general elections, especially the presidential poll. By the end of this year, 2022, we hope to have trained 2,5 Nigerians that will aggregate 25 million voters on the basis on one to win ten that will change the political narrative of this country in the 2023 presidential poll. I won’t disclose the details of the ART conference strategy. But I can tell you that a lot of consultations are going on. We are bringing together people who are liberal and open and who have seen the world. We believe by June 2022 we would have mentored a lot of youths on the need to think of the future beyond the temporal satisfactions,” the ART conference convener shared with Christian Benefits.
Dr. Akinyemi further advised the Nigerian masses not to allow the political class to continue exploiting their religion and other primordial differences if they (the masses) are serious about reclaiming their collective ownership of Nigeria from the clique of few individuals that are referred as the owners of the country.
“We may differ in ideas but we can sort our differences so that the best of all ideas will remain on the table without enmity among us. The only way to reclaim our collective ownership of Nigeria from the clique is to come together. Naturally, I will not be disposed to another Muslim succeeding Buhari in 2023. But if at the end, the Muslim individual is better than the Christian individual, why will I not follow the Muslim individual? Regardless of religion, I need a president who has what it takes to lead Nigeria effectively. The Nigerian masses should come to terms with the fact that they need a better and global president as leader of the country from 2023. Nigeria needs a global-thinking president from 2023 to lead her,” Akinyemi concluded.
