Good Will Messages

Rose Obuoforibo(Ms)(Deputy Chair(kobe Japan)

Tope Omoniyi PhD (Eurpean Rep)(London England)

Adeolu Esho, Chair, Science & Technology Committee

Remi Ajibewa PhD, Chair, Special Committee on Conflict Resolution

Akintunde Rotimi, Coordinator, NDLF - Lagos.

-Rose Obuoforibo:

Message from the 2nd Deputy Chair

Kobe, Japan

To the NDLF Seminar, October 2000

I welcome all participants to this groundbreaking seminar to examine the way forward for our great country Nigeria. I really would have liked to attend myself, but am constrained to do so having just returned from Atlanta, Georgia last month. But I have no doubt in my mind that you will arrive at far-reaching and useful decisions that will propel the NDLF forward.

Forty years of political independence and six military regimes later, Nigeria is still taking tentative steps at democracy. This new experience is so fragile because of the absence of institutional arrangements and developments that would have fostered a sustained democratic political culture. This largely explains the corruption, injustice, ineffectiveness and mediocrity of past governments.

In order to bring about a sustainable democracy with evident and tangible fallouts, there has to be a radical departure from past practices. There must be a socio-economic and political reformation anchored on justice, equity, and accountability and headed by a visionary leadership; a leadership that understands the problems and has the passion, commitment and courage to pursue the goals.

This therefore is the relevance of the NDLF. This forum is calling for committed individuals to take part in the reformation process. It is initiating a new visionary leadership that will redefine the destiny of Nigeria. It is regrettable, unimaginable, unbelievable and definitely shameful and indefensible that given the size, the high quality population and God-given natural resources, that Nigeria would find its position in the rank and file of the poorest countries of the world. This is the shame of Nigerians everywhere!

Thank God you are now part of a team that wants to do something about this unfortunate position. The NDLF, through its political education programmes, the development of broad guidelines for the achievement of stated objectives and the active recruitment of peoples to be in leadership positions to implement policy of the group would redress the negative image of Nigeria and bring about the necessary economic prosperity.

Let us join hands in our commitment to rebuild Nigeria. Let us determine to move past the evil and corrupt administrations of previous governments where a handful of self-seeking privileged few controlled and misused the resources of the state for their selfish ends. Let us move past the policies that sent its intellectuals and other desperate Nigerians to every corner of the world.

Economic prosperity and the provision of social amenities like access to free health care, education, affordable housing, coupled with comprehensive welfare package to cater for the vulnerable members of society is what sustains democracy. For when the people are content, they will protect the political system that meets their needs.

Let us boldly commit ourselves to the radical socio-economic and political transformation of the Nigerian state where there is justice, equity and the protection of the fundamental rights and minority rights of the citizenry.
And we can do it.

We have the vision.

We have the will and commitment.

And we have the forum – The NDLF.

Have a fruitful seminar.

Rose Obuoforibo, 24/10/00

-Tope Omoniyi

THE NIGERIAN DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP FORUM
European Office

Dear Compatriots,
I write on behalf of all true Nigerians in general and members of our fledgling organization NDLF Europe in particular to salute your courage in standing up to be counted among those in the forefront of nursing our democracy through a most delicate infancy. You have expressed your resolute belief in the oneness of our new nation by attending this Seminar of Hope. For those who contemplated for a moment on the need for a seminar of this nature, the spate of anarchy resulting from ethnic distrust and class conflicts and threatening to destabilize Nigeria even as you gather in New Jersey provides ample justification to say to yourselves individually and collectively ‘We have gathered wisely'.

It is common knowledge that the fanfare and euphoria that greeted the commencement of our New Republic on May 29 1999 are being scuttled daily by enemies of our nation propelled by devilish self-interests but masquerading as new-converts to democracy after their nearly half a century of wanton destruction and wastage. May 29 1999 was only the beginning of a long and tedious journey and we must recognize it as such and prepare adequately for the battle to defend our hard-won democracy. The indignities that certain elements within the different arms of government and their accomplices outside government continue to visit on the Nigerian nation must not deter us from the path of honor we have chosen to steer in the name of Country. These are obstacles that will remind us constantly to dedicate and rededicate our energies time and time again until the total liberation of our nation is achieved.

We live and learn. We have a duty to educate the Nigerian electorate to recognize and critically appreciate their role as makers of kings. Presidents, senators, representatives, governors and councilors become only because the electorate will them so. Our people must be made aware that they in fact carry their destinies in their own hands under a democratic dispensation. If those we elect to represent us at whatever levels of government cannot give a truly honest account of their stewardship at the end of their terms then some reshuffling is necessary if we must attain our dreams and reap the fruits of democratic empowerment. In fact, in extreme cases the option of damage control through the recall of offending representatives must be made available. Those who betray public trust and are removed from exalted offices but remain in government not only tarnish the organ of government within which they remain but also lack the clout and integrity to represent the constituency that sponsored them. Reduced to lame ducks, they are more likely than not to constitute themselves into clogs in the wheel of progress. Besides, what signals are we sending to younger generations of Nigerians in the school system who observe these events and run the risk of choosing wrong role models? We must checkmate the birth of a third generation of wasters.

While we need to understand the past in order to diligently engage with the present and envision the future, we must not allow the diversionary tactic of reactionary people to condemn us to mere rhetoric and static or indeed retrogressive politics. The commitment of NDLF to the agenda of finding a voice for a new generation of Nigerians across ethnicity and religious creed and pursuing the amplification of that voice for the purpose of national rebirth is already well established. It is evident in the press releases our organization has made thus far, as well as in our representations recently to the presidential dialogues with Nigerians in the Diaspora in Atlanta and London. This seminar, I dare say, is one further step in the march towards national glory. The participants drawn from diverse parts of the country here gathered are an encouragement to others to leave talks of national disintegration or conflagration to prophets of doom who constitute a negligible minority in our population of over 100 million people and who have no place in the new society that we envision. There's may have been the past, but we as progressive nationalists must invest in the present to claim the future for ourselves and for all true Nigerians.

As you debate, analyze and design frameworks for sustaining Nigeria's democracy, think about ways of facilitating an environment that enables every Nigerian to become the best that they possibly can be. Think about ways of arresting moral decadence and re-establishing the people's faith in the decency and just compensation of diligent work. Think of ways of harnessing the diverse human and natural resources of different regions of Nigeria for the advancement of our peoples based on equitable distribution. Think up ways of supporting the ingenuity behind ‘Aba-made' and ‘Onitsha-made' automobile parts to compete effectively in the extensive market currently dominated by Western and Asian manufacturers. Think up ways of revamping the cotton mills of the North to feed a fashion boom that positions Abuja on the same pedestal as Milan and Paris. Think up ways of facilitating a renaissance in the agricultural sector and move farmers back into the mainstream of the national economy. Think up ways of releasing our peoples from the bondage of traditions that are locked in the past by unleashing education on the nation. Think up ways of instituting standards that do not haunt down our Abalakas but encourage them to work even harder and longer in the pursuit of excellence that eventually enhances our national pride and integrity in the global community. Think up ways of demonstrating to Nigerians that the miracle of transformation they crave resides at their fingertips. Compatriots, above all, think up ways of convincing our peoples that Nigeria is no longer a mere colonial fabrication but a reality with the potential of standing beside the world's greatest nations, that one cord of destiny binds the anthills of our savanna to the water spirits of our Atlantic coast. A nation that is the sum of its parts and deserving of the wholeness of their combined glories must acknowledge and celebrate the essence of the diversity of those parts. This seminar celebrates Nigeria's diversity in deliberating on ways of sustaining democracy within a revamped federation. Araba (separatism) was and is a waste. We must devise ways and means of forging ahead bound by a commitment to mutual respect and equal opportunity irrespective of differences in our circumstances of birth within our national space. Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be a vindication of the genuineness of our pursuits at this seminar, our Seminar of Hope.

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Nigerians, happy deliberations.

‘tope Omoniyi (Ph.D.)
Citizen of Nigeria
European Representative, NDLF.

-Adeolu Esho, Chair , Science & Technology Committee

TOWARDS A TECHNOLOGICAL TAKE-OFF OF NIGERIA
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I welcome you all to this historic seminar designed to provide an insidious look at the precarious problems of our native land and to proffer solutions to them. It is very unfortunate that I could not be there with you today for this discussion but I am very confident in the competence of all of you present to discuss with your heart and your head ways in which we could begin the process of bringing our underdeveloped country back from the abyss. I deliberately used the word ‘underdeveloped' here as opposed to ‘developing' as we have often been referred to because if we take a cursory look at where our country had been and where it is today you will agree that the former adequately describes our situation. I also like to thank my good friend, Professor Bamidele Adesegun Ojo for all his writings on the Nigerian entity, the exposure he gives everyday to the politics and economics of the third world and for all his multi-faceted efforts at organizing seminars and discussion groups on the black man's plight. I am very glad I am your friend as I am motivated by your works everyday.

As the Chair of the Science & Technology Committee of the NDLF, I wish to salute all the good thinking and like-minded countrymen present here today for the effort you made in coming. It is not always easy to find time to attend occasions like this because of the kind of society we live which takes a lot out of you during the weekdays and by the weekend you have other personal things that engage you. Even at that I will say we are still lucky to have the opportunity to live here and see how things are done selflessly in the service of the country and in the service of the self. The society has been so woven together that all parts work together to make the whole a living entity. For instance, there are so many things that make life easy for people that we enjoy in these societies that we just have taken for granted, not deliberately though, but because we have lived here for so long. Let us look at Electricity. How many of us here ever drive home from work each day thinking that maybe the stuff you put in your refrigerator has gone bad due to lack of electricity? Or do you ever wonder how you would get through the night without your air conditioners? Or wonder how many of your electronic equipment have been blown up due to browning and high voltage? Let's move to Telecommunications. I told a visiting lecturer friend from Nigeria recently that if we look at Lagos, we talk of road congestion, the reason there are so many cars on the road at the same time was because of lack of adequate telecommunication systems. Somebody who works in Ikoyi gets on the road just to go and tell a company supplier in Ikeja that he should not deliver the agreed goods at the agreed time because he is not going to be around. This scenario actually happened to me so many times. This is something that could have been done over the phone. Let us look into potable water. In the early 80s late Fela Anikulapo Kuti (RIP) gave us the lyrics that United Nations plan for Nigeria was to make sure that we all have drinkable water by 1990. The year looked so far away that people thought this African philosopher was crazy. Now we are in the year 2000, and people still don't have potable water. Go figure! I guess we should all have eggs on our faces. I could go on and on.

What I was trying to get at from the foregoing was that our people are still being made to use a sizable portion of their brains to worry unnecessarily on mundane things like: water, telecommunications, electricity, etc. What serious technology is behind providing all these things that other countries, even in Africa, seamlessly provide for their citizens? The answer: NONE at all. What extra terrestrial technology is behind providing potable water for all, providing adequate telecom systems, and providing constant power supply? Answer: NONE at all. Nigeria is endowed with very highly intelligent citizens living within and outside of the country, who compete and outperform their white counterparts in most areas of academic studies, but who are unable to follow through on their acquired skills because the circumstances for them to thrive are not there in the country. These professionals have written and continue to write on the best approach to develop the country but nothing positive have come out of them as they are ignored. Even when some of them successfully get into a position to make the difference and actualize some of the things they had been professing, they are either shackled or they just follow the flow and allow the endemic Nigerian greed virus to take refuge in their heads, minds and souls.

We are all aware of the new wave of technologies that have consumed our planet beginning from the late 80s - Computer Based Information System. We live in an age where the whole world is at your fingertips and the farthest place to you on the planet is just a nanosecond away. It is so so incredible. It is therefore not and overstatement if I postulate that any country that does not take advantage of what technology has to offer for today's economy might as well just give itself up to the highest bidder. America leads the world in technological development, but does it own all the brains that get them done? The answer is NO. The country has tapped on brains from across the globe to constantly push the frontier of technological possibilities. We should be proud to know that many Nigerians are amongst those braking these barriers. We have people that are so well placed in their companies right now in the developed countries who would want to extend the primary businesses of their employers into the country but who could not because of the Nigerian Factor, which is very well known in the Corporate world. Although America shuns out most of these computer gadgets, most of them are manufactured outside of its borders. Talk of China, Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. All these countries have been beneficiaries of rocket rate economic development brought about by the investment and injection of the all-powerful American dollar. This in turn improves the lives of the people and provides much-needed jobs to the citizenry. Why did America go to these countries? The answer: They have very conducive business culture, and they play by the books as much as they can and of course, it is a lot more cheaper to produce in those countries than producing at home. We should note that had Nigeria been able to put its house in order, it would have benefited heavily from these types of investments, by virtue of its size and stature as the most populous black country in the world, not to talk of all the competent brains we export to these advanced countries.

Our underlying problems are two-fold: First, our society has developed a cancerous attitude of worshipping wealth. Whoever has brought in the highest money, legal or illegal, is the best. We give them all the chieftancy titles of the land. We have developed an attitude of not questioning any ill-gotten wealth. Second, we have a tacit belief that when you find yourself in a position where you could dip into the public coffers unfettered, you should do it without shame as you might never have the same opportunity again. This second proposition has been the Achilles Heals of some high caliber Nigerian politicians and professionals. The country has been worsted by it. Without sounding too religious, the phrase "What does it profit a man who gains the whole world but loses his soul?" is very relevant here. I would rather be poor and be known as the man who gave the whole country a top rate telecommunication system or uninterrupted power supply than be known as a very rich man with all these money, all these wives and all these houses/cars and able to give hand outs to some needy folks. The reality of the situation is that no matter how rich people are in Nigeria, they still live a very poor life. They have to fortify the security around them, and even at that, they still fall victims of armed robbers. They have to constantly live in a state of perpetual fear – which is not good to their health even with them having the best doctors at home and abroad. They drive on the same dilapidated roads, and even though they have limousines the next car ahead and behind them are so wretched that if something happens to them it will impact the limo. In short, there is nowhere to hide. Who will be happy with this kind of life?

We need to start a journey of genuinely building a country that will stand tall in the comity of nations. We should begin to harness all our God-given mineral, physical, material, and human resources to the betterment of our people and thereby creating a fair and just society. We need to reengineer the contagious attitude of greed that is so endemic in our society. People should see every position they find themselves as opportunity to make a difference and better the lots of the whole and not just the parts. We should without delay, develop a comprehensive plan that will provide all the basic amenities of life to all of our people. We must realize that a country without good power supply and telecommunication system to wit can never and will never be conducive to local and foreign investments. Corruption in all ways of life needs to be stamped out, as it is a very malignant cancer that can lead to ‘death' of generations. The foregoing are some of the conditions necessary for much needed technological take-off of the country.

Long Live Nigeria. May the labor of our heroes past never be in vain.

-Remi Ajibewa:

GOODWILL MESSAGE- Chair: Special Committee On Conflict Resolution
Aderemi Isola AJIBEWA PhD- Training & Research Co-ordinator, Centre for Democracy & Development, London. E-mail-remi@cdd.org.uk/remiisola@hotmail.com. Website: www.cdd.org.uk.
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I apologise sincerely for being unable to personally attend this seminar, however, I am reassuring every participants that we are on the right track.At the dawn of the 2ist century, there is renewed vision for Africa's success. Many are beginning to realise that long-sought political revival will depend upon servant-oriented leadership. Legitimate concern lingers.Part of the concern led to the formation of the NDLF. This seminar organised by the NDLF bring Nigeria's brains together for the purpose of strategizing a new vision for Nigeria leadership that finds solutions to some of Nigeria's critical challenges- Conflict, Electoral Policy, Civil-Military Relations, Technology and Science etc. I certainly do not wish to impose any artificial unanimity on the diverse viewpoints that we would be hearing at this seminar; nor do I want to impose any recommendations of my own; but I do feel that the seminar's discussion would considerably clarify the issues, and at least sketch out paths which need to be seriously explored.

For a start, the title of our committee begs the question of whether there is a way forward for Nigeria cum African conflict, and there have been times in recent years when I have, like many others, come close to despair. Many Africans have however continued to insist that there must be a future beyond the continent's current and recent traumas, and have been prepared to grapple with the very difficult problems that this involves, and they deserve every support that we can give them. The critical problem has been, however, that the ways forward that have been pursued in conflict resolution in recent years now appear to have reached an impasse, leaving open a real question as to whether there is any alternative route that can be followed instead.

Some of the questions that the Special Committee on Conflict Resolution would be addressing include but not limited to: How do w ensure right attitude and develop an appreciation for the challenges of constructive conflict resolution? How do we create dialogue and consensus in resolution of conflicts?- option one might call the reconciliation approach, most clearly expressed in the Abidjan and Lome agreements.
Why do people, and nations, often fail to reach an optimal resolution of conflicts? What is the nature of post-conflict reconciliation? What ethical issues arise in international attempts to promote reconciliation? How can activities to promote reconciliation or restorative justice be improved?
God Bless

A.Ajibewa PhD.
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-Akintunde Rotimi

NDLF
LAGOS STATE CHAPTER
Goodwill Message

I welcome you all to this historic seminar. As you all might have known, the NDLF is an organisation whose membership is open to all Nigerian both at home and abroad. People who
desire to see good things happen to Nigeria. We run an open door policy. Our primary objectives at the NDLF is to recruit people who are ready or desire to seek or contest elective post in the next election come 2003 and the sub- sequent ones. And the people who are ready to help them fulfil that desire. Tribe is no barrier provided You are a Nigerian. Neither is gender.

We encourage you to join force with us at the NDLF so that we can work together for the
betterment of Nigeria. And thereby put a stop to the endless mis management of our country's assets and resources. Our people lack amidst plenty. What an irony. The problem of Nigeria I must tell you is not leadership but not finding the right people to rule. I must say also that the problem of Nigeria is include recycled leadership. Some of the people we have in government today have been in government since the past 30 years. Tell me, does it mean there are no other people capable enough to man or run the affairs of this country? Some at the age of 70 years are still in government all in the name of serving their fathers land. When are they going to retire? When will they give room to the younger generation?

This and many more are the reason why we all must come out and change the ways we do things. We Need to change our orientation. We intend going on an enlightenment campaign to
tell and encourage people to show more interest in the way the affairs of their beloved country are being run. Just as you and I know we have no other country apart from Nigeria. And as you go back to your various destinations, I wish you Gods greatest security.

Akintunde Rotimi
Co-ordinator Lagos Chapter NDLF