Nobel laureate and activist, Prof. Wole Soyinka has endorsed the presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu for president.
He has also enjoined Nigerians to come out and vote for him (Moghalu), in the February 16 presidential election if they want a change in the country.
Soyinka said the endorsement of Moghalu came after a thorough scrutiny of the presidential aspirants.
In a statement which he issued on behalf of the Citizen Forum, where he is the convener, he explained that the forum over the past few months, studied the careers, experiences and track records of most of the presidential aspirants, and most intensely those actually short-listed by the opposition parties themselves and picked Moghalu as the best choice.
The statement said; “Like millions of Nigerians, we watched the debates. I physically interacted with some of the acknowledged top contenders, in some cases several times. We participated in Handshake Across Nigeria, where some candidates presented their briefs. Among others, I delivered a keynote address. We watched television interviews. We have exchanged notes with highly respected international Civil Servants. The drive towards Consensus among these dedicated groups sometimes took the form of test questionnaires to the aspirants, including items such as: ‘Who among the contestants would you choose, if you did not emerge as the ultimate preference?’
“There was nothing complicated about assessment parameters: mental preparedness, analytical aptitude, response to the nation’s security challenges, economic grounding, grasp of socio-political actualities, including a remedial concern with the Nigerian image in foreign perception etc. etc. not forgetting a convincing commitment to governance and resource decentralization – commonly referred to as Restructuring”
Acknowledging that the exercise was exacting, Soyinka however, agreed that it was also-therapeuti,c pointing that the exercise showed that Nigeria did not lack quality human beings that could lead her.
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“It proved yet again that there is over-abundant leadership quality locked up in the nation, and that it is a collective shortcoming that the political space has not been sufficiently opened up to let soar such potential. Well, to cite the Chinese proverb: a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
“Let me reiterate: there is over-abundant, but stifled leadership material, and there can be no excuse, now that that potential of high quality is being manifested, for constricting the political space in a population that is nudging two hundred million. And that statement is of course specially addressed to those who took part in this exercise, those who deliberated opted out of it, some of whom were assessed anyway. Such potential compelled us to exercise utmost rigour in what proved to be a most daunting exercise. The final determination however is – the flag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party–Kingsley moghalu,” he said.
Soyinka said the Citizen Forum would now join forces with those who pray, “Evil Spirit, leave us be!” – at least those who subscribe to the belief that political elections are not a Do-or-Die Affair!
Pointing out that the Forum was last heard of during the time of late Sani Abacha, he said it was pulled out of retirement to join in the effort to arrive at peer consensus and change the narratives.
Soyinka said the Forum rejected retrograde propositions of a political merry-go-round, which urged the electorate to choose this or that candidate in order to ensure “our turn” at the next power incumbency.
