Dear APC delegate: History beckons on you to do the right thing, By Julius Ogunro

Dear APC Delegate,

I have chosen to write this open letter to you because in a few days’ time the destiny of this country would be in your hands or, more appropriately, your thumb. What you choose to do with this opportunity that fate has placed on you would possibly decide the fortunes of our country. Your decision would possibly mean whether we turn the tide against instability, poverty, banditry and terrorism, to start making the kind of progress that would lead to the sustainable growth and development of our country. Or, whether we continue on the slippery slope towards an unstable future of deepening poverty, social disharmony, insecurity and uncertainties.

As you might know, the prognosis for our country is bad. After eight years in power, our government has done a lot of things right, especially with historic investments in infrastructure and the social intervention schemes, which have placed the old and vulnerable at the heart of government policies and actions.

My dear party man and woman, history beckons on you to do the right thing for our party and country. Think of the future of our country. Think of your children and the kind of country you would want to bequeath to them. Fayemi is the right choice for our party and country at this time. He is from the South-West, where our party is strongest in the South.

But, truth to tell, these have not been enough. Insecurity has worsened over the years. Over 350,000 people have been killed since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2010 and thousands of students – young boys and girls with names like yours and mine – have been kidnapped. The insecurity has lately metastasised from the North-East to the North-West and North-Central, and even the South-East, with banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and assassinations becoming rife. Inter-state road travel has, therefore, been all but abandoned to the poor and helpless in those places. Travel by rail and by air is even threatened.

Despite the best efforts of our government, the ratio of poverty is increasing, and at a point Nigeria was regarded as the poverty capital of the world, the holder of the unenviable record as the place with the most desperately-poor people. It is shocking that with about a fifth of the population of India or China, Nigeria has more desperately poor people than any of these countries, with the poverty net getting wider.

The number of out-of-school children is also growing. At the last count, there were over 10 million children who were not in school and not learning any valuable trade or vocational skill, which would ultimately come in handy. The prospect of these children indeed looks bleak, and it is almost certain that they will not be able to compete with their peers in future. Sadder still, this situation may worsen the already desperate security situation in our country. Our country also faces the challenges of ethnic and religious division, which have hampered our efforts at forging a united front to confront our problems.

So, dear delegate, you can see that things do not look very good for our country. That is why the next presidential election is important and your role to elect the candidate for our party is critical. Whoever you choose to lead the charge for our party, I believe, is likely going to win the presidential election because, despite the enormous challenges we face, the majority of Nigerians still trust our party over the opposition to correct the historic challenges that we currently face.

It is therefore important that you make the right decision, by selecting the person with the right character, temperance, skillset, experience and outlook to lead our charge in the next election. And that person should be Dr Kayode Fayemi, the governor of Ekiti State and chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. He is a man respected across the lengths and breadths of Nigeria, not just for his learning and achievements in public service, but for his vision, empathy and ability to reach across divides.

Of all the aspirants currently running for the presidency, Fayemi represents the best hope for our country.  He has been sharpened by the hands of fate and provided with sufficient political experience, compassion and skillset for a time such as this. Rarely do presidential aspirants come fully formed as he has.

A moderate, Fayemi does not exhibit any form of religious extremism or ethnic bigotry. He is at home with both Christians and Muslims, and tolerance could be said to be his middle name. At this point in our national life, when issues of inclusion and marginalisation are at the centre of our politics and the sources of sectarian conflicts, we need a unifier, a broadminded leader who, through his words and actions, can bring everyone together and heal the wounds of division, hate and bigotry.

Dear delegate, Fayemi is a party man to the hilt. He is not an emergency progressive but has been associated with liberal ideals from his youth as a student leader, and later as a human rights and democratic activist, opposition governor and now presidential aspirant. He is a foundation member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and worked tirelessly to deliver victory to our party in 2015.

Nothing can endanger the future of this country at this point more than electing a known or cryptic religious bigot, whose agenda appears to be to promote one denomination or religion over the other. Neither can we elect a wolf-in-sheep’s clothing with a subterranean agenda to promote one ethnicity over the other.

Beyond his temperance and character, Fayemi’s knowledge and pedigree with economic management is excellent. As a leader of the Nigerian Governors Forum, he has repeatedly advocated for a small government, reduction in the number of wasteful government agencies, and decentralisation of some of the powers of the Federal Government, among others. This means he has the courage to do what in the long term is beneficial for our economy and people, while ensuring that there is no loss even in the short term.

As governor of Ekiti State, Fayemi has implemented a wide range of policies that have boosted economic growth and development in the State. These policies have incentivised private companies, such as Promasidor, JMK and the Stallion Group, to set up multi-billion naira businesses in Ekiti and thus create thousands of jobs for residents of the State and enhance the larger Nigerian economy.

Fayemi is a tireless worker. Those who are close to him are aware of his prodigious work ethic. He is physically fit, mentally sharp, old enough to be familiar with the challenges of our country but young enough to confront them with sufficient energy and dynamism required.

Dear delegate, Fayemi is a party man to the hilt. He is not an emergency progressive but has been associated with liberal ideals from his youth as a student leader, and later as a human rights and democratic activist, opposition governor and now presidential aspirant. He is a foundation member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and worked tirelessly to deliver victory to our party in 2015.

He is a man of high convictions and ideals. He is also a rewarder of party men and women who support him. In Ekiti, it is still being said that it is mystifying how he managed to get everyone who worked for his victory one appointment or the other. He is not the one, to use a local parlance, who would use and dump anyone.

My dear party man and woman, history beckons on you to do the right thing for our party and country. Think of the future of our country. Think of your children and the kind of country you would want to bequeath to them. Fayemi is the right choice for our party and country at this time. He is from the South-West, where our party is strongest in the South. He’s not pursuing the presidency as a bucket list, an item to be ticked off as a lifetime dream, but as an opportunity to reset our country and put it on the path of sustainable growth and development.

Dear delegate, vote Fayemi for the sake of our country.

Yours sincerely,

Julius Ogunro

Julius Ogunro is a Nigerian journalist.