From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former Nigeria permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Martin Uhomoibhi, has charged electorates to ensure that their votes count in the 2023 general elections.
Uhomoibhi gave the charge, on Friday, while speaking at the First Annual Convention of the Old Seminarians Association of Nigeria (OSAN), in Abuja.
He stated that it is only Nigerians that can develop the country and not outsiders, hence the need for citizens to get involved in the democratic system, make their voices heard and get the positive change they desire.
According to him, “Nigerians should vote their conscience. Get your PVC. Don’t be sleeping in the bedroom when elections are taking place. And vote. By that I mean you would take responsibility for whatever decision you take. This journey is about you.”
Uhomoibhi added “our system is not against youths. I am a historian, so I would talk from the experience of history and I have lived sixty plus years in this country, as a Nigerian, except for the years when I go to represent our country outside.
“At the age of 32 General Gowon became the head of state of this country. Diete Spiff became governor of what is now Rivers, Bayelsa etc. At what age was he? 25 or thereabout. Obasajno was head of state and president of this country at what age? So much as I appreciate the benevolence of the not too young spirit. We must stop the habit of passing the buck. Power in history, and I speak authoritatively on this, it is not given. It is taken. I gave an example when I was talking.
“The day that Nigerians decide and agree that these potential that are locked and bound in this country must be actualised and become reality, the work is done. Americans built America. Britons built Britain. Who will build Nigeria? Nigerians must build Nigeria. Would there be a South Africa today without a Mandela?
“If Mandela did not come out to do what he did, where would South Africa be today? But he was in jail for 27 years. So lamentation and wailing is not a solution to our problem. What is required is for people to get out from their hiding places and be part of the democratic process that is ongoing and ensure that their voices are heard and they are taken into account.”
Earlier, the President of OSAN, Chinedu Akubueze, in his address, said the country’s diversity has not been harnessed as a source of strength, but is been manipulated to cause to cause division in the country .
Akubueze, who is also the Clerk of the Senate, noted that with their seminary background, OSAN members are pursue to bring on the country “the traditions of excellence and unalloyed commitment to the common good of our people.”
“Consequently, I foresee upcoming generations of OSAN leadership being a visible and potent vehicle in the quest to reinvent Nigeria, in birthing a new nation where everyone will be guided and driven by common sense of purpose and patriotism devoid of tribal chauvinism and religious bigotry.”