By Paulinus Nsirim
Governor Nyesom Wike has officially announced that he will contest for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023. He formally declared his intention to vie for the office of the President of Nigeria on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
Making his intention clear in Makurdi, after a meeting with PDP stakeholders in the state, Wike stated with emphasis that his priority would be to tackle the festering insecurity in the country and engender rule of law.
Gov. Wike also acknowledged unequivocally that he had a special relationship with the government and people of Benue State, which had inspired him to come to the state to announce his declaration for the presidency.
“Let me thank the people of Benue for receiving me to come and talk to them. It is obvious that I am going to run for the presidency of this country. And I am declaring for the first time in Benue State because of my special relationship with them. People are not suspecting, but let it be known today that I am announcing it in Benue State because I have a special relationship with this state.”
With his declaration to contest for the Nigerian presidency now out in the open, Gov. Wike has not only laid several myths and rife speculations about his intentions for 2023 to rest, he has also, most importantly, answered the clarion call by Nigerians, in Rivers State and nationally, to wipe away their tears.
This bold step will solidify his commitment as a voice for the voiceless, a champion of the masses and a brave generational leader with uncommon courage and unwavering determination to build a better nation.
Gov. Wike’s impressive strategic administrative acumen, visionary focus and unparalleled capacity will successfully deliver on the challenging mandate to bring responsive, pragmatic and responsible governance to Nigerians.
Without doubt, Gov. Wike’s declaration to run for the presidency of the country at this time underscores the passionate and unpretentious desires of a greatly motivated leader who has demonstrated in words and in actions that he is indeed ready and willing to offer robust, dynamic, patriotic and unifying leadership at a time when the very substance and essence of our nation have been systemically corroded and impugned upon in virtually every sector by the dubious, divisive, diversionary and destructive administration of our commonwealth and collective patrimony as a blessed nation.
Of course, his declaration is for now only a statement of intent, pending the full disclosure of the remaining definitive guidelines that will guide and determine the direction and nomenclature of the presidential primary of the PDP but one critical fact, which Gov. Wike’s public announcement to contest for the Presidency has brought to fore, is the incontestable fact that the dire need to rescue Nigeria from the suffocating, disastrous, insensitive, cruel, malevolent and debilitating administrative cluelessness of the last seven, is not a task for the sweet-tongued, faint-hearted, chronologically encumbered or even the sophisticated but gritless candidate.
Nigeria needs a leader who will boldly, without fear or favour, do the right things, make the right calls and take the problems of the country by the scruff of the neck and deal with them comprehensively and conclusively, without playing to the gallery, like a true gladiator and champion of the people, in a time like this that demands national heroism.
Gov. Wike has all the qualities to defend and rescue Nigeria and now that he has declared to take up the onerous but challenging responsibility, Nigeria is much better for it and Nigerians can now heave a huge, collective sigh of relief that the extraordinary man, admirably regarded across the country as our own national leader, has joined the presidential race.
Wike is coming to ReNEW Nigeria and well-meaning Nigerians are in total support.
•Nsirim is commissioner for information and communication, Rivers State
