Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is a presidential aspirant for the 2019 elections and the author of the new book Build, Innovate and Grow: My Vision for our Country (Bookcraft, 2018).

The choice that faces Nigeria in the 2019 presidential election is one between progress and retrogression, between scary poverty and the prospect of prosperity for millions of our citizens and not just the elite few, between our freedom and our continuing false imprisonment by the political elite that have brought us to our present sorry pass. I want to lead our country as its president because I have a BIG vision for the future of our children and youth.



On current trends of what passes for governance in Nigeria and despite our dynamism and resourcefulness as a people, that future is a bleak one. Except, of course, something radically new, different and bold happens in our politics and leadership selection process. Millions of our countrymen and women share my vision. That vision represents the opportunity to move our country in a new and different direction from the inevitable limitations of our recycled and failed politicians. It is time.

Nigeria is now the poverty capital of the world. According to the World Poverty Clock we overtook India in February as the country with the greatest numbers of people who live in extreme poverty. India has a population six times the size of Nigeria’s. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has noted that poverty is increasing in our country and that our economic policy is “muddled”.



We remain the world’s greatest importer of Premium Motor Spirit (refined petroleum) while we export crude oil. How else shall we define madness? Because of incompetent leadership, our government insists on controlling and subsidizing the importation and pricing of PMS. Instead of deregulating the downstream petroleum industry, Nigerians sleep at fuel stations as a result of artificial scarcity whenever this scam is threatened. This has gone on for 40 years. We should be ashamed of ourselves when we elect and re-elect into office politicians whose failed leadership is directly responsible for our poverty. Meanwhile, poverty and unemployment know no tribe or religion. They are “federal character” realities that are widespread across our country. We need a paradigm shift. It is time.



A healthy debate has ensued since I formally offered myself to serve our country by leading it towards a very different and better future. That debate is about the possibilities for the victory of a “non-politician” and about the “inevitability” of our career politicians and their financial and political behemoth structures as represented by the ruling APC party and the PDP. Nigerians have become a conquered people, their dynamism and potential neutralized by politicians adept at obtaining power for its own sake but inept at governance and economic management. These politicians have intimidated us into believing TINA (There is No Alternative) to them. Not true. We are now awake. The ground is shifting. It is time.

Let me be clear: we (that is, the movement of those that want a better and different Nigeria to which I belong) intend to win the 2019 presidential election. True, we should not and cannot discountenance the obstacles. But we will execute a winning strategy and ground game across the country with discipline and determination. I will announce in the coming weeks the party platform on which I intend to contest the elections.

https://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2018/3/2019-time-to-build-innovate-and-grow-big-by-presidential-candidate-kingsley-moghalu.html