Abuja — On June 1, I announced, with all humility, my intention to present myself, again, to our country as a candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
While the timing of the announcement, given Nigeria's current existential and security crisis, might have appeared either odd or remarkable (depending on the standpoint of the observer), it was intentional and deliberate.
This was an act of leadership intended to contribute hope into our seemingly hopeless situation. By pointing to a near future in which we can turn our situation around by selecting a different kind of leadership that is ready for the job on Day One if given the opportunity.
My announcement also was a signal to many compatriots disaffected with the status quo that we can now rally together around a vision of Nigeria we all share. It will take not one person alone, but all of us working together.
Yes, I know some wonder if we will even get to 2023 on current trends. Despite our uniquely trying times, I believe we will and must.
Our current crisis is the direct result of electoral decisions and leadership choices we have collectively made. Put simply, elections have consequences. The only real path forward, therefore, is a change of leadership in another election.
But, to what and to whom? More of the same -- in the sense that our country's reigning political elite represented in the two biggest political parties all live in the same house and share the same living rooms and bathrooms -- or to something different that can take us truly forward as a country? Unpleasant and scary as today's Nigeria has become, our present reality should force us to question our prior assumptions about leadership selection.
I seek the Nigerian presidency with a vision to secure and unify our country, manage its economy to real prosperity, and restore our country's respect in the world. Authoritarian restrictions of our freedoms of expression and assembly undermine all of these goals. I am motivated by an intense dislike of poverty and injustice of any kind and seek to work with our youth whose future is being drowned by reckless government borrowing, to create a more hopeful future they will inherit.
And I bring to this aspiration the very relevant preparation and track record of leadership performance in national economic management at the Central Bank of Nigeria, international peace and security operations and diplomatic work in the United Nations, and time in the private sector and academia. Not least is my prior political experience as a candidate for the presidency in 2019.
Nigeria's future is imperiled. But we can turn our present crisis into an opportunity for a rebirth of our country. So we have a choice: In 2023 we can decide to play politics as usual, with no serious consideration for post-election governance (only to complain loudly when the consequences arrive later) or we can proactively seek the leadership we deserve as God's children too, entitled to electricity, clean water, skills, jobs, security, education and healthcare. While politics and elections are the path to elective leadership in a presumed democracy, they are useless and self-defeating if their only outcomes are the clueless leading the able, the blindfolded leading those with a clear sight. As 2023 looms, apathy as a response to this reality is no longer an option.