2019 And Beyond: Why The #RedCardMovement Is Important. By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

The past rises before us like a dream and again we are in the great struggle for national life, the struggle to save our futures and that of the unborn generations from the hands of the incompetents and failures, in leadership positions. The time has come to work together irrespective of religion, region, ethnicity and political affiliation for the good of this country.

Nigerians, for far too long have suffered in their own land- a land bountifully blessed with all resources needed for excellence and greatness. Regrettably, incompetence, lack of good leadership characters and weak capacity, displayed by leaders have left us shattered and battered.

Our resources- human capital, natural and minerals resources, are not limited to pursue our dreams for a prosperous nation, but we have lived from hand to mouth, scrambling for the things we have in abundance because we have not taken the initiative to vote in leaders with the capacity, competence and character to lead.

However, when people stand up and take a stand, there is something beautiful and powerful about it: It sends the message that nothing will be done or achieved without their involvement, it sends a message that people are aggrieved at the slow pace of development in the society and that they frown in the strongest term against incompetence and bad governance.

This is exactly why the Red Card Movement, conceived by the well respected, Oby Ezekwesili- the former Nigerian minister of education, leader of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign and former Vice President of World Bank, is important and everyone must key into it. The wrong notion that if it is not the Peoples Democratic Party- PDP, it must be the All Progressives Congress- APC must be killed. This notion has given room for incompetent leaders to thrive, brag and flourish, and has also availed them the undeserved opportunity to rule us endlessly. This abnormality is achieved when leaders with the capacity, competence and character to lead find it extremely difficult to emerge the flag-bearer of the two political parties- APC and PDP, which have dominated our political structures lately.

Fortunately, with the primary objectives of the Red Card Movement of ending the persistent and cyclical problem of bad leadership in politics and governance in Nigeria and to mobilize            Nigerians to secure their Voters Cards and vote to resoundingly reject politicians that lack the character, competence and capacity needed for leading our country, potential leaders with the right qualities will be confident of an equal opportunity to be elected based on their abilities- capacity, competence and character.

Focusing and limiting the political spectrum to the APC and PDP is one of the reasons why we have not realized that there are more than enough people in our society with the abilities to take our nation to a well-deserved height of greatness and excellence, but are not privileged because of our obsession with the APC and PDP. However, when we all- irrespective of differences, shift our attention beyond political parties and look beyond the present dominant political structures, every candidate will have an equal opportunity to be elected.

Fellow Nigerians, for far too long, our leadership choices have been influenced by religion, ethnicity, political affiliations and the likes, and over the years, these criteria have failed us repeatedly and woefully; but now is the time to focus on the capacity, competence and character of whosoever is willing and ready to govern us than on any of those criteria.

Those that think this is not achievable should hold and watch it happen- it will be demanding and may take time, but it will happen!

God Bless Nigeria

Ogundana Michael Rotimi

I tweet @MickeySunny.