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The last 50 years
of Nigeria’s independence have been that of waste and misgovernment,
and there is, therefore, no cause for celebration, speakers at the
third plenary session of the Nigeria’s Peoples’ Parliament in Diaspora
(NPPID) said at the weekend.

The parliament,
which met at the La Guardia Marriot Hotel in New York, said rather than
engage in any festivities, Nigerians should stand up to the ruling
elite in the country and seize the momentum of the coming elections to
throw out those holding down the nation’s progress.

The NPPID, an
initiative of the Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum, a New-York based
pro-democracy group, is a platform for citizens in the Diaspora to
“cross fertilize ideas” and suggest solutions to the country’s myriad
problems. It’s first plenary was in March this year.

After an extensive
debate on the “Problems, Progress and Prospects” of Nigeria at 50,
participants at the session agreed that the country had not made any
significant progress in its five decades of existence as an independent
nation. The discussions culminated in a motion, which urged the masses
to rise up, confront the “greedy” ruling elite, and halt the plundering
of their country.

“The problem of
Nigeria emanates largely from the pathological greed, corruption and
lack of patriotism by the ruling elite, past and present, military and
civilian,” read the motion raised by Bukola Oreofe, executive director
of the NDLF.

“The masses should
demand ‘Enough is Enough’ and that the next 50 years should be
different from the last 50 years through citizen engagement and demand
for accountability.” Before Mr Oreofe raised his motion, which was
unanimously passed, speaker after speaker lamented the corruption, bad
governance and missed opportunities in the last 50 years.

Speaker of the
parliament, Okey Ndibe, described Nigeria as a country “conceived in
hope but nurtured by its leaders into hopelessness”.

Mr Ndibe, a
professor of literature at Trinity College, Connecticut, added, “Our
country faces momentous times in the coming months as the elections
approach. This is a make or mar situation for us. If we get it right,
we will begin to reclaim our country. If we don’t, we may lose Nigeria
as an idea and as a nation difficult to redeem.”

Back to the ditch

Chukwuma Okadigwe,
who said he was in the stadium in Lagos when the British Union Jack was
lowered and the green-white-green flag hoisted, lamented how “a country
that was supposed to fly like an eagle has gone back to the ditch.” For
Bolaji Aluko, a professor of chemical engineering at Howard University
in Washington, Nigeria’s problem started when “very uneducated people
started becoming the leaders of Nigeria”.

“The next election
is very important for us. We must have clean elections to elect the
right leaders,” Mr Aluko said. “If we get the right leaders, Nigeria
can take off. If not, it will just be business as usual.” As part of
its own contribution to a clean and credible elections, the parliament
resolved to dispatch a well-equipped team to Nigeria to monitor the
elections.

The leadership of the NPPID was mandated to engage with local and international organizations to raise funds for that purpose.

Chairman of the
group, Adegboyega Dada, alerted “parliamentarians” that the “military
gang and their civilian counterparts” who brought Nigeria to its knees
were at their game again.

“These are the same
people that brought Nigeria to a standstill years back. They looted and
continue to loot the treasury. They committed murder with impunity and
continue undermining the integrity of Nigerians beyond acceptable
thresholds.” Mr Dada, a medical doctor, therefore, urged Nigerians to
“unite in our resolve to rescue our nation from the hands of those who
think Nigeria is their personal estate and so could do whatever they
deem fit.” Speaker Okey Ndibe agreed.

“The buffoons who
run our country do not take us seriously. When we organize, they will.
What about forming a committee so that when a government official comes
to the US to buy a house with stolen funds, we take them to court?” Mr
Ndibe suggested.

“Even if we don’t win, we would have embarrassed them. We can,
through our vigilance, say they are stealing our resources and make it
impossible for them to bring their loot here.”