By Emmanuel Mogbede
Abuja – The Rescue Alliance for National Development(RAND) has said that Nigeria’s problem is not caused by its founding fathers, but by the narrowness of the minds of some politicians.
Sen. Saidu Dansadau,RAND Vice Chairman, stated this at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja,adding that Nigeria’s challenges were not peculiar to it.
“It is our believe that there is no country built into a nation which did not go through similar challenges Nigeria is currently grappling with,”Dansadau said.
He maintained that the country’s challenges were caused by some politicians who often exhibited lack of capacity to embrace that which was above and beyond ethnic and religious sentiments.
He noted that Nigeria was truly blessed beyond borders in terms of natural resources and human capital,saying that it had the potential to be among the ten leading economies.
The vice chairman said that while it was conceded that a multicultural and pluralistic society such as Nigeria would naturally have its stress points and fault lines,bad leadership in the past had compounded the situation.
This, he said, had resulted in magnifying the country’s differences beyond what they really were.
He stressed that such politicians were;”holding our diversity as a sign of collective weakness instead of strength for the nation”.
Dansadau said the alliance comprised Civil Society Organisations,political associations,pressure groups,political stakeholders and religious organisations.
He further said that the platform also comprised all political parties,associations and individuals who desired a greater Nigeria and genuinely and faithfully believed in changing the narrative.
According to him, the vision of the alliance is to provide competent leadership for national unity,peace and development.
The vice chairman said that the desire of the alliance was to adopt a common presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections.
He said RAND mission was to use political power to serve God and humanity,respect for rule of law against political impunity and politics of credibility against politics of deception, among others.
He maintained that the alliance shall be anchored on justice and fair play and shall be ran on team work and productivity to achieve the desired prosperity for all.
(NAN)