Fixpolitics activates office of the citizen, unveils logo
By Felicia Nwosu
In line with its vision to awaken the power of the citizens by empowering and engaging them for inclusive political participation for good governance and leadership, while giving them a stronger voice in the creation of governmental agenda and public policies, Fixpolitics, a citizens-led non-partisan movement developed to structurally change and innovate politics across the continent and the globe has activated the office of the citizen as well as the unveiling of its logo to the public. The activation event was themed: “The Power of One People” and it was held at the Providence Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.
Oby Ezekwesili, Founder, FixPolitics, while addressing the audience on the importance of the context within which the Office of the Citizen and community organizing were launched, said it is not about 2023, but the future of generations yet unborn to benefit from the quality and good governance. She explained that citizens need to be aware of the power they possess as a people, to enable them to act, and demand accountability and transparency from those in leadership.
Ezekwesili expressed displeasure over what she described as the triangular pillars of democracy, which, unfortunately, she said countries across Africa are guilty of, alluding that African countries are suffering from monopoly democracy, where the supply side who are the leaders, have not fully delivered their products in terms of policies to the consumers who are the citizens, an indication that they have not performed as they are expected to.
The former education minister averred that power resides with the people and not the politicians, because the office of the citizen is the highest in the land, especially in a democratic system. The bring-back our girls advocate emphasized the need for all-inclusive governance and participation. The former VP of the World Bank decried the failed system of Nigeria’s political leadership, especially in the protection of its citizens while urging the populace to be actively involved to chart the right path of governance and leadership.
“Ultimately, cities and countries are made by virtue of good and effective governance, which is what has brought us here today, this event where we are activating the office of the citizen and launching the concept of community organisers. As citizens, there must be something that triggers you to where you are now ready to take on the important matter, of being a part of the recovery of the political space of this country because it is the politics of this country that determines the governance of this country. The quality of our politics has consistently delivered to us the kind of governance that is not about the issues that matter to the citizens. In any society that will be well governed, it is the poor that particularly matter because for you to make society resilient, you need to manage the risky portion of the segment of your population and ensure their constant mobility away from the place of fragility, vulnerability, and risk to a place of productivity.”
Alero Otobo, Vice Chancellor School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG ) highlighted the School and its operations. She referred to Chinua Achebe’s book. ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’ which she revealed was recently reviewed in SPPG.
“The office of the citizen is about to get really loud. Today, we are sowing the seed to activate the millions of Nigerian citizens who have been crushed under what I called loud helplessness. With this activation begins the journey of freedom. Activating the office of the citizen as far as I am concerned, is a game-changer and I hope that every single one of us will take the responsibility for educating our families and our children, our friends and neighbors to ensure that we move Nigeria forward and empower citizens to be actively responsible in political matters.
according to her, there is nothing wrong with Nigeria’s character, land, climate, water, air or anything else. The problem with Nigeria is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility of the challenge.
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