Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) is a wrong attitude and mentality for Nigeria’s leadership.
The former President said this in a New Year letter where he told Nigerians to vote for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the February 25 poll.
‘Emi Lokan’ was popularised by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu in his June 2022 address in Abeokuta, Ogun State as he pushed for the party’s ticket then.
But in the lengthy letter made available by his spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo faulted such a mindset.
“Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitudes and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now.
“They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria. Such a government must have representation from all sectors of our national life – public, private, civil society, professional, labour, employers, and the diaspora. The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.”
The ex-President, however, told the youths that it is their turn and challenged them to arise and fight for better leadership.
“Future is not emotion. I challenge the youth to arise. Let nobody pull wool over your eyes to divide you and/or segregate you to make you underlings. Nigerian youth, wherever they come from, North or South, East or West need education which is now denied to over 20 million children; Nigerian youth also need skills, empowerment, employment, reasonably good living conditions, welfare, and well-being,” he added.
“My dear young men and women, you must come together and bring about a truly meaningful change in your lives. If you fail, you have no one else to blame. Your present and future are in your hands to make or to mar. The future of Nigeria is in the same manner in your hands and literally so.
“If for any reason you fail to redeem yourself and your country, you will have lost the opportunity for good and you will have no one to blame but yourselves and posterity will not forgive you. Get up, get together, get going and get us to where we should be. And you, the youth, it is your time and your turn. ‘Eyin Lokan’ (Your turn).”