By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)@CeleOkaf11
National Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has urged Nigerians to put all hands on deck in the new year to save our democracy and the nation from destruction.
A statement on New Year day by his Special Adviser on Media, Ike Abonyi, quoted Prince Secondus as saying that "the call has become necessary as it's now very oblivious that the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari is grossly incapacitated to lift the country out of the woods".
According to Secondus, in his new year message, only "concerted efforts from all lovers of democracy irrespective of their political, religious and tribal inclinations rising in a rare patriotic stance can rescue this country.
"The destruction done to this country in the 67 months of the reign of President Buhari and his APC, can only be restored if all patriots irrespective of leanings rise to the challenge by putting their differences aside for the nation.
"What is obvious is that this regime cannot help this country again having lost the goodwill of the people and yet not possessing the needed capacity to confront the myriads of challenges on the ground.
The PDP boss noted that "the state of the nation could be better than what it is in the out-going year and it is the responsibility of leaders to strive to put things in a satisfactory manner".
He noted that "one special ingredient of democracy is freedom of speech and association and warned that any attempt through any means to curtail free speech in the country will be unacceptable and should be resisted.
Secondus notes what he described as the "attempts by handlers of government to denigrate our leaders and heroes for telling truth to power which is what is expected of them". He however warned that "any democracy that inhibits either directly or indirectly the freedom of speech is doomed to fail".
The PDP boss stated that "while it's not arguable that democracy remains the best form of government for the country, there is ample room for improvement and the new year provides an opportunity for the ruling party and the legislators to take necessary and urgent steps to deepen our democracy".
He called on the legislators, in particular, to "take a critical and judicious look at the happenings in our land and act in accordance with the desires and aspirations of the people not of their own individual interests.
"Everybody will be a loser if this democracy collapses due to the inactions of the leaders who due to greed and selfishness refuse to do the needful". He said that the "clamor for the restructuring of the current political structure and the rejigging of the nation's security architecture should be given due attention in the new year as it remains the best option for a lasting stability of the country".
Secondus also noted that "the hardship Nigerians are going through especially due to insecurity and corruption could be avoidable if only square pegs were put in square holes to man critical sectors.
"Let us use the new year to address critical issues with a view to finding lasting solutions to them rather than the current surface scratching of the problems"
"If we must tell ourselves the plain truth, this country is not working as it is and we just have to face the challenge squarely by being more pragmatic, less sentimental and eschew nepotism in our actions and reasoning".
He enjoined all Nigerians particularly members and supporters of PDP to show more accommodation to each other and embrace peaceful and harmonious living. NNL.