2023 Election: It’s Your Responsibility To Monitor Governance, IVLP Alumni Tells Nigerians

Ahead of the 2023 elections, the US-Nigeria Educational and Cultural Leadership Programme Alumni Association (IVLP Alumni) has urged Nigerians to be more active in terms of good representation.

The group through its President Raheemat Momodu, made this call on Saturday during a youth and leadership enlightenment programe to commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, the late civil rights activist.

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The event which took place at Damagaza Village, Lokogoma had in attendance the chief of the village, His Royal Highness, Joseph Budebo,community members and Mr. Fred Ohwahwa, a former editor of The Guardian as the Guest speaker.

The President of the group however said majority of Nigerias don’t see themselves as part of the leadership of the country and that makes it difficult for proper engagement.

She said, “voting is just the beginning of your responsibility as a citizen , you vote and you fold your hands for four years , we don’t engage enough because its difficult to but we must find ways as Nigerians to see that; its our responsibility to monitor governance.

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“We need to monitor governance at all levels, just sitting down and doing activism online is not helping h anyone.”

She also advised the residents of Damagaza village that the activism about leadership should not be only for the presidents and governors but for the counselors and village heads as they are also very important personalities in the community.

“What i expect every one to do is to look at what types of leaders we want , yes its difficult for you to determine the character , level of integrity and the vision of a leader just seeing them on the television , but you should be able to say from what they say, from their antecedents, what they have done before, if these are the kind of people you would want to see.

“We cannot continue the way we are going , we really need something to change and for this almighty 2023 elections we should start working for the miracle we want to see next year from this year. “

Momodu also said political parties should be seen as national institutions.

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“We need to push for better internal democracy in our political parties , so that they can throw up the right candidates , not just bring up candidates that are basically the same and we don’t have the leverage of choosing one over the other.”

She added that the program forms part of a series of events which the IVLP alumni is working on to contribute to meaningful participation in the preparation for the 2023 elections.

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