BY Vivian Chime
Hamzat Lawal, chief executive officer of Connected Development (CODE), says he will be involved in partisan politics going forward.
Lawal said this on Saturday at a symposium to mark his 35th birthday in Abuja.
The programme was tagged ‘The Man. The Journey. The Transition’.
According to him, his influence will extend beyond civil society advocacy, adding that he and his friends have launched the Green Nigeria Movement, a political initiative that will mobilise 40 million votes for the 2023 general election.
“I, Hamzat Lawal, from today will play partisan politics,” he said.
“I have power that I’ve built. I have influence; I have credibility; I have friends from around the world and you want me to use this to just do civil society alone? No. Nigeria cannot go down on her knees when we have people like you and me.
“With the Green Nigerian Movement, we have committed that we will mobilise 40 million votes. Yes, that is a lot of work. There is no democratically elected president in Nigeria that has gotten 40 million votes, but then again, we cannot make change if we don’t change the dynamics of how things are done.
“I cannot do it alone. The Green Nigeria Movement cannot do it alone. We need each and everyone of you. We will not agonise, rather we will consolidate. We will organise and mobilise, but most importantly, we will educate the people at the grassroots to understand the power that they hold.
“Each and everyone of us, as we mobilise and organise, we can decide who becomes the next president of the Federal Republic republic of Nigeria.”
Lawal said as he turns 35, he will dedicate his time to building the next generation of emerging young leaders.
He also spoke on launching the Ewah Eleri School of Leadership, named after his mentor, adding that the school will take 20 young Nigerians annually to Afikpo to learn leadership skills from Ewah Eleri.
“I am transitioning and investing my time to building the next generation of emerging young leaders. So today, I’m launching the mentorship initiative in honour of Ewah Eleri and it will be called The Ewah Eleri Leadership School,” he said.
“Every year, I will carefully select 20 young people who will travel to Afikpo in Ebonyi state from across Nigeria to go and learn from Ewah.
“The knowledge and wisdom he transferred into me, I want to create that opportunity to other young people.”
He encouraged youths to quit complaining and begin actively seeking for leadership opportunities, adding that “Nigeria is where it is today because the youths have allowed it”.
“I believe there is a renewed opportunity here, a renewed hope for young people and the youths to take their place in Nigeria’s political history,” he said.
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