New Year, New Attitude

The year 2023 is here. As usual many people will be making New Year resolutions in a bid to do things better and be better than they were the previous year. But whether they will be able to keep to their resolutions is another matter entirely.

But one thing that is clear is that as a nation, we must strive towards having a better nation; a nation that will allow Nigerians to fully achieve their potentials without let or hindrance.

This year is also a very important one for every Nigerian. It is an election year in which we are expected to take decisions that will define our lives and determine if Nigeria continues to exist or not. It is a year Nigerians are expected to choose the right leaders that will pilot their affairs for the next four years; a period that may make or mar the country.

Of all the elections this year, no one comes near to being as important as the presidential election. Its importance stems from the fact that whatever happens at the centre will have a major bearing on what happens in the component parts (states).

From the look of things, Nigerians are left with two options: to continue with the status quo which has ruined virtually everything that is good in the country or to go with a new order which is widely expected to wring positive changes for the country.

Leading the charge for a new order is no other than the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, who is enjoying the kind of support, last seen in 1993 for the late Chief Moshood Abiola who would later go on to win, only for the election to be annulled by the federal government. But this is 2023 and it presents brand new hopes.

But it is Nigerians that will determine if the hopes will be realized and that will come from choosing the right person to be the next president of Nigeria.

Addressing the nation as part of his New Year message, former Nigerian president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, said that after going through the profiles of the major presidential candidates, as well as their character and capacities, he had come to the conclusion that Peter Obi possessed what was needed to save Nigeria at this critical time of her history more than any of the other candidates.

Obasanjo’s summation is in tandem with that of most Nigerians, both home and abroad, who yearn for a new order and who also see Obi as the purveyor of that new order.

We at Fides, agree with Obasanjo and many Nigerians who place their hopes on Obi. We must see beyond the man, Peter, and see him as a vehicle for positive change. We believe that he is the best candidate of entire lot ahead of this year’s presidential election.

Given the experiences of Nigerians in the hands of the old order, it will really be absurd to see anyone who would want a continuation of that order under whom the country’s fortunes have plunged to an all-time low.

It therefore behoves all men and women of good conscience in Nigeria to enthrone a new order of hope with their votes to save Nigeria from crashing. This is indeed, a clarion call. It is no more time to sit on the fence and we thus call on the various churches, communities and organizations to drum the message into all those around them.

A New Nigeria is indeed possible and we must work towards actualizing it. That should be our attitude this New Year.