Setting up Attitude Party is about service to Nigeria, says Momodu, US-based dental surgeon

Kingsley Momodu, a dental surgeon and founder/chief executive officer (CEO) of Brite Care Dental, says his decision to set up the Attitude Party (AP) is in the interest of making Nigeria better.

Momodu, who spoke at a recent media chat, said in spite of the challenges the country is facing, he remains proud to be a Nigerian.

“I am very fortunate to be a Nigerian. I love Nigeria. I see a great country and I see a lot of potential. I think that we can do a lot to make Nigeria a country of our dreams,” he said.

He criticised politicians who have defected, adding that it shows shamelessness.

“Today you are in the APC, tomorrow you wake up and you are in the other party. This is crazy and unacceptable. That is taking the people for granted; that means you have no shame,” he said.

Speaking further on the Attitude Party, Momodu added that he started the party as part of efforts to contribute meaningfully to the politics in terms of fostering quality leadership.

“I started the Attitude Party (AP) about two years ago. It has people from different variations. It has people from different experiences but one thing cuts across its membership,” he said.

“We think that everything starts with your attitude. The name is very strategic; it is remarkable because attitude is everything. Your attitude will determine how far you go in life, your attitude determines what you achieve in life. This philosophical framework defines our goal, our mission and vision.

“Attitude Party is all about our attitude to each of us as a patriotic citizen of our country. That resonates with the famous words or injunction of President John Kennedy, that we as citizens of a country should be more particular about what we give our country and less particular about what our country gives us. That is a starting point. Attitude Party is all about service to our nation.

“It has been two years and the first thing we did was to bring people together. It is taking some time to mature. People have come together; people have come to realise or understand, that they share the same goals, like I said before, improve Nigeria, that is the commonality I am talking about. People need time to bond and that has happened.”

He added that the party recently organised a virtual panel discussion via Zoom, which focused on the topic, ‘Renewing the Vision’.

He also spoke on why the party is not participating in the 2023 elections, adding that the party is still growing.

“I do not think we are there yet. We are still maturing. We toyed with that; it was not clear that we had the kind of commitment necessary for that push. I mean, you need time to grow, you need plenty of money. You need plenty of commitments. You need plenty of people to sign up. And we have a different approach,” he said.

“We don’t want to do up-down, like most people have done, where somebody comes and says he wants to be president, no. Our approach is bottom-up, where people can come together, be encouraged to go back to their localities, to run for the small positions such as the ward and local government positions as well as the state legislatures.

“We are not interested in the presidency for now. The idea is to capture the least areas in our governmental structure. We want to capture those forgotten areas.”

On what he desires in Nigeria’s next president, he said: “I just want a leader who loves Nigeria; I want a leader who will have the capacity to inspire Nigerians to be the best they can be”.