Shina Peller: Godfatherism must end if we want real change in Nigeria

Shina Peller, a member of the house of representatives, says for “desirable change” to take place in Nigeria, the country must change its style of politics.

The lawmaker said political godfatherism and imposition of candidates “should be discouraged and jettisoned”.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘We2geda Movement’ on Saturday in Lagos, Peller said there is a need for a new system of politics.

The lawmaker, who is the national coordinator of the movement, said godfatherism and the imposition of candidates on the people must be discouraged in order to build institutions.

“Our lamentation about the lack of good leadership in Nigeria has been going on for a very long time with no desirable change,” he said.

“What we must take note of is that we can’t achieve the change that we so desire by fighting the present reality, we must build a new system that will make the present system obsolete.

“You may want to ask, how do we achieve this? Yes, we can address and achieve this by changing our style of politics of anointing and imposing candidates on the electorates. We are now in a century where political godfatherism and imposition should be discouraged and jettisoned.

“It is high time we focused on building strong institutions that will last forever rather than powerful individuals who have turned themselves to gods on earth.

“This is exactly what We2geda Movement aims to achieve, and though we know it is a very difficult, we are very optimistic that with the continued support and cooperation of great minds that make up the movement, we’ll achieve it.

“Fellow young vibrant Nigerians, it is very important that we are very strategic in our approaches, actions and activities if truly we want to make a positive change.”

Kashin Ibrahim-Imam, chairman of the board of trustees (BoT) of the movement, said future generations would benefit from the move to reform the country’s political system.

“Money politics have done great disservice to us. We need more hands to solve this problem. The founding fathers were not thinking of creating Nigeria for Nigerians but for Africans,” he said.

“This is an opportunity presented to us; hence, If you think this is about us you are missing it. It is not about us but our unborn generation.”

Linus Okorie, a former house of representatives member, 2baba Idibia, Kenny Blaq and Broda Shaggy were some of the notable people present at the event.