Ahead of the general elections, the Platform for Liberty and Democracy (PLIDE) over the weekend, urged Nigerians to shun sentiment when voting for their leaders at various levels, stating that excellent character, competence, commitment, compassion and courage are the five key attributes that they should look out for in each candidate.

PLIDE also said Nigeria needs transformational leaders who would rescue the country from non-state actors and unite all the ethnic groups, adding that tribal loyalty and sheer sentiments are one of the reasons that Nigeria has failed to progress.

The Guest speaker,   Pastor Uzodinma Enelamah, who spoke on the theme: ‘Re-awakening a Great Nigeria: A Pathway Forward’, at the official launch of the Organization in Lagos, said: “The foundation of Nigeria as a nation is poor governance by incompetent and corrupt political leaders who we keep voting into leadership positions”

“They manipulate and divide us along tribal, religious and ethnic fault lines. This tribal politics didn’t start today. Some historians trace it to the events in the parliamentary elections that happened in 1951.

“Since that time, we have been struggling for dominance and supremacy rather than coming together to build a nation that works for the good of everyone.”

“If we want to leap unto greatness as a Nation, we must chart a new pathway forward. The new pathway begins with electing the right leaders at all levels because everything rises and falls on leadership. If we must change the narrative and our trajectory as a Nation, we must start to elect the competent persons with the most acceptable political ideologies”

The convener, Mr Tunde Feyi Owoseni, while making his remarks, said, among other mandates, PLIDE is committed to total liberation and democratization of the entire political landscape in Nigeria.

His words: “In PLIDE, our strategy is very simple, we have said to our members that we do not want them to start contesting for a seat in the senate or contest for the presidency, rather they should go to their Estate and Community association, various professional bodies and contest by showing clear examples of purposive leadership.

“Let’s plant out members in all these places because many tend to look at the centre where the decisions are being made. Our copyrighted cliché is ‘minimum irreducible principles.’ So, in PLIDE, we try to teach that, among others, when the opportunity comes to steal or to rig elections, our members must remember these words.”

The Co-Speaker at the Launch, Barr Tope Adebayo emphasized that the servant leader needed to salvage Nigeria must be ready to undertake the critical work of restructuring the country and ensure that education is made a priority.

“For us to transform this nation, we cannot afford to leave the leadership of this nation in the hands of those who are not genuine lovers of the masses and people who are not as educated as we are, and our judiciary must be strengthened to address various challenges confronting us as a people” Adebayo said.