Open Letter To Fela Durotoye, Omoyele Sowore and Kingsley Moghalu

1. This Letter is intended to convey my candid opinion and the sampled views of selected politically conscious youths.
2. The main objective of this letter is to encourage Mr. Fela Durotoye, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu and other competent youthful presidential aspirants to suspend their presidential ambitions till 2023; for a more prospecting and/or certain electoral office in 2019, such as: Senate, House of Representative, House of Assembly and local government Chairmanship.
3. I write this letter as a friend, a youth, a supporter, a realist and a strategist.
4. I am not in any political party and I do not intend to vote for any nonperforming politician in 2019; especially the APC and PDP politicians. But I want competent and tested youths to position themselves for the highest position in 2023; though the Nigerian youths have not done enough to fully take charge in 2019.
5. In relative terms, most of the aspiring youths have the competence, capacity, capability, composure and charisma of a leader; and indeed some of the prerequisites to be the President, Governor, Senator, Honourable or local government Chairman in Nigeria.
6. The chances of winning a Senatorial or House of Representative or House of Assembly seat as a new entrant in the Nigeria political scene is far higher than when you want to contest for the presidency seat at your first shot.
7. Apart from funds, logistics, personnel, electoral bottlenecks and other political intrigues, the leading youth aspirants do not have enough political experience to govern, lobby and manage the political gladiators and the Nigerian citizens. In governance, political experience outweighed the corporate or street experience.
8. A four year experience in the legislative chamber in order to understand bureaucratic processes and structures of government is worth more than million dollar cash. As such, it should be seen as an essential training period to prepare you for the presidency in 2023.
9. The four years period will give you the opportunity to have more practical knowledge about the workings in the Legislative, Judiciary and Executive arms of government. It would also expose you to loopholes and opportunities in Nigeria economy, mistakes of the past and how to correct them, and information about International Diplomacy.
10. Four years as a legislature will further serve two purposes. One, you will know more about real governance and politics. Two, you will be able to sell yourself more to the people — your constituents and the larger society, through your sponsored bills, facilitated projects, contributions on the floor of the house and your feedback mechanism to the society.
11. With the passion, strategies and awareness created in the last 18 months, Fela Durotoye, Omoyele Sowore and Kingsley Moghalu have what it takes to easily unseat any of the 109 senators in Nigeria; especially the senators representing Lagos State (Sen. Remi Tinubu, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa and Sen. Adeola Yayi) because that is where most of their supporters are domiciled.
12. With the campaign and awareness created by you (Fela Durotoye, Omoyele Sowore and Kingsley Moghalu), you don’t have to be a member of the APC or PDP before you can win as a Senator, House of Reps or House of Assembly member. Most Nigerian youths are proud of you because you have fantastically exhibited the Nigerian spirit through your strides.
13. So, your performance as a Senator or Honourable will be your selling point as you prepare to contest for the presidency in 2023.
14. As a way to be known beyond your constituency when elected as a Senator or Honourable, you can begin a monthly feedback or world press conference or town hall sessions where you inform Nigerians about your perception or alternative solutions to government policies. Through such gesture, Nigerians and the world would know more about you and your acceptance rate might rise.
15. There are over 1000 political offices to be contested for in 2019: Presidency (1), Senate (109), House of Rep (360), House of Assembly (over 774). Governorship (30). So, this is an opportunity for the Nigerian youths to position themselves and grab the opportunities that are open in this election window.
16. So, I encourage Fela Durotoye, Omoyele Sowore and Kingsley Moghalu to pick up the Senate or House of Representative nomination form from their Political Parties and submit same before INEC’s deadline.
17. ONCE MORE, FELA DUROTOYE, OMOYELE SOWORE AND KINGSLEY MOGHALU, YOU HAVE BETTER CHANCES OF WINNING AS A SENATOR, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE OR HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY THAN WINNING AS A PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN 2019 BASED ON THE FACTORS MENTIONED ABOVE AND OTHER NUMEROUS FACTORS.
18. I look forward to address these gentlemen as Senators in 2019 and anyone of them as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023.

#RuningForANewNigeria #TakeItBack #ItIsTime

Regards

‘Dele Gbolade is a Performance Consultant and Political Strategist.