Kenechukwu Ofomah, Awka
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr Valentine Ozigbo has has spoken out against what he described as lack of political will by Nigeria’s leaders to addressing critical issues driving the nation into cycles of violence, fear, and preventable tragedy.
Ozigbo stated the position in an open letter he wrote to the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the alarming rate of insecurity across the country.
In recent days, the nation had witnessed schoolchildren abducted in Kebbi State, worshippers murdered in Kwara, commuters seized on our highways, and a military general cut down by bandits.
Addressing the President, Ozigbo said he was constrained to write the open letter because he occupies the only office constitutionally empowered to steady the nation’s ship at a time of gathering storms.
He regretted that today, Nigerians are faced with questions no citizen of a functioning state should ever have to ask, reminding the president that he has the duty to provide answers to the questions.
“Nigerians are asking- Is sorrow enough? Is silence wise? Is protest futile? Is hope naïve? In times like this, nations look to their leaders not merely for explanations, but for direction,” he said.
“That responsibility, with all its weight, rests with,” Ozigbo reminded the President.
Proffering solutions to the challenge, the former Anambra PDP Governorship Candidate, suggested the launch of a decisive national campaign against insecurity, noting that the nation lacks neither gallant personnel nor equipment, but, unified, unmistakable political will.
“We know where these criminals hide. We know the networks that feed them. We know their local collaborators and their powerful patrons.
“A nation cannot negotiate with those who have chosen war against civilisation. Draw the red line. Read the riot act. Make it clear that no title, no immunity, no foreign interest will shield anyone who sponsors or protects terror,” Ozigbo told the President.
Ozigbo further bemoaned the silence of elders, who once spoke boldly, faith leaders who once carried the nation’s conscience, and statesmen and women who once stood as guardians of Nigeria’s unity.
Their silence, he noted, is costly, and dangerous, isolates the government, weakens national resolve, and emboldens those who thrive in chaos.
The founder of the Valiant Movement advocated the introduction of a structural solution, which he tagged the ‘Orange Union Model,’ which makes for greater efficiency in managing the country’s affairs, through the strengthening of regional autonomies.
Ozigbo told Tinubu, “Your government has taken important steps toward decentralisation, including local government autonomy. But Nigeria’s crisis is more profound than any single reform can reach. From my engagements with scholars, statesmen and women, and global experts, the Orange Union Model, which is championed by the Fatherland Group, emerges as one of the most coherent pathways for a 21st-century Nigeria.
“This model recognises Nigeria as a union of nations, much like the European Union with one defence, one foreign policy, one currency, but with regional autonomy that unleashes innovation, competition, and justice.
“This is not secession. It is Nigeria reimagined, not Nigeria undone.
“Bringing The Patriots, the Fatherland Group, and your administration into one harmonisation dialogue could become your most consequential legacy.
“Agitations across Nigeria- North, West, and East, are cries for justice, not calls for division. With the Orange Union Model, strong institutions, and the fair application of law, these tensions will simmer down.”
Ozigbo further emphasized the need for a strong opposition, to ensure that balance is brought in the governance structure of the country.
He warned the president against suffocating opposition, adding that a good leader does not abhor dissent, but cultivates it.
“I joined the APC not out of convenience but out of conviction after witnessing how selfishness, internal sabotage, and incompetence wrecked the Labour Party from within. I defended your government at the time, when you were falsely accused of being behind the crisis in the Labour Party because I knew the truth.
“But today, our democracy faces a new danger: an opposition so weak that the ruling party risks becoming unchecked.
“Democracy requires balance. Balance requires competition. Competition requires strong institutions on both sides. Strong democracies do not emerge in the absence of opposition; they flourish because of it,” he said.
The renowned business mogul, however expressed hope that despite its challenges, Nigeria can still rise again, with courageous leadership, urging the president to choose courage over caution.
