The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, Dumebi Kachikwu has challenged Nigerians who embark on the EndBadGovernance protest to immediately leave the streets and head to the solutions roundtable.
Speaking to newsmen on Saturday in Abuja at a world Press Conference, he said after 10days of Protests with nothing really meaningful to show, the only solution is for Nigerians to start discussing solutions rather that the problems.
In the same vein, he has rolled out a plan along with a few other patriotic Nigerians to host townhalls and spaces devoted to aggregating solutions to myriads of complex problems bedeviling the nation from the best and brightest amongst Nigerians.
He therefore enjoins all well-meaning Nigerians, all opposition parties, the ruling party and well-wishers and friends of the nation to join at any of the solution roundtables that will be coming up.
speaking further on why Nigerians must discuss solutions at this point in time he said,
“In the last ten days our nation witnessed protests that took the lives of over twenty people. There were varied reasons for the protests but chief amongst them was the current hardship being experienced by most Nigerians. As expected, the protests took on different dimensions as mischief makers tried to score political points with the pain of Nigerians.
“After all the lives lost, after the debilitating effect on our economy, after all said and done, what next? “Are we better off in any way? Can we see the light at the end of the tunnel? Has governance improved? Has our economy improved? Did we achieve anything at all with the protests? The jury is still out on this but while we wait for their decision what next?
“I believe we need to start talking solutions. We have an obsessive focus on our nation’s problems and the supposed failure of any government of the day. This is our style of politics but unfortunately the body polity has also adopted this. We are big on the blame game, big on identifying problems but low on proffering solutions.
“Why? Because we can’t score political points with solutions in a nation that is intoxicated with the nectar of problems. Solutions will never go viral on social media.
“We need to leave the streets now and head to the solutions roundtable. We are in a quagmire and ‘what do we do?’ should be the only question on our lips. Who did it and who caused it can never be as important as what do we do now. If we desire to move this nation forward, we must start talking solutions. Let’s move from the streets to the solutions roundtable.
When asked on who is bankrolling the planned townhalls and spaces he promised to embark upon, he said, the truth is that Nigerians don’t like anything that is positive adding that tomorrow he will not be surprised if anybody to say that somebody is bankrolling this or that he has been sponsored by someone
“I don’t know, I believe it costs little or nothing to have a Twitter space. Not so, we all know that, right? It costs little or nothing. I have a media organization, so if you guys, the rest of media, don’t come, my media organization will come and cover the event.
“I believe that to rent any hall here in Abuja for us to have a space it will not cost us anything more than two or three million naira and all that stuff. By God’s grace, or whatever it takes to pay for any venue I will. In town halls, you don’t sell drinks, you are not serving anything, people are coming to have discussions, you understand. So it is light in the area of expenses.
“And like I said, I and a few other patriotic Nigerians are embarking on this exercise. I believe that the more I speak to other Nigerians, that we can go beyond Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other places, more people will come on board, and we can make this bigger.
