With her recent declaration, the Amazon who is also a renowned entrepreneur and youth development advocate, has joined the league of politicians seeking to replace President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa as the battle ahead of 2023 begins.
Speaking at a media conference held at the Freedom Park in Lagos, Okunnu-Lamidi who is also an active social impact practitioner disclosed that her motivation in vying for the Presidency stems from her desire to make Nigeria work for its diverse populace while also harnessing the undoubted power of its teeming youths to unleash the country’s latent potential as a force to be reckoned with globally.The 38-years-old IMC professional said her declaration to seek a political party’s nomination to contest 2023 presidential election is in response to the “Not-Too-Young to run” bill recently signed into law by President Buhari.
While noting that 2023 is a defining moment for the country, Okunnu-Lamidi restated her confidence in playing a leading role in writing a new history and restoring hope for Nigeria.
‘‘I do not come to this lightly or out of vanity or frivolity. I come to this with humility and with responsibility and with the burden of a generation to whom the future of Nigeria belongs.
‘‘Nigerians of our generation believe in the promise of an equitable and just political union which consolidates the diverse strengths of our people and which harnesses the vast untapped resources of our great nation for the common good.
‘‘The challenge of the presidency is to make Nigeria work for all of its diverse peoples. It is the most powerful office in the land, but it is a place of service, and responsibility and duty and not a place of arrogance or show. Nigeria is not working for us,’’ she stated.
She declared that she had become the arrowhead for the intervention of her generation’s interests across the nation for politics and good governance. “We need a better class and a better crop of leaders that are selfless, disciplined, and bound with integrity, and above all, leaders who love the country and are invested in her future.
“I am here to activate all people, the old, the poor, the rich; to unite around a common ideal on the basis of a consensus about a superior national development agenda,” the businesswoman said.
She is of the opinion that 70 percent of youths are often disenfranchised and have not taken their rightful place in choosing the government of Nigeria.
According to her, Nigeria had missed important milestones in building the nation, adding that, it was more pertinent that Nigerians must begin to think differently in the way things were being done.
“We are all guilty for surrendering to temporary powerlessness, we can and must start to think differently. We sing often about our heroes past. These are people who entered the governance of Nigeria by design or by chance at a very young age to take over from the colonial power that ruled Nigeria,” she said.
“This again is a generational inflection point for the nation. A nation desperate for leadership needs the young, the strong, those who have a vision, those who have ideas, those who have a united Nigerian identity and a belief in this country. The people of Nigeria believe in Nigeria, they should not be led by leaders who don’t.
“We have to keep fighting for what we believe in, and above all, never lose hope. If you were waiting for a sign, this is it,” She stated.
Okunnu-Lamidi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Human Resources Management from the University of Bolton and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Project Management from Heriot-Watt University. She is yet to declare for any political party.
(Brandcom)
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