Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has revealed her plans for the future, having quit the 2019 presidential race based on ideological differences with her now estranged party, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN.
According to Ezekwesili, she will go back to her work as a public policy expert, float a new political movement to be known as ‘Fix Politics’ and also establish a multi-partisan school of politics and governance.
Speaking at world press conference in Abuja on Monday, the erstwhile presidential candidate said: “For me, I will get some needed rest, and go back to my professional work. But as a citizen, I have two big priorities going forward.
“The first is ‘Fix Politics,’ a values-based movement to disrupt our politics and reconstruct this country. In a way this is what I sought to achieve by joining politics in the first place. I realise that it would not be a quick fix, it is a marathon but the best time to set out is now. We must drive a citizens’ movement built from the bottom-up and which possesses a clear identifiable philosophy. You will hear more about our agenda soon.
“The second big priority for me is the establishment of a multi-partisan school of politics and governance; a leadership school that helps us grow a pipeline of leaders from the base. Nigeria has not been deliberate in raising the next generation of leaders as some other countries like South Africa has.
“We must change that, otherwise we would continue to repeat this cycle where there are not enough people with the character, competence and capacity taking over leadership from the council level to the assemblies and state houses, up to the presidency. 2023 must not find us only trying to make change happen from the presidential level. We have business schools like the Lagos Business School, being deliberate about growing business leaders; there is no reason why we cannot have an equivalent for political leadership. It can be done and we will do it.”
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