By Chimezie Godfrey
The General Overseer of the Citadel Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare has expressed commitment to the realization of a new Nigeria in his lifetime, promising to unlock the power of public policy to accelerate transformation.
Bakare stated this on Monday in Abuja at the occasion of the declaration of his intent to run for the 2023 presidency under the platform of the All Progressive congress, APC.
He promised to close the distance between the Nigerian reality and every Nigerian dream and to create a new dynamic of belonging in which everyone has a seat and a say, among others.
He said,”Today, I am offering myself to close the distance between the Nigerian reality and every Nigerian dream; to unlock the power of public policy to accelerate transformation; to infuse our young people with a surge of hope for what is possible; to roll my sleeves up and work to solve Nigeria’s most intractable problems; to build a cutting-edge nation at the forefront of innovation; to create a new dynamic of belonging in which everyone has a seat and a say; I am committed to the realisation of A New Nigeria for Every Nigerian in my lifetime.
“This is why I am formally announcing that I am running for the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections.”
Bakare unveiled four point agenda which include peace, progress, prosperity and possibility.
“The Four Mandates of My Administration
As president, my administration will deliver on four mandates, namely Peace, Progress, Prosperity and Possibilities.
“The Peace Mandate:
The Peace Mandate will achieve our policy thrust on Nationhood, Leadership, Governance and National Security. Through the Peace Mandate, we will reconcile and reintegrate the Nigerian people into true nationhood; galvanise a broad-based and competent leadership that can unify Nigeria and harness our enormous potential; lead our nation on a pragmatic pathway to governance structure reforms; end the scourge of insecurity; and guarantee the safety and security of every Nigerian within Nigeria’s borders.
“We will address the grave wounds of the past and present and lay to rest the politics of suspicion. Towards achieving true nationhood, among other policies and programmes, we will establish the Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation, Reintegration and Rebirth whose Board of Trustees will consist of three eminent Nigerians from each of our six geopolitical zones. These eighteen Nigerians with bridge-building antecedents will include traditional monarchs, former Heads of State, religious leaders and statesmen and stateswomen, while ensuring representation of youth and vulnerable groups.
“The Commission will be mandated to, within the first one hundred days of our administration, engage every aggrieved group in Nigeria and secure their commitment to dialogue for true nationhood. Then, within two years, the Commission will acknowledge and reconcile every past and current national and subnational group grievance and foster the integration of the diverse sectional groups in Nigeria into true nationhood. Peace will not just be a word on our Coat of Arms; it will become the Nigerian reality.
“To give Nigeria the leadership we need at this time, I will spearhead governance with adequate presidential political will. In relation to the legislative and judicial arms of government, I will respect the ideal of separation of powers while providing the presidential backing to legislative agendas that the constitution permits the president. I will also respect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary; to act above the law would be beneath my office.
“As the executive leader of the nation, I will not lead alone. Through decades of engagement as a nation builder, I have worked with diverse teams of Nigeria’s best and brightest across sectors within Nigeria and in the diaspora, drawn from every geopolitical zone in Nigeria. As president, I will create an enabling environment that stimulates and rewards passion and ingenuity.
“I will also work with political leaders in our party and across party lines who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the national interest. In addition to this core team of technocrats and political leaders, we will mobilise a pool of competent Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora into a National Human Capital Database (NHCD).
“We will deploy these leaders to every sector of public governance with clearly defined performance indicators and evaluation metrics. Nigeria will be a nation in which the best, brightest, fittest and most competent are once again attracted into public service, from the highest office in the land to the offices in your local government. The youth of Nigeria will no longer be left out of leadership in Nigeria: My cabinet will be one of the most intergenerational in Nigeria’s history and my administration will also vitalise the Not Too Young To Run Act by instituting a Presidential Young Leaders’ Programme (PYLP) that will attract, train, mentor, appoint and back young Nigerian men and women to run for office,” he said.
Bakare further said his government will be technology and knowledge driven, among others.
“As we embark on governance reforms, we will make Nigeria a Cutting-Edge Nation, a nation in which government is nimble and agile, proximal in impact, technology-facilitated, knowledge-driven, wisdom-governed, service-oriented and glocal in outlook.
“To achieve this, we will implement public sector reforms towards efficient and effective Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), leveraging existing studies and recommendations,” he said.
He equally promised to provide political leadership towards a pragmatic approach to constitutional reforms.
On national security, Bakare promised to adequate security architecture to address all security threats in the country.
“Furthermore, we will provide political leadership towards a pragmatic approach to constitutional reforms, with a view to decentralising governance, devolving powers to subnational governments, empowering local governments, strengthening the federal government’s capacity to facilitate national development, and empowering the Nigerian people to contribute to constitutional reforms through referendums. Fellow Nigerians, government will become more mobile and will come closer to you.
“On National Security, first of all, I must acknowledge members of the armed forces including the military, the police, the intelligence agencies and the paramilitary and civil defence agencies who daily lay down their lives in the defence of our people and territory.
“To boost their effort, we will rebuild our national security architecture to adequately identify, anticipate and address our security threats. The new national security architecture will see the strengthening of the intelligence system to include an independent Office of the Director of National Intelligence that will coordinate all the intelligence agencies,” Bakare stated.
