Hundreds of youths in Ile-Ife, Osun State on Sunday gathered at the Afewonro Park of the Ooni’s Palace, in the ancient city, to launch the Labour Party (LP) and extol the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
Addressing newsmen at the event, Chairman of the gathering, who is a prominent entrepreneur in Ile-Ife, Mr. Olamide Awosunle, explained that the motivation for the movement is beyond politics.
He said, “In a country blessed with everything needed to be great, citizens are groaning under the yoke of insecurity and economic hardship unleashed on us by graft, corruption and mismanagement.
“The frightening state of insecurity is made worse by the audacity of criminal elements that now negotiate with government and its agents from the position of strength.
“The activities of bandits, Boko Haram insurgents and other criminal elements have virtually reduced our security forces almost to toothless bulldogs as security men have become victims of high casualty, being ambushed and killed in their numbers.
“At this point in time, we need to speak in one voice and join hands together to prove to those politicians who have colonized the nation the POWER OF THE PEOPLE IS GREATER THAN THE PEOPLE IN POWER,” he stated.
According to him, to achieve this, they must all be active in the democratic process, saying that democracy is a major national business and that all Nigerians must get involved in the process.
The Chairman explained that the surest way to get back the country from all the greedy politicians is to take politics seriously and stop believing it is dirty or meant for some people.
” If we stand aloof, we will continue to complain and put our future and that of our children in jeopardy.
“With the current situation of our nation, only unpatriotic people and fools will sit on the fence or be neutral when their country is being destroyed with incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity and others.
“It is no more business as usual. INEC has proven with gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun this year that the era of ruffians and crooks occupying and dominating the political and governance spaces through manipulation of the electoral process was over,”Awosunle stressed.
He said “We only need to encourage the masses to desist from falling into voter inducement traps that greedy politicians usually set. We need to desist from collecting a token to vote for wrong people.
According to him, the little money the people usually collect from voting will only solve petty immediate problems, it won’t shield them from the economic woes of the nation.
“The official unveiling of the Labour Party in Ile-Ife is to publicly announce to Ife people, Osun People, Nigerians and the entire world that Labour Party is the vehicle and Peter Obi is the driver to the actualization of a New Nigeria, the Nigeria of our Dreams. We, therefore, use this medium to encourage all Ife people, home and abroad to begin joining the train of development. I admonish people of Ife and Osun state to join the party and work together with us to make Nigeria great.
“Nigeria is designed to be a great country. God created this country and gave it everything to make it great. The only thing that is needed is Leadership—Visionary leadership.
” Through Labour Party, we are committed to providing necessary leadership for the development of Ile-Ife, Osun State and Nigeria at large. With Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, Nigeria will attain its potential and achieve true greatness.
“People of Ile-Ife and Osun and great Nigerian masses, it is time to take our country back. Let’s join Labour Party, work for Labour Party and vote for Labour Party to make Nigeria great,” he said.
The party’s Chairman in Osun State, Mr. Bello Adebayo and the South-West coordinator of the Nigeria Women for Peter Obi, Mrs. Busayo Obisakin in their speeches urged Nigerians to support the movement as it is the only viable opposition to the main political parties in Nigeria.
