A new group, the Legacy International Initiative (LII), made up of eminent Nigerians has promised to return the country to its place of pride.
The body also hopes to unite religious groups and ensure peaceful coexistence, according to its Grand Patron Chief Kenny Martins.
Recalling the events and situation in the country since the 1970s, Martins lamented that Nigeria is the only country whose yesterday is better than today or tomorrow. “It is a scary situation we have found ourselves. We have now had two decades of full democractic rule, yet, it has been a failure. I weep for my grand children’s future in this country,” he said.
Martins, who spoke at the LII’s maiden news conference in Lagos, noted that in spite of the human and material resources available in the country, it is not yet the Utopian state Nigerians desire. He said this led to the birth of LII.
“It is now redemption time for Nigeria. Enough is enough of moneybag politics; violent politics and military general politics. We are neither a religious organisation nor a partisan political organisation, but a social organisation attempting to tackle a social problem through the building of concessions among the people and the elite,” he said.
President of LII Dr Bolaji Akinyemi observed that Christianity teaches love and Islam teaches peace, yet both ideals are elusive in the country. He said: “It is saddening and disheartening that with the global reputation of the Nigerian nation as a highly religious country, the great percentage of our citizens alluded to the Islam and Christian faiths, yet the expected effect of the teachings of these religions is far-fetched,” he said, adding that “there’s something missing in our equation; why don’t we bring God into our equation? It’s redemption time.”
Martins said “Legacy International Initiative is concerned about high scale of insecurity and lawlessness in the nation, which led to wanton bloodletting and huge number of internally-displaced persons,” he said.
A representative of the Christian Elders Forum, Pastor Bosun Emmanuel, said “Our major problem is our inability to translate democracy into action and effective governance.”