Nigerians will hold leaders accountable at the ballot—Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo urged Nigerians on Tuesday in Abuja to regulate, discipline, and hold their next set of leaders accountable at the polls on February 25 and March 11.
"It is through the ballot box that citizens regulate, discipline, and hold their leaders accountable," Osinbajo said at the Nigeria Labour Congress's National Delegates' Conference in Abuja.
Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this in a statement titled '2023 elections: Osinbajo lists FG's infrastructure successes, harps on APC's commitment to social protection at NLC's delegates conference,' which he signed on Tuesday.
Osinbajo, speaking on the theme of this year's conference, Building People Power, National Unity, and the Quest for a New Social Contract stated that when all Nigerians, particularly its political elites, begin to see the country's diversity as an asset, rather than a source of division, the country's socioeconomic and cultural capital can be deepened.
"It is through the instrumentality of the ballot, that citizens regulate and discipline their leaders and hold them accountable.
"In a few weeks, Nigerians will have the opportunity to demonstrate their power by voting on which candidates and parties have what it takes to manifest the future that we desire.
"Our diversity is neither a liability nor a curse; rather, it is a blessing and an asset. "We are enriched by the frothy ferment of the vast multiplicity of perspectives that provide us with a treasury of tools for innovation and productivity," he said.
Countries that have learned to exploit the diversity principle, he claims, are now leading the global race for prosperity and progress.
The VP went on to say that politicians who continue to foment division and discord are out of step with the times and have failed to recognize how much more integrated Nigerian society has become.
"I submit to you that it is our nation's elites who must adjust to this reality and conduct their politics accordingly."
There is no denying that diversity can be a source of contention. It's entirely natural.
"As different groups from various backgrounds and with different worldviews mingle, their interaction is characterized by a degree of tension and even conflict. "All different nations find their own ways of dealing with the tensions that inevitably arise from the mixing of various peoples," he added.
The Vice President praised the Nigeria Labour Congress for organizing the conference and urged them to create a framework that would guide organized labor in Nigeria in the coming decades.
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