New Nation Enlightenment Foundation, a non-governmental organisation at the forefront of the campaign for good governance in Nigeria, is set to commence activities to mark its 7th year anniversary.
It would be recalled that in January 2018, a group of 20 champion trekkers, comprised of young men and women and a 60-year-old Elder Okuboyejo, embarked on an 800-kilometre walk from Lagos, in the southwest, to Abuja, in central Nigeria. The tortuous journey took them through five states: Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Kogi State, before arriving at the Federal Capital Territory.
The activists arrived in Abuja 43 days after the commencement of the strenuous journey, precisely on the 12th of March, 2018.
Reflecting on the activities of the group in the last seven years, NNEF President, Mrs. Foluso Oyenuga Framo, in a statement issued to reporters, said the mission behind the long walk from Lagos to Abuja in 2018 was to campaign for good governance and to draw the attention of the government to the myriad of challenges plaguing Nigeria. The statement noted that the change in the name from New Nigeria Nationalists (NNN) to New Nation Enlightenment Foundation was to reflect a new stance that will focus on aggressive pursuit of public enlightenment with a view to highlighting the roles of the government and the governed in Nigeria.
The statement lauded the contributions of ordinary Nigerians who are making sacrifices for this nation.
"Countless Nigerians walking the streets have given their all to make this country a better nation. So, this is also an attempt by NNEF to honour and stand by Nigeria's unsung heroes who are striving to make the government take another look at what they are doing.
NNEF bemoaned the misfortunes that have plagued Nigeria since independence, causing stagnation. According to the statement,
"What is a country that seems to offer only pain and suffering to its people? And what is this evil that attacks us from time to time? Why is it that just when it seems we are about to get out of the tunnel into a brighter yonder, something sinister sneaks into the national compound to kick off the legs from underneath us?"
NNEF noted with dismay the loss of millions of Nigerians to the civil war that happened between 1966 and 1970. NNEF also condemned the menace of kidnapping that has become a national burden, defying all manners of solutions by the security agents and the government.
NNEF also noted that a series of events before and after the amalgamation have pointed to the fact that misshaped political behaviours transferred from our founding colonial masters to our nationalist leaders are part of the problems bedevilling our nation.
The group condemned a situation whereby corrupt Nigerian leaders are given national honours and chieftaincy titles instead of being sent to prison for crimes they’ve committed.
NNEF, however, reiterated that restructuring governance from a federal to a regional system is key to moving Nigeria forward. The group urged Nigerians to take advantage of The Rebirth Group (TRG), a source for the kind of collegiate leadership required for Nigeria to move forward.
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