Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
Nigerians will next month witness the launch in the country of a new pressure group with the sole objective to make it practically impossible for President Olusegun Obasanjo to remain a day longer in office after his present term expires on May 29, 2007.
Nigerians will next month witness the launch in the country of a new pressure group with the sole objective to make it practically impossible for President Olusegun Obasanjo to remain a day longer in office after his present term expires on May 29, 2007.
Known as the Obasanjo-Must-Vacate-Aso-Rock-Come-2007 (OMVARC-2007), the organization is said to be a mass movement with membership drawn from all the segments of the society and cutting across religious and ethnic divide.
The national coordinator of the group, Barrister Olusegun Bamgbose, told Daily Sun the launch would be staged in a yet to be decided venue in the South-West geo-political zone to prove to Nigerians and the world that even the people of the area where the president hails from are not in support of the so called third term bid.
He said members of the group had, in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians, resolved to take appropriate steps to halt the third term bid because it was capable of breeding and promoting terrorism and secession in the country.
"It is our belief that President Obasanjo is a tenant in Aso Rock and his rent expires on May 29, 2007 and it is not renewable. Nigerians will not renew that contract no matter what. He has had his time and there are many other Nigerians who can continue the job and even do better than him. So, he has to go at the appropriate time", he stated.
Even when many Nigerians would argue that President Obasanjo has performed well in office, Bamgbose stressed that that did not remove the desirability of a change in the country's leadership come 2007. He expressed regret that "a once loved and respected leader" had allowed himself to be despised by his own people as a result of his inordinate ambition.
"We are of the opinion in our group that this third term thing will breed and promote terrorism in the country. You can see what is happening in the South-South now. It is evidently clear that if he tries to elongate his stay beyond 2007, secession is inevitable and that is the truth.
"The whole country is in crisis and the only way out of it is for President Obasanjo to bow out honourably when he serves out his term. We need a change of government to forestall civil war and other calamities in this country. He cannot continue to stay against the will of majority of Nigerians. A popular principle in family law is that you cannot force a willing wife on an unwilling husband", he further pointed out.
Bamgbose said it was the responsibility of every Nigerian to prevent the president from embarking on the third term bid which he dubbed suicide mission. He particularly called on leader of the Conference of all Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) to convene without further delay a conference of the CNPP to deliberate on the vexatious issue of third term and take a position.
He also stressed the necessity for world leaders like President George Bush of the United States and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain to take more than a mere interest in the planned constitutional review which he said has as its major target the accommodation of a third term for President Obasanjo because of their avowed commitment to fighting terrorism in the world.
"If President Bush and his British counterpart, Mr. Tony Blair, say they are against terrorism, then they must show concern in what is about to happen in Nigeria because it will definitely breed terrorism. We expect them to be able to discourage President Obasanjo from wanting to continue in office", he pointed out.
The OMVARC-2007 coordinator said his group had already worked out seven ways for adoption in their campaign to stop the president, among which are prayers, sustained media campaigns, persuasion, use of CNPP forum and effective public enlightenment. He expressed strong conviction that the president would not survive the onslaught to be unleashed on him.
But if the group's efforts fail to yield result, Bamgbose told Nigerians to expect God to intervene in His special way. "I can assure you there will be a divine intervention. God has always had a way of rescuing Nigeria from total disintegration and it will not be any different this time around", he added