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Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria and leader/chairman of the ongoing revolution for true social, economic and political change in Nigeria, the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), has said that for the avoidance of doubt, the movement was ‘The 3rd Force’ recently spoken about by a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. Agbakoba, who told BDSUNDAY in an exclusive interview that about 2 million Nigerians had already lent their support for the mission of the movement through their voluntary online registration, explained that the aim of the movement was to deepen democracy, encourage citizen-participation and strengthen democratic institutions.
The renowned property lawyer and former national president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), who recently returned to the country after an extensive consultations with Nigerians in Diaspora and a variety of global leaders desirous of seeing a secure Nigeria re-attain democratic leadership in Africa and reliability as a member of the 21st Century’s progressive international comity of nations, said that the movement was targeting about 30 million Nigerians.
Recall that Agbakoba was accompanied on the journey by Abdul Jhali Tafawa Balewa, NIM co-chairman.
BDSUBDAY gathered that since their return, further nationwide consultations have been on with all like-minded Nigerian leaders and groups; with the intent of partnering in the creation of a super-coalition of groups and parties determined to bring about “real sustainable change to the present politico-economic status quo, and betterment of the lives of Nigerians nationwide, with special emphasis on establishing a compass to liberate and empower Nigeria’s teeming millions of neglected youths and women.”
Below is a brief interaction between the NIM leader and BDSUNDAY:
What possibilities do you see in SDP-NIM merger?
There is no possibility. NIM is an issues-based movement. SDP is a political organisation. Our objectives are different. Our intention at NIM is to bring about a generational shift in leadership. We are focused on deepening democracy, encouraging citizen-participation and strengthening democratic institutions. This however, does not mean members of NIM cannot belong to political parties or support political parties that share our objectives.
Will any form of merger with any political party berth the long-awaited Third Force?
NIM is already the Third Force. NIM has demonstrated that there can be an alternative to PDP and APC.
In 2015, APC, which was a new party, sacked the PDP touted to be the biggest party in Africa, which had also spent 16 years in power. Now, what are the prospects of the Third Force given the fact that the APC, as a incumbent, may have mustered everything it needs to withstand any opposition and to perpetuate itself in power?
The prospects are good. Our target is to mobilise 30 million young Nigerians to register for the election.
About 2million Nigerians are said to have registered with NIM; with the pace of registration/signing on, do you think that NIM will be able to mobilise a number that can sack the APC in 2019?
Of course! Like Donald Trump, we already have a base – The over 30 million young Nigerians who are unemployed or underemployed and have been disenfranchised from the electoral process. They are registering and the numbers are growing daily.
Given the time frame, are you hoping to make an impact in 2019, under whatever name, or you just want to first make an impression now for the sake of it, until next general election after 2019?
Certainly! We will make an impact in 2019 and in future elections.
Why do you think Nigerians should leave PDP, APC or any other party to adopt any party that may arise from NIM?
The answer is obvious. They have failed.
