Let’s redouble efforts to rescue the North, Dr. Ardo urges LND members
• Says we can only remain passive at our collective peril
The convener of the novel pan-northern elites movement, also called the League of Northern Democrats (LND), Dr. Umar Ardo has urged all members of the league to redouble efforts at salvaging the Frankenstein monster that the North has become before it consumes the entire region.
In a statement reiterating the critical need to take swift action, to stem the tide of the anomie that has become the lot of the region, Ardo said the North can only remain passive at its collective peril.
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Dr. Umar Ardo’s Patriotic Vision: A Selfless Struggle for Northern Unity and Progress
The Full Text of the statement
Dear Distinguished Members of the League of Northern Democrats. I extend my warmest greetings to each and everyone of us as we come together in the spirit of reflection and shared purpose. I also thank and commend each and everyone of us for the dedication and resourcefulness we have all committed and exhibited so far in
our march to meaningfully serve our people and make positive impact in the lives of them all. Let us make no mistake about it, this is a huge and worthy historic sacrifice we are all making, and we should be willing to hold onto it to a successful end for the sake of our people and posterity.
To this end, I appeal to us all to look inward, to remind ourselves of who we are, why we formed the LND, and what we aim to achieve. As elites coming from a wide and varied backgrounds, we did not assemble here by chance, but willfully and conscientiously out of a strong sense of duty and patriotism to our society. We recognize the perilous path our region has taken, and we decided to act in order to reverse this drift and restore the values, unity, peace and prosperity that once defined the lives of our people. On the whole, and in truth, I believe we are a group of patriotic northern elites determined to recreate a meaningful and respectable society for ourselves and for generations yet unborn.
Today, our Northern society is facing unprecedented challenges. There is a near collapse of moral and ethical values – empathy for one another has diminished, and in its place, we see selfishness, greed and corruption taking firm, profound and seemingly permanent root. Public servants have strayed from their roles of service, institutions have weakened, and the result is visible in the pervasive poverty, illiteracy, insecurity, conflict and violent crimes that plague our communities.
We came together with the intention to effect positive change, to restore dignity
and societal order through sound ideas, good advice, public enlightenment and the objective of entrenching responsible leaderships. There is an urgent need to entrench for our people leaderships that will incentivize character and talent while building an ethical, merit-based society. This means recognizing and rewarding excellence, regardless of background, and seeking out individuals of integrity and capability, wherever they may be. Our leaderships must be rooted in virtue, fairness and justice, in service to the greater good of our people.
We recognize that for this vision to become a reality, we cannot afford to be passive as the mission requires more than just our good intentions – it demands our active participation and unwavering commitment! If we do not act ourselves, no one else will act for us. And if we delay any further, we risk the complete collapse of our society – on us and on the generations to come! If we, as elites of good standing, fail to act then the disintegration we are witnessing and fearful of will not only persist but worsen, leaving nothing for our children but a society in ruins. God forbid, but if it happens none of us will be without blame. Since we recognized this dire situation and decided to do something about it, we must persist in our efforts to a logical conclusion. Everyone of us must take an active role in helping do his or her bit, and allow the rest for God Almighty to shape the desired future.
But we must be the ones to lead by example, to confront the critical issues facing us, and to inspire others by our commitment to the cause. The weight of our responsibility is no doubt immense, but so too is our capacity to make a difference. Together, we can create the change we seek – it only requires each one of us to step forward, to lend our time, our resources and our collective wisdom to the goal! The future of Northern Nigeria, and indeed our entire country, rests in our hands. Let us not falter. I appeal to all of us to further commit ourselves wholeheartedly with the clear knowledge that the salvation of Northern Nigeria will lead to the salvation of Nigeria, of Africa and of the Blackman the world over. Let us, therefore, with unity of purpose, act to restore our society to the values and standards we know it is capable of
achieving. What we have started may seem small, but the impact of its success will be enormous; and the consequence of its failure will also be catastrophic. Our future and the future of our children depend on us.
Dr. Umar Ardo (Ph.D)
Convener
League of Northern Democrats.
