Chief Aminat Temitope Ajayi.
Emmanuel kehinde.
One of the United Nations Eminent Peace Ambassadors, Ambassador Chief Aminat Temitope Ajayi, popularly called Mama Diaspora, has called on registered Nigerian electorate, who have not yet collected their Permanent Voter Cards to go out and collect them
She stated that PVC is the fundamental human right of any registered electorate.
He also advocated that all Nigerians must unite as the nation prepares to elect its President and other political officer holders during the forthcoming general elections.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Lagos,she recalled her encounter with the late President-General, the Association of Nigerian Market Women and Men, Mama Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, (MFR, OON) when she was alive.
“Nigerians must be united to have a unifier as President, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, told me”, Mama Diaspora said.
She added that Late Mama Magaji advised that Nigerians must remain united, live harmoniously and ensure that their President must be a unifier, who will carry all the segments of the society along and ensure the progress and development of the country.
Contributing,Chief Ajayi, who is the Iya Adini of Jamsan and Mama Miyetti Allah, recalled that Mama Mogaji, who was the great mother of a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, prayed for Nigeria to be a prosperous country that would lead Africa and the rest of the world out of poverty, ignorance, unemployment, hardship and other challenges.
She stated that the late Mama Mogaji, during her lifetime, was a woman who dedicated a larger part of her adult life to protecting the rights of market men and women. She earned their respect, having succeeded in mobilising them for greatness and innovation, and giving every market person out there a brand to associate with.
According to her, Mama Mogaji lived an eventful and glorious life, a life full of activities, full of fun, full of challenges, and full of gains. “May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace,” she prayed.
Chief Ajayi, who is also the National Coordinator, of Iconic Asiwaju Women of Substance and a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council PCC Grassroots Engagement and Orientation, South West Nigeria, said that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a unifier, who cares for the Nigerian Women and young adults and a candidate, who will ensure that Nigeria remained united.
She added that Tinubu is an achiever and a strategist who will ensure that Nigeria comes out of her current developmental and economic challenges.
She urged the candidates of the different political parties and their supporters, to avoid violence but to understand that they are brothers and sisters before, during and after the elections.
Chief Ajayi, who is also a Forbes Business Council Member, said, “I remember that blessed day when I met with our Late Mama Iyami Iyaloja General H.E Dr Abibatu Mogaji.
“She was just a very unique and lovely mother who revealed an unquenchable desire for the unity and progress of Nigeria. She displayed a great love for the youth, women and men of this country. She told me that Nigeria must ensure that her leaders are unifiers and patriotic, who will advance the nation. It was an unforgettable experience with our Late Mama blessed memories
“I urged the Presidential and other candidates of the different political parties to eschew violence and educate their supporters against embarking on violence. We are brothers and brothers. We will remain brothers and sisters after the elections. We must be united.
“Politics is not a ‘do-or-die affair. We are all one happy family. After the election, we should remain on happy family and one Nigeria.”
She added:“H.E. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu the Jagaban of Borgu; the Jagaban of Africa, the Jagaban of the Universe and the incoming President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the special Grace of the Almighty Living God, is a unifier and a strategist whose political and leadership masterplan will unify Nigerians and lift the country from the doldrums of insecurity, huge debt, unemployment, poverty, lingering fuel scarcity, port congestions, human and capital flight.
“He is a broad-minded person whose national and international contacts and foresight are very much needed for our country at this time. He is the man of the moment for the moment and for the future.”
“As a mother, Mama Diaspora and a senior citizen, I am appealing to all my young adults in particular, I really feel their challenges. Politics is not a do-or-die affair. In a political situation, there must be opposition to make it interesting.
“There must be Obedients, Articulates, Batifieds, Kwankwasos and even Sowores.
“I am so happy that young adults are coming out. I am also appealing that the intellectual properties of young adults be used. They should be appointed as ministers. The young adults are the ones writing their speeches. We are in the technological age. What they know, we do not know it. Let us put them on the table and make them important. You will be shocked at what they will do.
“The election is around the corner. After the election, we will still be one happy family. Tribe should be erased from the Nigerian system. Religious and ethnic sentiments in politics should be erased in Nigeria.
“When I was growing up, in my father’s compound, every tribe was represented and we stayed together. We had Omo-Ibo, Omo-Mallam, Ete, and Nkpatingbati, that is what they called me.
“We all went to school together and we all entered the same bus together while going to school. We were united in diversity. Even now in 2023, when you open a shop, you will not say you will sell to only an Igbo person or what your religion is before you sell to the customer. Let us think deeply. You will not “I am a Yoruba man, I do not want to sell to Fulani or a Hausa, or South-South.
“There should be national unity and people should avoid religious and tribal dichotomy and sentiment. All over the world, In the United States of America, France, China, and even in Ghana, people are not tuned to tribal and religious considerations in politics. You notice the feeling, ‘we all are Chinese, Americans, French or Ghanaians. Nigerians should not be involved in religious and tribal addictions in politics. We should not let young adults inherit it.
“Registered voters who have not collected their PVCs should collect them within the extended time. Some Nigerians do not know the meaning of having a voter’s card. In America, the day you become an American citizen, you will even put the sticker on yourself: ‘I am eligible to vote.’ That is a big deal
“I want Nigerians to embrace that feeling: I am a Nigerian citizen. I have one vote that can determine who is the next Nigerian president.” I want them to have that attitude. In America, nobody buys votes because you have to prove a point ‘Please if you vote for me, this is what I am going to do for you.’ It is what you are going to the for the masses and not what they will get from you before voting for the candidate. It is sad that when I hear some Nigerians say, “How much is he or she going to give to me so that I can vote for him or her.’ It breaks my heart because if you vote for a candidate, everything he promised, he will fulfil it. That is the deal.
“Also, Nigerian women should embrace each other. If Nigerian women wake up today, they will take over this country. Trust me.”
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
