Gerard Izuora
Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, has said he will run for the presidency in 2019.
Duke revealed his desire in Abuja at the Third Mike Omotosho Annual Lecture, titled: “Mellinials as Protagonists in Nation Building.”
He said: “I am entitled to run for the presidency of this country.
“I am entitled to it.
“Only on right circumstances I will aspire for it.
“I don’t shy away from responsibility, only the right circumstance.
“I will aspire for presidency of this country.
“I have what it takes to be president of this country.”
Duke said the time had come for Nigerians to start projecting the proper with the right known how to lead the country.
He said: “It is high time Nigerians begun to project people with the technical know-how to take the country to the Promised Land.
“I hear young people say to me that why would they spend hours queuing and casting their votes when at the end their votes won’t count.
“And I tell them that if their parents that conceived them never gave up on them considering the high mortality rate, so why would there not take a chance in building this nation?
“We had young leadership at one stage or the other.
“Even in our First Republic, besides the likes of Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, M. T. Mbu was in his twenties when he became a minister.
“Gowon was 30 when he became the head of state.
“It comes back to the disaster therein because most of them didn’t have experience in governance, which led us into war.
“We need the combination of both.
“What I think we should be doing is to a government that is youth friendly to provide opportunities because we need to groom the next set of leadership.
“I don’t know what a definition of failed State is and I don’t want to categorise Nigeria as a failed state yet, however, a state that was unable to provide for its people has faded up.
“So, if we are not there yet, we are walking with our eyes open towards it.
“And we need to pull the hand break now before it gets late.”