Today, I was pleased to host leaders, colleagues, and associates of the old Alliance for Democracy (AD) at a reunion in Abuja. The gathering brought together distinguished founding members and political leaders from across the country who played significant roles in the democratic struggle and in laying the foundations of our present democratic dispensation.
As many will recall, when we began this democratic dispensation in 1998/1999, Nigeria had only three political parties. It was during that period that I started my political journey as the founding State Chairman of the AD and later served as its National Legal Adviser.
I was honoured to receive some of the founding figures of the AD, including one of its founding fathers, Chief Michael Odurinde; Prof. Udenta Udenta, the founding National Secretary of the AD; and Dr. Manzo Abubakar, former Protem National Publicity Secretary and leader of the AD’s Northern Caucus, among many others.
We were delighted to relive old times and share memories of our collective efforts to lay the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy. The AD was an ideological and principled party. As I noted during our discussions, my experience in the AD and my involvement in the Ijaw and Niger Delta movements taught me the art of organising people and groups since 1998, and prepared me for a life of principled opposition politics.
It takes conviction, courage, and a large heart to engage in the kind of politics I have practised over the years and continue to practise today in the NDC. I thank them all for honouring the invitation from the organising committee. We observed a minute of silence in memory of our leaders and colleagues, many of whom have gone to be with their Maker.
They expressed their appreciation for this initiative, which we all agreed was long overdue. We resolved to reconvene, and the organising committee will work out the modalities to ensure that those who were unable to attend this meeting will have the opportunity to participate in future gatherings so we can have a more inclusive meeting.
We have also put in place a system that will enable us to reconnect and communicate regularly, and to encourage those who could not attend due to the shortness of time to be notified ahead of the next meetings. Once again, I thank them all for coming and wish them safe journeys back to their various destinations. – HSD
