2023: I’m joining partisan politics, ready to mobilise 40m votes – Hamzat Lawal

Technocrat Media | Abuja

Hamzat Lawal, founder of Follow The Money and chief executive of Connected Development (CODE) has declared his intention to play partisan politics going forward.

Mr Lawal disclosed this on Saturday at a symposium marking his 35^th birthday in Abuja.

The symposium was tagged ‘The Man. The Journey. The Transition,’ he said his transiting from being a youth to the older generation.

“At 35, according to the African Youth Charter, I’m no longer a youth – though, I’m still a young person,” he said.

According to Mr Lawal, his influence  built over the years will extend beyond civil society advocacy, adding that he and some friends have come together and launched the ‘Green Nigeria Movement’, a political initiative that will mobilise 40 million votes for the 2023 general election.

He said: “I, Hamzat Lawal, from today will play partisan politics.”

“I have power that I’ve built. I have influence; I have credibility; I have friends from around the world and you want me to use this to just do civil society alone? No. Nigeria cannot go down on her knees when we have people like you and me.

“With the Green Nigerian Movement, we have committed that we will mobilise 40 million votes. Yes, that is a lot of work. There is no democratically elected president in Nigeria that has gotten 40 million votes, but then again, we cannot make the change if we don’t change the dynamics of how things are done.

“I cannot do it alone. The Green Nigeria Movement cannot do it alone. We need each and every one of you. We will not agonise, rather we will consolidate. We will organise and mobilise, but most importantly, we will educate the people at the grassroots to understand the power that they hold.

“Each and everyone of us, as we mobilise and organise, we can decide who becomes the next president of the Federal Republic Republic of Nigeria.”

The CODE boss added that as he turns 35, he will dedicate his time to building the next generation of emerging young leaders.

He announced his plan to on launch the ‘Ewah Eleri School of Leadership’, named after his mentor. He said the school will admit 20 young Nigerians annually to spend time at Afikpo to learn leadership skills from Ewah Eleri.

“I am transitioning and investing my time to building the next generation of emerging young leaders. So today, I’m launching the mentorship initiative in honour of Ewah Eleri and it will be called The Ewah Eleri Leadership School,” he said.

“Every year, I will carefully select 20 young people who will travel to Afikpo in Ebonyi state from across Nigeria to go and learn from Ewah.”

“The knowledge and wisdom he transferred into me; I want to create that opportunity for other young people.”

Mr Lawal encouraged youths to quit complaining and begin actively seeking leadership opportunities. “Don’t agonize, let’s come together to change the dynamics. Where Nigeria is today is what we had allowed,” he said.