The Journey So Far! -By Richard Olanrewaju Odusanya

After the defeat of the malevolent third term gambit; the then President Olusegun Obasanjo embarked on a series of undemocratic activities leading to sham election in 2007, under the supervision of Prof. Maurice Iwu. Thankfully, the greatest beneficiary of that election President Umaru Musa Yar’adua of blessed memory in his inauguration speech admitted that the election that brought him to power was completely flawed, less than credible and subsequently put in place, the JUSTICE MOHAMMED UWAIS electoral reform committee. This is the very foundation of our current status today.

“Africa’s biggest problem is its leadership deficits and we the people who accept the status quo.”

Having given serious thoughts to this and how to better the lot of Nigerians and indeed, Africa as a whole, the birth of LEADERSHIP RESCUE INITIATIVE, a fully blown advocacy group came to fruition.

LEADERSHIP RESCUE INITIATIVE LRI ACHIEVEMENTS at a glance.

To  redress the anomalies of the past years and begin a new journey of national rebirth, we wrote to the leadership of the 7th National Assembly and copied the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in a petition dated 8th April, 2013.

The petition was further taken to the international arena at different fora, this resulted in the refund of billions of dollars fraudulently taken from Nigeria under the guise of Paris club debt. The Ajaokuta Steel Industry was also recovered back through this approach. 

Leadership Rescue Initiative LRI submitted a comprehensive RESTRUCTURING plan to the Confab 2014

The Leadership Rescue Initiative also hosted the first year memorial anniversary of Prof. Chinua Achebe in London where His Lordship, the Bishop of Canterbury, Bishop Justin Welby gave the keynote speech.

THE BIRTH OF AFRICA COVENANT RESCUE INITIATIVE (ACRI).

On the 25th of September 2015, the then Prime minister of Britain, David Cameron while delivering his address at the United Nations General Assembly, identified political and violent crisis as the root cause of extreme poverty in Africa and subsequently made a submission that attracted immediate reaction which gave birth to ACRI. Thereafter, I put a call through to the servant of God, Bishop David Oyedepo who then graciously agreed to a meeting immediately after my arrival back in the country. I was privileged to spend the Christmas period with him in the countryside Omu-Aran in company of Prof. Jonathan Aremu, a former Vice Chancellor and Pro Chancellor of the COVENANT UNIVERSITY (CU) and LANDMARK UNIVERSITY. The birth of  ACRI commences from the meeting at the MANDATE house, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria on 25 of Dec 2015.

JUNE 12 DEMOCRACY DAY.

The task of uniting a deeply polarized country like Nigeria became a major task and the first litmus test for ACRI. I began a nationwide consultation with critical stakeholders in the NIGERIAN project and came to the conclusion that June 12 must be revisited and that fate was achieved with serious resistance and stepping on toes.
I will like to recognize the support and inputs of following institutions and personalities in bringing this to realization; The leadership of the 8th National Assembly headed by H.E, Distinguished Sen. Bukola Saraki, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim former Senate President/SGF, H.E Dr. Okwi Nwodo, Malam Garba Shehu, Bashorun Dele Momodu and a host of other patriotic fellow compatriots too numerous to mention.

I thank the Federal Government of Nigeria for accepting to effect the change for our Democracy Day Celebration as occasioned by the strong conviction and efforts of ACRI.

In the coming days, ACRI will get a lot more visible in it’s pursuits of better life for all through our advocacy and programs.

watch out!