Jothanan Goodluck Owes Us Performances After May ...

By JULIANA TAIWO
Monday, March 28, 2011

Princess Stella Odua-Ogiemwonyi, is the initiator of Neighbour to Neighbour (N2N), and Director, Finance Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation., In this interview, she said her organization is not meant to garner what it can while the political campaigns last and disappear into thin air: N2N is one platform of professionals that would remain active after May 29 to remind Jonathan of his promises to people.” Excerpts:

What is Neigbour to Neigbour about?
Neigbour to Neigbour (N2N) is a grassroots mobilization platform. It connotes that power resides within us and the African culture within us says it takes families, neigbours, different groups of people to make a society better. If you take it within that context that with the power we have within us as individual and collectively as neigbours, we can go afar.
We adopted that we did not conceptualise it because neigbour to neigbour has been an African culture, neigbour to neigbour has been used by Obama and different campaigns. What it does is to solicit and provide advocacy on what needs to be done to make our lives better. We believe that if we come together as a community, as neigbour to articulate what is important and know that the only way that they can make what is wrong in their lives right, their community better is by ensuring that they get involved in the process of governance and the selection of who governs, that is what Neigbour to Neigbour is all about.

How successful have you been with that?
At least I am talking to you which means we are making impact, I believe by the time we are done you will go to your community, your neighbourhood and you will put people together and tell them that you can make a difference. That water that you don’t have, that road that you don’t have, that school that is not good, that security that is not there, you can make a change.
You can come together and elect good governance, elect who will provide you the enabling environment so that tomorrow our children will have good schools to go to and when they come out they will have proper and adequate education. And that road that is dead trapped would be repaired, and that electricity that is so epileptic would be constant, all the things that we want to work, that our children will have quality jobs and generally that we will have a better future and that is what we are canvassing.
We have analysed all the issues that really needs to be changed and who can change it for us and what we believe we need is total transformation of our lives from all the wrongs and so Goodluck Jonathan who happens to be the visionary or the initiator if you like of this particular project Neigbour to Neigbour and we are just the apostles trying to ensure that we spread the message is the one. That transformation is the message this particular plateform is spreading at this point in time, the need for total transformation and the fact that we need to commence that transformation now.

These are not different from the normal promises of politicians every four years, what is the guarantee that this one is different?
Because we are not politicians but professionals, our President is not a career politician, he is a professional and we can also judge by his accomplishments, most of the things he said he would accomplish he has accomplished. And so one can from his antecedents of performance say that yes, he is not a typical politician that would tell you things every four years and end up not doing them. And if I and others who are professionals can go on sabbatical to ensure that we acualise the concept of full and total transformation, then it means is not business as usual.

Is N2N talking to people?
We are going from community to community, we going house to house, we are going estate to estate and we are talking to people. We have cells and so we are in every local government, we are in every ward, we are in every cell which consists of 50 to 100 persons and so we are virtually everywhere and like I said earlier, you are going to be one of our ambassador if you believe in transformation, you will go back to your estate or neigbourhood and form your own cell and tell them of the need for transformation.

What has been the reaction from the field?
Every Nigerian know there is need for transformation. Every Nigerian knows that for us to move forward we need to transform. Transformation is a concept that we have all been waiting for and we thank God that finally it has come. We should all spread the message that we should come together and transform our society, is the only one we have.
How many members do you have?
As at two weeks ago, we had about 25 million. We have an average of about two to five million on a weekly basis and so we are increasing daily.

How did you come about that data?
We have field officers, community officers, we have ward officers, we have local government officers, we have state officers if you look behind you, you will see that we upgrade our database every day. We have verifiable figures because we are documenting our findings.

Who funds this project?
We have volunteers. It is a voluntary organization, the funding doesn’t have to come in form of cash, some have contributed their skills. People understand that volunteering means giving whatever you have to offer, it could be your skills, talents, your time, any resources we accept and we have been getting them in abundance for instance the young man beside you has volunteered his skill without charging us for it which is why we are having this interview right now.
That is wonderful people who desire transformation in the real sense of the word will do whatever they can in their little corner to bring it about.


naijan.com/jonathan-owes-us-performance-after-may-29/