Mrs. Sola Salako Ajulo was rather open with her conversation. Her lecture which centered on ‘Citizens Engagement’, was a straightforward account. 

She said that for 16years of our national life, military regimes have succeeded in preventing the people from actively getting involved in governance. Now that we practice democracy, it’s obvious those years under military regimes have handicapped us. We do not have an active democracy. Rather, what we have is militocracy, a government run by military-blooded men in a politician’s uniform.

Sola Salako Ajulo is a versatile Marketing/Media professional with three decades of professional interaction with corporate and public brands. She is the Founder/President of Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON); a former Commissioner, Lagos State Law Reform Commission and a Consultant and respected Resource on Consumer Rights Issues to various organizations. She is also Co-chair of the Coalition of Nigerian Consumer Associations (CONCA). Here's a snippet from her #PlatformNG session. A call to #GetInvolvedNG

A post shared by The Platform Nigeria (@theplatformnigeria) on May 1, 2018 at 5:58am PDT

She explained that the reason our governing system is the way it is because we have refused to participate in leadership matters in this nation. This buttressed Pastor Poju’s point on learned helplessness during his opening speech.

“We have learnt to be incurably docile in matters of governance. Sadly, our ethnic and religious divisions have become major distraction tools in the hands of the political leadership to take our focus away from those things that matter to nation building.”, said Mrs. Salako. 

She advised that as citizens, we should engage more. Citizens’ engagement in the polity helps put pressure on leadership and force them to deliver on their promises. 

Citizens’ engagement requires that you pay attention to what happens in your community, and make sure you’re speaking to people in authority so they can address the issues that concern them. Keeping quiet keeps the status quo in place, but speaking out through whatever media keeps those at the helm of political leadership on their toes to deliver. It is the way forward to good governance. It is time we got out of our comfort zone, and get involved.

While closing, she admonished everyone present that having a fair grasp of the Nigerian constitution is one of the ways you can get involved. The constitution helps you understand your rights, privileges and duties as a citizen, and also helps you understand how to place a demand on the political leadership and hold them accountable for how the decisions they make affect the lives of those they lead. A lot of the challenges we face as a nation and the solutions to those challenges are contained in the principles of governance and responsible civic duties outlined in the Nigerian Constitution.

“Get familiar with the constitution, use it to hold yourself and those who lead you accountable in the collective duties of good governance, and stop wishing that angels will come from heaven to fix our challenges for us while we do nothing.” She said this as the audience gave her a thunderous clap. 

You can listen to the full speech of Mrs. Sola Salako Ajulo by clicking the link The Platform, Get Involved 04 Sola Salako Ajulo