By Cyriacus Nnaji
Socio-cultural organization, Crusaders Club of Nigeria, has urged Nigerians to eschew ethnic, religious, political and tribal differences and close ranks with the government and security agencies in the effort at returning peace to the country.
Speaking on the sidelines during the 2021 National Convention of the Club held at Royal View Hotel in Lagos recently, the General Overseer (G.O) of the Club, Chief Nonso Onwuamaegbu said the situation in the country calls for concerted efforts and patriotism on the part of political leaders.
“The situation in the country is much tensed not because it is man-made; it is ethnic and tribal-induced. What Nigeria needs is peace, and we need leaders to start preaching peace instead of making divisive comments. We need ethnic groups to underscore the need to work in synergy to bring peace back to Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s biggest problem now is that we have ethnic and sectional leaders who believe more on their ethnic nationalities than in the unity and greatness of the Nigerian nation. Nigeria does not need leaders who believe in the superiority of their ethnic groups above the Nigerian nation. We need cooperation and unity in Nigeria,” Onwuamaegbu said.
On the activities of Crusaders Club of Nigeria, the G.O. said the Club has a lot of programmes it plans to embark upon that would impact on the larger society. “We have programmes in the areas of welfare, education, hospitality, and health, depending on the priorities attached to those programmes,” he said.
Onwuamaegbu noted that the Convention was a rebirth of a world-class Club that began on a high note and with great enthusiasm but somewhere along the line, lost the steam as a result of contact loss amongst members.
“We founded this Club when we were virtually nothing in the society but now, by the grace of God, we have grown and are all doing well in our various fields of endeavour and therefore, are ready to take the bull by the horns. It’s a Club borne out of the desire to offer help to each other. We are happy to have this number of people in attendance at the meeting today.
“We have currently as members, accomplished people in their various fields of endeavours. We expect that in the next five years, Crusaders Club will assume its rightful place in Nigeria, producing or help in producing the kind of leaders we are all craving for in the country,” Onwuamaegbu said.
In a similar vein, a founding member of the Club and Chief host of this year’s Convention, Barrister Tahill Ochi described Crusaders Club as a group of like minds who came together over 20 years ago as friends with the sole purpose of helping each other in their businesses and life endeavours.
“Crusaders Club is a group of like minds who came together some 20+ years ago and started talking about how to help ourselves, and we have been doing that over the years. We are happy that we have come together once more. Some people have not seen each other in the last 20 years but you can see the massive number that came for this Convention today.
“After the birth of this Club, everybody left in search of something better to build their lives. Some went into politics, some into business and some went into government. Thank God to social media that made it possible for us to begin to re-establish contacts. And that is what has culminated today in what you see as the Convention.”
On where the Club will be in the next five years, Ochi who is a former local government chairman was upbeat about the future of the Club especially in the area of making available the human resources needed to fill in the leadership positions required in the country.
“We expect to see this Club produce governors, senators, and leading business tycoons across the country. What we are actually doing in this Club too is to raise the consciousness of our members for them to know that there is a need to serve the people, not just about money,” he said.
Ochi disclosed that as a socio-cultural Club, it is going to address the nation soon and proffer its own solutions to the avalanche of insecurity challenges bedeviling the country, noting that insecurity in the country did not start today.
“Insecurity did not start in Nigeria today, something caused it. There is poverty, lack of education, unemployment all over the country; and these are some of the factors responsible for insecurity in the country. Nigeria has derailed for a very long time. But we shall certainly offer our own help to curb it or possibly eliminate it.
“The fight against insecurity should start from our families, our communities because we know ourselves better. Criminals come from somewhere, not from heaven. Therefore, traditional rulers, community leaders, and political leaders have a lot to do because all of us should be involved in the fight against insecurity,” Ochi stated.
