Former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, has reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to Nigeria, insisting that surrender is not an option despite the nation’s deepening political, economic and security challenges.

Hashim made the declaration in Abuja during a North Central zonal meeting of the Gbenga Hashim Solidarity Movement, which brought together state coordinators from across the region.

Addressing the gathering, Hashim said Nigeria’s current realities demand steadfast leadership, organised civic engagement and citizens willing to remain involved rather than retreat into apathy or despair. He warned that abandoning the country would amount to handing its future to mediocrity, impunity and misrule.

According to him, national renewal requires discipline, clarity of purpose and sustained grassroots organisation, stressing that meaningful change is never accidental but the product of deliberate and collective effort. He urged coordinators to deepen community-level engagement while remaining anchored to the core values of accountability, justice and national unity.

The meeting reviewed the state of the movement across the North Central zone, assessed ongoing mobilisation efforts and agreed on strategies to strengthen coordination and expand the movement’s reach within the region.

Coordinators in attendance reaffirmed their commitment to the vision of a Nigeria governed by competence, integrity and inclusiveness, pledging to intensify grassroots organisation and political education across their respective states.

In a personal reflection, Hashim recalled that his political advocacy began at the age of 14, when he became a sympathiser of progressive parties of the era.

“We were not of voting age then, but we pasted posters and sang with excitement,” he said. “As a young boy, I engaged an NPN representative to the National Assembly, who was a family friend, in discussions about economic management based on my rudimentary knowledge of economics and government.”

He explained that his early activism set him on the path of advocacy for democracy and good governance, a journey that later led to his detention as a political detainee at about the age of 20.

“Almost 40 years later, we are still standing,” Hashim said. “We will not give up until we see the Nigeria of our dreams, by the grace of God.”

Hashim also urged members to remind Nigerians, particularly the youth, of the country’s past economic strengths and future possibilities.

“Tell the people that in 1966 Nigeria’s economy was twice the size of Malaysia’s and bigger than those of Thailand and Indonesia,” he said. “Remind them that Nigeria once assembled cars and tractors and produced vaccines at the Yaba Vaccine Centre. Let young people know that jobs through industrialisation are possible, as they were before, and that they are not condemned to a life dependent on palliatives. Tell them about our $4 trillion plan for economic transformation.”

The meeting ended with renewed determination among members to strengthen organisation, sustain advocacy and remain firm in the belief that Nigeria can still be rescued through principled leadership and collective action. (Vanguard)

• Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, PDP presidential hopeful

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