[BEING THE TEXT OF A PRESS STATEMENT BY THE PROTEST TO POWER GROUP AND INTERIM NATIONAL ORGANISING SECRETARIAT OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR SOCIALIST RECONSTRUCTION (DPSR) ON THE OCCASION OF 14 YEARS OF RETURN TO CIVIL RULE: MAY 29TH 2013]

Precisely a year ago, we had observed the sorry state of the situation of our country, how precariously close to the brink of autarky we have been brought by this ruling class of ours. We observed then that the salvation of our country, its national liberation from imperial and global domination of capital; and the collective social self emancipation of the our people, depends on the organisation and mobilisation of qualitatively new political platform, to Take Back Nigeria from these Vagabonds In Power.
It is instructive to note that as a federation in all of the 14 years following the end of military rule, more than N100tn has accrued to the country in revenues and has been supposedly expended in public investments in combined annual budgets at Federal, State and LGA levels. In spite of these truly humongous levels of revenue and public investment, the condition of living and existence of ordinary citizens have declined steeply, and life has become truly brutish for the growing numbers of poor and exploited working peoples.

Everything that has happened in the last one year has further aggravated rather than mitigate the situation. Poverty continues to grow in leaps and bounds –now up to 70%, up from 54% in 2000; unemployment continues to rise steeply–now about 35% in the general population, and about 50% among youths; while hopelessness and homelessness continue to be the lot of the teeming mass of our people.

And rather than implement policies to mitigate these conditions, the ruling class at all levels of governance and regardless of their political party affiliations, have continued to make life and living more difficult for us; demolishing the communities of the poor and evicting them from their homes, criminalizing the livelihoods of the poor and harassing them as they seek to make a living; while helping themselves to very generous portions of our collective wealth at all levels.

As a ruling class it is collectively implicated in the monumental and truly historic levels of corruption [at 50% of annual budgets, and more than 50% of extra budgetary finance/resources]; as well as in the epochal scale and scope of national and individual insecurity.

Its pillage of our wealth (at a conservative Theft Rate of over 250bn Naira per month) is such that as a country we now have one of the highest levels of gaps between the rich and poor [with the top wealthiest 10% of the population owning 41% of national wealth, while the bottom 20% of the population only own 4% of national wealth]. Furthermore its direct complicity in the level, scale and scope of armed violence and insecurity in the country is such that as a class, it is implicated in the direct organising and arming of youth groups as political private armies in their deleterious and harmful competition for access to our national wealth and the levers of looting and pillage.

It has therefore become even more incumbent on us as a people and as citizens, the victims of their misrule and treasury looting, to get ourselves organised, turn our grief into anger, and convert our anger into political action. It is up to us to organise new political platforms independent of this ruling class and its various factions, and also autonomous of individual politicians and Godfathers.

This Nigeria Ruling Class cannot lead the process of radical transformation of our country; none of its factions can undertake a national development program that will have at its core a redistribution of wealth that will ensure a more equitable distribution and access to collective wealth.

The national liberation of our country from global capitalist dependence, and the social emancipation of our peoples require a truly grand, historical, and radical social program in scope and scale. It requires such a level of radical rupture from our present that only truly autonomous social forces can implement it.

And as the 2015 general elections approach, we fear that the level and scale of treasury looting and insecurity will increase, endangering national unity and stability.

We call on all Nigerians to join us in rejecting this vision and program of doom for Nigeria by its ruling class; and collectively organise an alternative political platform to TAKE BACK NIGERIA. We call on you to join platforms that embark on truly participatory democracy to restore dignity in citizenship. We call on Nigerians to restore a place for government to fulfill its role of providing basic infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity, which are the only bases for private sector to operate meaningfully, responsibly and profitably. The Take Back Nigeria platform is committed to seeing this happen and we ask Nigerians to join us.

ISSUED BY THE INTERIM NATIONAL ORGANISING SECRETARIAT DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR SOCIALIST RECONSTRUCTION [DPSR]:

· KENNETH OKOINEME; 08035939033

· YINKA SULEIMAN: 08038083740

· ODOH DIEGO OKENYODO: 08091443322

· OLUWOLE ELEGBEDE: 08033311478

· OLUGBENRO LAJUYIGBE: 08055081933

· TUNDE AREMU: 08023180493

· JAYE GASKIA: 08033105107