- Pastor DAYO EKONG Tells City People
The performance of the Labour Party at the recently held 2023 General Election in Lagos state has continued to receive commendation. The party had a good show by challenging the status quo and putting All Progress Congress, the ruling party on their toes during the polls. The results of the Presidential and governorship elections are evident and speak volumes of the party’s emergence and rise to become a force to reckon with in national and state politics. The Labour Party in Lagos state gave APC a run for their money as the ruling party now knows it is no longer business as usual for them or a walk in the park.
Few days ago, a reputable International NGO, Centre for Values and Ethics Self Value Orientation (CESVO), promoting ethical leadership, exposing corruption, ethical education and value re-orientation of global citizens, presented the state chairman of party, Pastor Dayo Ekong, an Award of Corporate Ethics & Integrity. They organisation found Lagos Labour Party under Pastor (Mrs.) Dayo Ekong worthy of the award having passed the integrity test secretly carried on them as they affirmed that the party has done remarkably well and covered itself in glory. Meanwhile, Pator Ekong and the party’s the party’s state secretary, Chief Samuel Okpala were awarded certificate of Ethical Conduct/Leadership Compliance and Professional Ethics Compliance Awards (PECA) certificate respectively.
City People Reporter, JAMIU ABUBAKAR who attended the award presentation interviewed Pastor (Mrs.) Dayo Ekong on how she has been running since she assumed office on January 10, 2023. Below are the excerpts:
How do you feel as your party, Labour Party, bagged an Award of Corporate Ethics & Integrity today?
I feel excited. I feel happy and I feel elated. It’s an honour well deserved. What I stand for in the Labour Party is being a party coming to change the narrative of governance in Nigeria. I’m not surprised but I’m also happy that we still have people with integrity. People who know the right thing to do in terms of honouring those who are working. Irrespective of their financial strength. What we have done in Nigeria so far is that we honour money above integrity. We honour money above good leadership. We put money first. But for these people to have recognized us and what I stand for in the Labour Party is what they are appreciating because Nigeria deserves better. The only way a new Nigeria will emerge is when people see what is right and what is good and they appreciate it.
What does the award mean to you and the party?
The honest truth is that for this award, when the man called me, I had a missed feeling that; “I hope it’s not one of these people that sell awards.” You know we have a lot of them in Nigeria when they will go after you because of what they can get. They are not even in Lagos but when the man said “please madam, we don’t need your money. We have whistleblowers all over the 36 states of the federation and we did our comparative analysis to really know the kind of political leaders in our society. We find out that you happen to be a leader with integrity and transparency. That my leadership is that which is so transparent to all concerned. At that stage, I had to pause and I said okay, this is not what I think. It’s a different thing. Let me give them the chance to express themselves and let me hear them out.
Since your emergence as the state chairman of the Labour Party, how have you been coping with running the party?
My leadership skill is not a new thing to me. As a Pastor in CLAM, you can go and verify, I have always led people and I carry them along. I’m a leader that looks at people’s skills and sees where their strong points are. Then I help them to develop it. and what Nigerians need right now is not leaders that are worthy of emulation with the fear of God in them. A leader that has a conscience. A leader that would feel the plight of the masses. Like I always tell people and my excos; every Nigerian deserves to be treated equally. Equality in the sense that we look at your capacity, your competence and based on that we encourage you to go further in life. But when you are a leader and it’s all about loyalty without having people who are competent enough to do the right thing then you will fail as a leader. So, I’m a non-partial leader. I take people and I try to ensure that they are not taken for granted and they are able to do the right thing. When I came in on the 10th of January, I was supposed to hold a meeting with the excos but we had something lacking and that was the uploads of the polling unit agents which was not done by my predecessor. So, instead of wasting time having meetings, all I did is that we all had to move in and start loading as soon as the portal was opened to us. We started loading our polling unit because my priority is not about razz matters surrounding the chairmanship position. It’s about what your goals are. I always admonish my excos that look; let your work speak for you instead of you going on the air boasting and making noise. So, whenever I’m going into any assignment, I always set goals in my mind which helps me to achieve tangible results. So that I would impact others.
How were you able to cope in politics being a church leader?
I was a student activist in my University days. I broke a record that nobody has ever broken when I was in Yola. I became the first female Vice President of the student’s union. Even when we had the alumni, ABU branch and I introduced myself as the first female Vice President of the Union, they said; nobody has broken the record after you. So I have always been an activist since school in the student union. So, it is not strange to me.
What is your description of an ideal politics?
Ideal politics is what our principal his excellency Peter Obi stands for. Politics should be about the people rather than himself. It should be about giving others a better life. A better opportunity for a better lifestyle. That is what my own ideology is about. I got more determined when we were doing the grassroots campaigns. We went around and I saw the kind of slums I have never seen in my life. I said; how can people be leaving this way?” And unfortunately for them, they give more votes than other constituencies. I went to Alimosho, I went to Ajeromi Ifelodun, I went to Ajegunle, I went to Ojo, we went to Badagry and you could start wondering what sorts of leaders are these that cannot even put in some small considerations into the lifestyles of human beings. In this country we don’t have good healthcare for them. For example in Alimosho, because I also run an NGO to take care of widows and single mothers, and I realised that a lot of the widows are worried. When we had meetings with them, we got to know that when they fall ill, they become helpless. They don’t even have money to feed, they barely have money to run their business and honestly, it brought tears to my eyes. So I told them to register. We registered them and as I speak a lot of them are enjoying the health insurance I gave to them. I think leaders in Nigeria are so selfish, they are so greedy and all they think about is themselves. A lot of them have solved their conscience to the devil as far as I’m concerned because they are not concerned about the people. And when you want to lead, the people you are leading should come first, not you. What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? That is what I expect every leader to always think about. Everybody deserves a better lifestyle including the leaders but not at other people’s detriment. With the kind of money Lagos state makes, people deserve a better life. People deserve to be able to open taps in their homes and get drinkable water. People deserve at least 18 hours of power supply. People deserve good and motorable roads. A man of the people and leader of excellence should be able to put the people first.
How easy was it for you and the party to convince people to join the movement for change?
If I tell you the level of corruption in Nigeria is a walk over, then I’m lying. That’s exactly what happens during elections. People are so used to easy money and they don’t want to give room to other people doing the right thing. It is not an easy thing. Even within, we have the bad eggs, we have the corrupt ones that on a daily basis, you have to fight. But, I believe so much that irrespective of how corrupt the country is, we would get there because you as a leader should show exemplary behaviour. They would be people that will emulate you and gradually we would get there. You have to show your followers that it is not all about money but a better living standard for the people.
The result at the last general election tells a lot about how formidable the Labour party has become in Lagos, how did you achieve this?
Nigerians are tired of an ineffective government. They are tired of a government that did not put the people first. The Labour Party came out to change the narrative especially with the inception of Peter Obi coming into the Labour Party. The party represents a new dawn changing the narrative of the old order to a new order. Unfortunately, the way people came out during the presidential election despite the several attacks and suppression. We saw what happens when the people speak. The people came out with their PVC to bring about a change. And when they realised this, it became a rude shock to them that something that nobody has achieved in 24 years. Remember the Labour Party is a movement ordained by God. I keep telling people, you cannot fight God and win. They might think they have won but they haven’t. They want to silence people’s voices, but they cannot because at the end of the day when push comes to show, we will know who is who. And we are not going to keep quiet. That is the truth. We will continue because we are determined to bring about a new Nigeria. A new Nigeria that our youths would look at and say thank God I belong to this country. Let’s face it, which country will accommodate Nigerians? It’s going to be difficult. A country with a population of over 200 million people! And there’s no place better than home. For me, this is home. Out of 9 siblings, all of them have foreign passports, but I don’t. I believe in Nigeria. As an activist in school in the early 80s, I have always believed and preached that Nigerians deserve better. You can verify from people who went to school with me back then. It wasn’t even this bad then but I was able to see that if we continue like this, it’s just a matter of time for the doom’s day to knock at our door. But here now, it is even worse.
What are the lessons learnt from the 2023 general elections?
We learnt one truth that politics is not war but leaders turn politics to war. We realised that the so-called opposition who are meant to protect the people went after them to intimidate and suppress them. That is not the kind of politics we want in Nigeria. I really want to commend the obi-dient family because they showed them that it is not all about money all the time. Money failed the politicians and that was why they resulted in the horrendous attack that we experienced during the last elections. But we are not giving up on our oars, we’ll continue to fight. I can tell you that with the suppression and everything, they made a big mistake because the kind of people that have joined the Labour Party, even after the election, is unbelievable. Youths are more determined than ever because they believe in the cause they are fighting for. And a lot of them, en masse, are registering with the Labour Party. Those who didn’t want to be identified with the Labour Party are now coming out to say look, I need the membership card of the Labour party and they have joined. That speaks volume to me.
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