As Nigeria marked its Democracy Day, Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State issued a clarion call for the emergence of a new generation of nationalists willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the nation’s future.

Speaking at The Platform, a national thought-leadership forum organised by The Covenant Nation in Lagos, Soludo urged patriotic citizens to rise up and take ownership of the Nigerian project, just as the nationalists of old fought for independence from colonial rule.

“We must intentionally raise a critical mass of what I call ‘new Nigerians’—those who believe in the country and, if necessary, are ready to sacrifice their lives for her,” the governor said. “No nation has prospered sustainably without a critical mass of patriotic, vigilant, and actively participatory citizens.”

Soludo’s address went beyond patriotic fervor to critique the ideological bankruptcy of Nigeria’s current political class. He lamented that Nigeria’s modern political parties have become platforms for opportunism rather than vehicles of conviction or ideology.

“Today, what we effectively have is one party—Nigerian Elite PLC—whose sole objective is to grab power and govern based on convenience,” Soludo said, referencing the lack of ideological distinctions among dominant parties like the APC and PDP. “Can you tell an APC-controlled state from a PDP-controlled one?”

Recalling the ideological clarity of Nigeria’s Second Republic (1979–1983), Soludo cited the distinct programs of parties such as the UPN, NPN, and PRP, which were identifiable by their policies—ranging from free education and healthcare to rural development and mass housing. In contrast, he noted, modern parties lack coherent principles and have no intellectual wings or policy identities.

He also pointed to the formation of the APC as a political “marriage of convenience” lacking a unifying ideology, even after over a decade of holding power at the federal level. “It’s time the APC—and all parties—define and commit to strong ideological foundations,” he said.

Soludo proposed a realignment of Nigeria’s left-of-center parties—including APGA, Labour Party, SDP, NNPP, PRP, and others—into a new Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) ahead of the 2027 elections. Drawing lessons from the past, he stressed that such an alliance must field a single presidential candidate to avoid the pitfalls of 1983.

Beyond political reform, the governor emphasized the urgent need for ethical rebirth and mass social re-engineering. “We need not just new politics, but new Nigerians,” he said. “The struggle to lift Nigeria out of underdevelopment will fail without this new generation of patriotic citizens.”

He concluded with a rhetorical challenge to the audience: “So, let the new nationalists—those willing to die for Nigeria—raise their hands. Aha! Predictably, very few. Very few indeed. And that is telling.”

Soludo stressed that for change to be sustainable, Nigerians must be given a real stake in the future through meaningful investments in human development, national ideology, and values-driven leadership.