•Chief Emeka Anyaoku
The Patriots, a group of senior Nigerian citizens and professionals led by the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has expressed deep concerns about the prevalent killings and kidnappings as a result of banditry going on in the nation, including poverty among the citizens.
The eminent group made this known in a communique issued after a meeting in Lagos today.
The communique jointly signed by Anyaoku and Veteran Olawale Okunniyi, Chairman and Secretary-General, respectively, and made available to The Frontier, stated that: “We expressed our serious concern over the unabated killings, kidnappings and the sacking by bandits of communities from their homes and ancestral lands in many parts of the country including especially in the North East, North West, and North Central and most recently in the South West zones.”
The Patriots also expressed their concern at the fact that the level of poverty affecting the Nigerian masses, especially in the rural areas, remains unacceptably high, and therefore called on the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, to set up a special committee to advise it on measures to be taken to deal with the different ramifications of the security and economic crises.
Read the full statement below (unedited):
COMMUNIQUE OF THE PATRIOTS
Thursday, 21st May, 2026
Lagos, Nigeria
The Patriots at our meeting today held extensive discussion on the state of the nation and thereafter issued the following statement.
The Patriots wish to reiterate that we deliberate and act as a non-partisan group of experienced Nigerians who are committed to the entrenchment of one country that is governed by its democratic people’s constitution.
We expressed our serious concern over the unabated killings, kidnappings and the sacking by bandits of communities from their homes and ancestral lands in many parts of the country including especially in the North East, North West, and North Central and most recently in the South West zones.
The Patriots noted with anguish that the numbers of people being driven into the camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been growing and that more and more farmers are unable to go to their farms thereby increasing the threat of serious food insecurity in the country.
In the view of the Patriots the federal government should now treat insecurity as a national protection, governance and economic survival crisis deserving the setting up of a special committee to advise it on measures to be taken to deal with the different ramifications of the crisis.
The Patriots, while acknowledging that the Federal Government has introduced reforms which are stabilizing the economy and improved the macroeconomic prospects of the country, also expressed their concern at the fact that the level of poverty affecting the masses especially in the rural areas remains unacceptably high with, according to the National Bureau of Statistics about 63% of the population being multidimensional poor.
The Patriots reaffirmed their view which was strongly underscored by the national summit convened by them in Abuja in July 2025 that was attended by many representatives of women, youth and the main cultural organizations from all the country’s six geopolitical zones, that the myriad challenges facing Nigeria can only be effectively addressed by replacing the country’s present governing system derived from the 1999 constitution which was imposed on the country by the military regime, with a governance system to be derived from a new democratic people’s constitution produced by an assembly of representatives specifically elected on non-party basis to do so by the citizens of Nigeria.
With the approaching 2027 national elections, the Patriots decried the absence of ideologically based politics among the country’s political parties resulting in constant defections of elected representatives from theirs to other political parties thereby confirming the untoward belief that political parties are no more than platforms for seeking power and beneficial public offices.
The Patriots urged all the contending political parties to conduct their campaigns on the basis of issues rather than personal vitriolic attacks.
Finally, the Patriots called on the Nigerian electorate to vote in 2027 for the candidates of the political parties whose manifestoes contain a clear commitment to the restructuring of the country’s present governance system.
The Patriots concluded by stressing the fact to the Federal Government, to INEC and to all concerned at the State and Local Government levels that they should know that the international community will be watching to pass a judgment on the entire conduct of the 2027 national elections.
The Patriots also expressed concern and worries about the high cost of seeking public offices and electoral participation to the point of excluding a large section of Credible Nigerians from political Leadership of the Country. The Patriots therefore called on Political Parties to be more value driven rather than engage in money politics to the detriment of democracy in Nigeria.
SIGNED
HE CHIEF EMEKA ANYAOKU, GCON,CFR (CHAIRMAN)
VETERAN OLAWALE OKUNNIYI
(SECRETARY-GENERAL)
