Former United States Mayor Mark Arnold has called for democratic self-determination, constitutional reform, and greater protection of fundamental human rights in Nigeria, declaring that citizens must be allowed to freely determine their political future through peaceful and lawful means.
Arnold made the call in a statement titled “The Sokoto Declaration: Principles for the Deliverance of the People,” in which he addressed issues ranging from displacement and governance to resource control, national unity, religious freedom, and democratic participation.
Opening the declaration, Arnold emphasized the inherent dignity and rights of every individual, stating, “Every soul on this land bears the image of God – and with it, the right to life, to liberty, and to a future of its own choosing.”
He expressed concern over the plight of displaced persons across the country, insisting that restoring them to their ancestral homes should be a priority.
“The displaced shall come home. Until every exile stands again on the soil of their fathers, nothing else is finished,” he said.
The former mayor also addressed the issue of governance, arguing that political authority must be rooted in the consent of the people.
According to him, any government that fails to protect its citizens and uphold justice risks losing its legitimacy.
“Government draws its legitimacy from the consent of the governed,” Arnold said, adding that leaders must remain accountable to the people they serve.
On the question of self-determination, Arnold defended the rights of various groups to peacefully pursue their political aspirations through democratic processes.
“Self-determination is not a crime. Not for Biafra. Not for Yoruba. Not for the Middle Belt. Not for the minorities of the North. Not for any people told by force what flag they must answer to. A free vote is not violence. Speaking truth is not terrorism,” he stated.
He further condemned ideologies that justify violence on the basis of religion, ethnicity, or expression of opinion, declaring that, “No ideology that demands death for words, death for faith, or death for tribe holds any claim upon the future of this land.”
Arnold also spoke on economic justice and resource ownership, arguing that communities should benefit from the natural wealth found within their territories.
“The wealth beneath this ground belongs to the people who walk upon it. Every barrel drawn under cover of massacre is theft. Every dollar fled to foreign vaults while children starve is theft,” he said.
The declaration urged citizens not to depend solely on outside intervention to solve their problems but to organize and participate actively in shaping their future.
“No one is coming to save us. Power is never given. It is built. It is taken. To wait for rescue is the habit of a chained mind,” Arnold said.
While stressing the importance of peace, he distinguished it from passivity and called for lawful efforts to defend communities against threats.
“Peace is not passivity. Peace is strength under restraint. Every people holds the God-given right to defend its life and its families,” he stated, while also warning against vengeance and unlawful aggression.
Arnold maintained that the methods used in any struggle for freedom would ultimately shape the kind of society that emerges afterward.
“How we fight shall determine what we build. No true freedom has ever been won with unjust hands. There is a line between defending the living and becoming what we oppose. Know it. Walk it. Hold it,” he said.
He also appealed for unity among groups and movements seeking change, warning that internal divisions could undermine broader objectives.
“Unity, or ruin. Every faction set against another faction does the work of the Darkness. The hour is too late, the cost too high, the cause too great for division,” he declared.
Calling for sustained civic engagement, Arnold urged citizens to pursue change through democratic institutions and peaceful advocacy.
“Resistance shall be coordinated, disciplined, unrelenting. In the streets. At the ballot box. In every courtroom that will hear the evidence. In every church too long silent. Online and on the ground,” he said.
The former mayor called for the replacement of what he described as a corrupt political order through lawful and democratic means, advocating an internationally supervised referendum on a new constitutional arrangement.
“The regime that loots this land must be dismantled — by the peaceful and sovereign will of the people, by lawful and democratic means, and by an internationally supervised referendum for a new constitution and a true self-determination,” Arnold stated.
He urged citizens to unite around the principles of life, liberty, justice, and peaceful coexistence.
“The cause is life. The cause is liberty. The cause is the right of every human being on this land to live in peace in the home of their fathers – to worship freely, to vote freely, to build freely,” he said.
Declaring that “the long night is ending,” Arnold called on Nigerians to stand together in pursuit of a more just and democratic future, ending his statement with a prayer for wisdom and courage in confronting the nation’s challenges.
