Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, has said that Nigerian leaders, through their actions, inactions and statements, discourage the citizens to recognize and be guided by the national core values.
He was speaking on Thursday in Abuja at a leadership summit organized by Citizenship & Leadership Training Centre of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with the theme, “Upholding the core Nigerian values.”
He noted that Nigerian core values, as defined in the constitution, have been essentially ignored with impunity as guides to policy making and implementation.
According to him, the national core values, since incorporation into the 1979 constitution, were not taken seriously by the operators of the constitution for compliance.
“In the current Nigerian situation, national core values are more at the level of documentation, articulation and discourse than as properly utilized guides for action and interrelations.
“There is a wide gulf between the constitutionally articulated national core values and ethical standards and the reality of citizens and leadership predispositions and conduct,” he said.
The non-compliance with core national values, he said, has systematically undermined unity, harmony and peaceful co-existence in the country.
He lamented that public officials in virtually all states of the federation have continued to assigned more rights to so-called indigenes than to citizens with impunity.
This contradiction is at the root of most of the causes of instability, conflicts and violence in contemporary Nigeria, he added.
The former INEC chair also deplored the deficiency of traditional and religious leaders in compliance with wider societal values.
He therefore urged the government to invest heavily in the inculcation and upholding of national core values, with focus on nurturing and empowering the drivers of change, especially the youths.
“Government agencies saddled with the task of reviving the core values needs to be strengthened and empowered to be active and effective in the discharge of this important responsibilities,” he added.
The Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, called on the leaders to lead by example in upholding the national values.
He also urged the state governments to invest heavily on provision of quality education, which he said, remains the best way of reviving the eroding national core values.
As 2019 general elections draw near, the minister cautioned the youths from being used to destabilize the process.
Political parties, including APC, he said, should prepare their election campaigns with scorecards but not engage in abuse which is capable of causing violence.