A former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, has said that the trouble with Nigeria since independence was solely due to failure of leadership.
Obi said this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at the formal inauguration of the National Executive Council of Nigeria Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Council (NENYLC).
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The former Vice-Presidential candidate, who spoke on the theme, ‘National Development: Role of the Nigeria Youths’, said that leadership inadequacy contributed in worsening the country’s problems, from widening the parochial divisions among the citizens to the plundering of the treasury.
According to him, the youths should take over the ownership of the country, and that their docility in the affairs of the nation contributed to their bane and present state of affairs in the country.
Obi said that countries like Morocco and Bangladesh were able to conquer their problems because of the direction and examples provided by their leaders.
He also condemned the practice of money politics by some politicians in the country, saying only competent leadership can unite the nation.
“Don’t think you are going to get anything out of incompetent leadership no matter how it benefits you personally. It will worsen the entire country and eventually worsen you. Let Nigeria’s next leadership from the local governments to the state and federal levels be people who have the capacity to govern; people who have integrity and managers of resources; people who know where to invest. The biggest assets of a country are human beings that live in that country. Nigeria as a nation has not invested in its people.
“It is good we have some physical infrastructure. But you cannot make physical infrastructure without investing in human development. Elect those that can invest in you so that we can have a progressive country that can help everybody.” Obi said.
Also speaking, former President Goodluck Jonathan, urged the youths to pursue the unity of the nation as the only condition for Nigeria’s continuous development and progress.
Jonathan represented by a former Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Makun, said, “If every Nigerian is peaceful the nation will be peaceful. Peace is not necessarily the absence of threat, it is not necessary that everybody is comfortable or there is no problem, but it is the condition precedence of national and, human developments.
“I am calling on the youths of Nigeria, particularly from the Northern part of Nigeria, I am appealing to us, let us do all we can through dialogue, through conferencing and discussion let our nation be at peace again.
“If the youths of Nigeria prepare and say nobody will ever use them again to disrupt peace during elections there will be peace all over Nigeria on election day. Let us make sure that the coming election the youths join hands together to ensure that 2023 is even peaceful than previous elections.”
Speaking earlier, the President-General of NENYLC, Terry Obieh, said the only way forward for the Nigeria was for all stakeholders to collectively build the country.
He said, “We are currently inundated with the horrible news that corruption has eaten deep into our fabrics, bad governance, constitutional and political attrition,”
