Muslim leaders across the 19 Northern states have blamed lack of accountability and selfless leadership as being responsible for the economic and security crisis bedevilling the country.
In a communique after the just concluded 26th National Ummah Convention in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, signed by Professor Muhammad Babangida and Professor Siraj Abdulkarim, the leaders observed that majority of the political elite in the country exhibit undesirable traits such as lack of vision, poor planning, ineffective management and obsession with sectional interests and corruption.
They added that Nigerian citizens have been left without effective leadership, leading to deepening illiteracy, poverty and misery which in turn bred hunger, insecurity and national instability.
“The crisis of leadership and followership got worse due to failure of Nigerians, especially to study, learn and emulate the character and life examples of the Prophet,” the communique said.
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The convention noted that unless leadership at the family, community, local government, state and national levels woke up to resolve the national crises, the citizens risked being consumed by it with dire consequences.
The Muslim leaders stated that the inability to realize the nation’s potential in agriculture highlights the failure of leadership, insisting that instead of innovation and critical appraisal, the leaders repeat failed policies which made Nigeria fall deeper into food insecurity and poverty.
It recommended that Nigerian leaders and citizens should emulate the model of accountability in Islam and urgently give selfless leadership, while the followers are called upon to be patriotic, trustworthy and law-abiding.
The communique noted that given the agrarian potential of the northern states, the governors should constitute task forces, with traditional rulers, ulama, businessmen and development partners to immediately set in motion short and long-term plans and mechanisms to educate farmers to be entrepreneurial and self-reliant, to reset agriculture according to global best practices.
