Bad leadership, Nigeria bane of good governance - Saraki
Speaking at a programme organized by ‘ThisDay’ newspaper in Great Britain, London, with the theme: "Road to the Centenary" (1914 " 2014), Dr Saraki said our leaders have failed us after 50 years as an independent nation.
His words: "My country’s lack of progress cannot be fairly blamed on its people. The Nigerian people are the hardest-working, most intelligent and creative people in Africa. No, our leaders have failed us".
"There has been too much corruption and too little development. Too many political games and too little progress on power, agriculture, health, education and jobs".
The governor, who was invited to speak at the ceremony in his capacity as Chairman of the Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum (NGF), described politics as more about a sense of mission rather than a sense of ambition, pointing out that the latter was now the ultimate of majority of our political actors.
He expressed hope that the time was ripe for a new generation of Nigerians to write a new chapter and cast off the expectations of defeat, rise above disease, decline despair and build a vibrant and vigorous Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria has the resources to achieve this feat, adding that what was needed right now was a new crop of leadership to propel the country’s development.
"If Nigerians will dare greatly, we can succeed greatly. It is my deepest dream that in the year 2060, as Nigeria celebrates her 100th year of independence, another new generation of Nigerian leaders will visit London, this remarkable, vibrant city to whose heart we will always be connected".
"On that day, I pray they look back to this time and this generation and say that in the second half-century of independence, Nigeria reinvented itself, reinvigorated itself, revived and renewed itself", Saraki told the audience.
He, however, lamented that Nigeria at 50 has not lived up to her potentials which he said could be seen on the faces of Nigerian children during his recent state-wide presidential campaign tour of the country.
Saraki, who spoke strongly in support of the younger generation as the only hope of the new Nigeria, made reference to the unity he brought to Nigeria’s governors as Chairman of the NGF, saying that was the kind of unifying leadership Nigeria needed.
On the choice of former Nigeria’s Vice President, Atiku Abubakar as the consensus presidential candidate from the North, he expressed his readiness to support his candidacy to ensure that he emerged the PDP’s flag bearer and subsequently the country’s president.
Making comparison between Nigeria and Singapore which became independent five years after Nigeria, the governor said Nigeria with a population of 150 million people has per capita income of just USD 2,300 while Singapore with just a population of 5million people has USD 52,500 as its per capita income.
However, Dr Saraki drew an inference that Nigeria has a lot of challenges that our friends in Singapore cannot imagine but insisted that the time was ripe for the great changes and expectations.
Mas’ud Adebimpe
Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor
12/12/2010
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