Nigerian leaders value awards, honours and titles more than hard work – Fashola, Lamido

Governor Babatunde Fashola and Sule Lamido of
Lagos and Jigawa states, respectively, have said
that the major problem facing the country was
misplaced attention being paid by the leadership
on wrong values.
Both governors made this known at a Political
Discourse organised by the Kukah Centre at the
International Conference Centre in Abuja.
They noted that the country needed to place more
premium on values that have propelled other
nations to greater heights.
According to report from Vanguard, Fashola
lamented that although Nigeria was blessed with a
rich reservoir of laws, which were adequate to
provide good governance and prosperous system
for all, the propensity to pay selective attention
based on political expediency of the leadership had
stalled national advancement and cohesion.
“There is nothing wrong with Nigeria,” the
governor said, noting that ”Nigeria as a
system has not changed but the people and
leadership have been changing over the
years.
“We seem to place more premium on
money rather than values. We value awards,
honours and titles more than hard work.
That is why people, who have tainted
records and should be barred from holding
pubic offices are bestowed with highest
national honours.”
On his part, Lamido, who is a Peoples
Democratic Party governor, noted that the
problem with the country was the attempt
by leaders to appropriate public offices to
themselves and their associates at the
expense of the people they were expected
to serve.
“For us to advance as a nation, we must
build strong institutions to serve Nigerians
better. We must avoid the practice of
converting public institutions to private
estates to serve individual needs instead of
catering for the overall benefit of the
citizens.
“As
leaders,
we
should
be
more
concerned with using our offices to help the
people who elected us than using the offices
to acquire power and wealth.
“All those at leadership level in Nigeria
must be ready to account to the people
while the citizens should be bold enough to
demand for their rights from their leaders,”
Lamido said.
The governor lamented that because of poor
leadership being exhibited in the past, the
meaning of government and good
governance had diminished in Nigeria in the
last 16 years and called for a change of
attitude.
Fashola noted that going by what has
happened in the country so far, Nigeria was
in need of what he called ‘urgent repairs’.
The two governors said the leadership
needed to do something to revive the sense
of nationalism of all Nigerians so that they
could work together in tackling the
challenges facing the country.
They said they did not care who takes over
from them but expressed the hope that the
work they had done would speak for them
now and in the future.
Fashola and Lamido made it clear that they
would not influence the choice of their
successors since the people of Lagos and
Jigawa states were sound enough to decide
on who governs them.
They said they succeeded in breaking the
jinx of underdevelopment in their states
because they were aware of the challenges
facing them for the outset and were
determined to address them in the interest
of the people.
The leader of the Kukah Centre and Catholic
Bishop of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Kukah,
explained that the debate was put in place
to provide a platform for the exchange of
ideas on various national issues so as to
move the nation forward.