Leadership: We must fix Nigeria, say Sultan, Fayemi, Obi, Anyaoku

As the state of Nigeria becomes more worrisome following insecurity and maladministration among other issues, religious and political leaders on Wednesday in Lagos State canvassed the need to urgently fix the country and raise a successor generation that would put it back on the path of progress.
This was the position canvassed by speakers at the 10th annual lecture of the Centre for Values in Leadership at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The speakers included the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; his Anambra State counterpart, Peter Obi; a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar; and a former secretary general of the Catholic Secretariat, Rev. Father George Ehusani.
They all agreed that the worrisome situation of the country was not unconnected to leadership failure that has impacted negatively on the nation.
Fayemi stressed that the country needed a collective rescue mission that goes beyond political or ethno-religious divides.
The governor, who said politicians, in times like this, should shift attention from just winning elections to being statesmen who are concerned with raising a successor generation from the present younger generation.
While noting that leadership should be about competence and search for a society, Fayemi stated that power is the bane of good governance in Nigeria.
He explained that many politicians seek power without knowing how to use it properly.
On the high cost of running government, he asserted that he maintains the lowest number of vehicles in his convoy in Nigeria and does not fancy the pomps and honorifics that people attach to power.
He said some of the money expended on trivial things could as well be channelled into funding the social security for the elderly citizens.
In his remarks, Obi blamed the state of the nation on all Nigerians.
He said that all have contributed in different ways to the decay that now obtains in the various sectors of the country.
Obi, who lamented the high cost of governance and the nonchalance of people to the transformation of Nigeria, said corruption has bedeviled the country and is grounding it.
The governor made several references to his two-time impeachment.
He said each time he was impeached, it was on the grounds of doing the right thing.
Also speaking, Abubakar said the nation is blessed with human and material resources but corruption and failed leadership have contributed to the stagnation being witnessed.
While querying reasons for a candidate to spend huge money to win election and even maim those who do not vote for him, Abubakar said the wealth of a leader is the welfare of the citizens.
The Sultan charged all Nigerians to stand together regardless of religious or political affiliation and rescue the nation from the direction it is headed and prevent the efforts of thee founding fathers from being a waste.
Anyaoku also affirmed that the country is not making any progress and all efforts must be geared towards rescuing and fixing it.