Former Speaker, House of
Representatives, Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba, has described all Nigerian presidents
from 1999 till date as accidental leaders going by the process of their
emergence.
The former lawmaker said the
faulty process of their emergence was responsible for the leadership problem
facing Nigeria.
He made these remarks at the
2016/2017 Matriculation and Fellowship Endowment Ceremony of the National
Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) in Abuja.
Na’Abba said accidental
leadership brings about trial and error in governance, which he said had been
Nigeria’s experience since 1999 till date.
Claiming that the leadership
recruitment process in the country has been hijacked by a few politicians,
Na’Abba called for regular ‘tutorials’ for political leaders at all levels.
He urged more Nigerians to
participate in politics with a view to opening up the political space.
According to Na’Abba,
“Circumstances at hand or situations on ground have to a large extent over the
years determined who and who was elected into office in Nigeria as President
since 1999 as against level of preparedness on the part of the leaders in terms
of clear vision and programmes obtainable in most democracies of the world
culminating in accidental leadership for the country.
“I believe that not just the
Legislature, every arm of government that is serving the purpose of governance
must invest in exposing democracy to the people. It is a sad commentary on our
political life that today recruitment into leadership has been subverted by a
few politicians because they deny Nigerians opportunity to contest elections
and achieve their aspirations through the systematic appropriation of political
parties to themselves.
“These politicians have stopped
the growth of democracy. And it is true that unless democracy is allowed to
grow, we cannot achieve the desired political growth, we cannot achieve the
desired economic growth and we can also not achieve the desired social growth
in our country. And that is why we are still in political, economic and social
duldrums. We have been having successive accidental leaders since 1999.
“It is time for us to begin to
understand that the more participation Nigerians enjoy in politics, the more
political development we attain. And consequently economic and social
development.
“We have been advocating that
tutorials must be taking place on a continuous basis for stakeholders in
democracy from the local governments to the states. Every stakeholder
particularly party executives because what is sad today is that most of those
who hold positions at the executive level on our political parties cannot
distinguish the duties, functions and distinction between and among our
political institutions. So, with this lack of knowledge it is almost impossible
for them to understand the kind of people that should serve at various levels”.
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Na'Abba, are you saying that Nigeria's problems started in 1999? I hate to say that you don't know your history. It can also be said that you too happened to be an "accidental speaker". You're very dishonest. Bye
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