Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has urged the elite to make
sacrifices towards bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
Osinbajo spoke on Thursday at a public lecture to mark
Nigeria’s 62nd independence anniversary in Abuja.
The lecture was titled: ‘Elites and National Unity’, and the
guest lecturer at the event was Oladapo Afolabi, the former head of the civil
service of the federation.
Osinbajo said there is a need to address the inequality in
the society before it triggers crisis, adding that to ensure equity and
fairness, the elite must be ready to make sacrifices.
“The story of
successful societies is quite simple. It is usually the story of how the
society’s elite — its best educated, its political, religious class —
influence, direct and lead their societies to progress,” Osinbajo was quoted as
saying in a statement by Laolu Akande, his spokesman.
“Put differently, every successful society is the product of
a conscious, elite consensus: the implicit and explicit agreements of the elite
to change their societies for good. But the elite must be prepared to make the
sacrifices for the benefit of everyone.
“We who are the elite are a privileged class. But privilege
comes with responsibility. It is the French who describe it as ‘Noblesse
Oblige’, the responsibility of privilege.
“There is a
responsibility that comes with who we are as the elite. The first responsibility
of the elite is sacrifice, the ability to make sacrifices on behalf of the
communities that you represent.”
“As Prof. (Afolabi) describes it from the original etymology
of leadership, it means, ‘go forth to die.’ People who are prepared to make
sacrifices, even if it is the ultimate sacrifice, people who are prepared to
sacrifice on behalf of their communities. That readiness to sacrifice is so
important.
“Every step of the way, in human civilisation, the bringing
together of societies have been by the sacrifices that the elites have made.
They’ve sacrificed their privileges and because they have sacrificed their
privileges, their societies have moved forward. Where the elite fails in its
responsibilities, the society itself eventually fails.”
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