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By Lukman Olabiyi, Lagos
Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Lagos Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Anambra Governor Peter Obi and other presidential candidates have blamed Nigeria’s current challenges on poor leadership.
The political leaders made the remarks Monday while speaking at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference, (NBA-AGC) which was held in Lagos.
Speaking during a plenary session moderated by ex-NBA president, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, on the topic, “Democratic Transition in 21st Century Nigeria:2023 & Beyond”.
Atiku, PDP candidate, Tinubu, APC candidate, Obi, LP candidate, APGA candidate Prof Peter Umeadi, SDP candidate Adewole Adebayo, and Dumebi Kachikwu, ADP candidate, all expressed their views.
APC VP candidate Kashim Shettima, speaking on behalf of Tinubu, said Nigerians needed to follow the person who knows the road which is Tinubu due to his track record and experience.
“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has established an excellent track record for performance. He has mentored men and women who are excelling in different fields of human endeavours and the world is changing and the trajectory of global growth is facing Africa and Nigeria will make or mar that transition,” he stated.
“As Chinua Achebe said, the problem of Nigeria is purely and essentially that of leadership. Once we get the leadership function right, everything right, everything will fall into place.
“In these days, when others are talking of artificial intelligence when others are talking of nanotechnology, biotechnology, we need a leader with the skills set, understanding of the global economy to shepherd us in this age. If you get one, you are getting one for free. He’s the city boy (Tinubu), I am the golden boy.
“In Jim Ovia’s words, the sole barometer for assessing people is your level of competence and your input. In the history of Zenith Bank, no one – I dare say – apart from the legendary Ada Umeji, grew faster in the history of Zenith than my humble self.
“I have mentored men who are excelling in different fields of human endeavour. As I said earlier, the world is watching us and the ultimate major measure of a man – as Martin Luther King said – is not where he stands.”
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Obi, in his analysis, said Nigeria had already become a failed state and needs an urgent transition from being a highly insecure country to a secured country and from a country of lawlessness to a country of law and order.
“In all these, it is important that we look at where we are today. Nigeria has qualified to be a failed state. We have indices and characteristics of a failed state.
“Today, we are among the most terrorised countries of the world. We are among the topmost countries in the world where banditry and kidnapping are prevalent. Our most important source of foreign revenue, oil, is also being ravaged by theft. We are no longer in control of our economy, we are in a fiscal mess where our expenditure is much higher than revenue,” he said.
Speaking further, Obi said that the 2023 election will not be about religion or tribe but about character and competence in leadership.
According to him, the country’s woes have gotten so bad that the 2023 election would not be about religion or tribe but about who has the character and competence to deliver the country from its current mess.
“Nigeria is in a mess. We got here simply because of the accumulative effect of bad leadership. The coming election is not about tribe or religion but about character and competence. We need a bold transition from a highly secured state to a highly secured state”, he added.
The presidential candidate of PDP, Abubakar said that one of his major goals in vying for the 2023 general election is to unite Nigerians to fight insecurity.
Speaking on his five-fold plan for the country if elected as president, Atiku said: ” Since the return of democracy, Nigeria has never been in such a critical situation as we find ourselves now. The problem of poverty, insecurity, unemployment, etc is enormous but what is important is how to tackle them.
“When PDP came into power in 1999, despite winning overwhelmingly across the country, we decided to include members of other parties in our leadership. That singular action united the country and resulted in calm. I believe that we can have that experience again. It is only when we have a sense of belonging that we can deal with insecurity.”
He also spoke about his plan to manage the economy by abolishing the multiple exchange rate and revolving more power to the state.
The SDP candidate urged voters to respect the truth of what is going on in Nigeria.
Adebayo lamented that the country’s crude oil is being stolen by the government.
He also urged that the attendees of the conference be suspicious of every statistic being thrown around, particularly by old politicians.
Delivering the keynote speech at the conference, Nigeria writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said that Nigeria is currently in disarray and requires heroes who can take bold decisions to save the country.
In her address, Chimamanda said: ”Nigeria is in disarray. Things are hard and getting harder by the day. We can’t be safe when there is no rule of law. Nigerians are starved of heroes to look up to. Late Dora Akunyili and Gani Gawehimmi were heroes that Nigerians looked up to before now. Unfortunately, that era has gone. I believe that NBA is in a position to give the nation, heroes that we can look up to the lead the nation.”
In his welcome address, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata, spoke on the need for the legal profession to embrace innovative approaches to legal practice while continuing to serve as the conscience of the public.
“The sessions at the conference are aimed at envisaging the future of the legal profession in particular and Nigeria in general within the context of a rapidly changing world and anticipating the adaptive measures that practitioners will be required to embrace in order to remain relevant and competitive.”
The Chairman, NBA Technical Committee Conference Planning, Tobenna Erojikwe, said the topic for the conference captures the role of legal practitioners in society as lawyers, especially in a time like this when there are multiple issues that call for attention and the generality of the people for direction.
“We all know we have what it takes to raise new legal giants from amongst lawyers to shape the legal profession, the judiciary, the polity, and our economy among other things but this faith in ourselves must be matched with appropriate action that grooms, grows and protects the individual lawyer.
