From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe; former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim; former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka and leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Edwin Clark, have expressed dissatisfaction with the way and manner the country is being governed.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, assured citizens, especially women, that the National Assembly would always enact laws that would address Nigeria’s challenges.
They spoke yesterday in Abuja at the 2024 Nkata Ndi Inyom Annual Conference, with the theme, ‘Driving Transformation through Value Reorientation, Inclusive Leadership and Sustainability.’
Sanusi complained about the stealing in the system and how those in leadership positions amass wealth that would outlive them, instead of using such funds to address the challenges affecting the girl child and development of the country.
He said: “So, for me, I always say a country that does not recognise the pivotal role and the importance and the centrality of its women will never develop.
“God gave them that opportunity. And as we always say, for those of us who are privileged, there is nothing that tells you that God loves you better than the other person.
“God makes you a governor or an Emir or a president or a senator, and he does not make hundreds of thousands or millions, including people in your family, who have not gone anywhere.
“He is testing you to see what you would do with that position to help those that he did not give and it is a great opportunity to write your name in gold.
“But, people just hold an office for four years, or eight years, and all they can say is that they were ministers for so many years. I was a senator for these years. I was a president for so many years. So, what?
“What did you do with the eight years? What do you want to be remembered for? Is it the houses that you will die and leave and your children will be fighting over?
They become what we call money miss road, spend it on parties, and after three, four years, the money is gone. Is that the name that we want to leave?”
Senator Abaribe said citizens, especially Igbo, should unite and eschew all forms of bitterness and laziness, despite leadership failure.
He contended that young men prefer to indulge in criminality to make money instead of going through the right channel, which is education or to serve their business master for a certain period in order for them to be empowered financially.
“Today, we find out that it is only women that want to go to school. Our young men and our youths want to get rich quick. And that has laid a very bad foundation in Igbo land.
“Lastly, we, Ndigbo are known as very hospitable and generous. And that is why our ethos has always been hard work.
“The underpinning has always been that every Igbo person should watch out for one another. And so, this hospitality is what made us. That is why if you go to the house of an Igbo man, he will first bring out chalk and put it on your hand and then bring Kolanut.
“Today, we have a prioritisation of wealth over community. This means that the age-old value of community first before self has now been eroded.
“The other thing is the value of material possession over education and knowledge, and so you see a very young person not educated. Yet, he wants to ride the biggest car and you wonder where and how he wants to end up.
“Every time, you find out that they all end up either in prison or they are killed looking for a shortcut to make wealth. This has also affected our ‘boy boy’ system.
“This has been the biggest incubator of entrepreneurship in the world and was even studied by Harvard University. Not many of our youths want to serve; all they want is to take the shortcut.”
Senator Anyim said the government should ensure that citizens and the six geo-political zones were given their fair share of the national cake.
“The problem of Nigeria today is the fact that except we return to what is fair and just to all, there is no amount of value that will stand, and there is no amount of peace you will achieve.”
Senator Okorocha appealed to the government to reconsider people from the South East and give them pride of place.
He said it was unfortunate that despite the economic contribution of the Igbo, they are relegated to the background and even killed whenever crisis erupts.
“I want to ask the Nigerian government and people of Nigeria to reconsider the Igbo. Don’t throw them away.
“Let me also tell you that the Igbo are not bad people. If there are any peace loving Nigerians, they are the Igbo.
“If there are people who leave their homes and travel 1,000 kilometres away, building bridges of friendship and brotherhood, they are the Igbo.”
As part of its legislative function, Benjamin Kalu, said: “I am proud to report that the 10th National Assembly is committed to passing laws and driving policies that will create an enabling environment for inclusive leadership and sustainable development.
“For instance, we are actively working on legislation that promotes gender equality and increases women’s participation in governance.”
Founder and President General, Worldwide, Nkata Ndi Inyom, Josephine Anenih, said the foundation would continue to speak on the challenges facing the country, against all odds.
“We must talk. We will talk to them, then we will talk with them. We will talk about gender-based violence and insecurity
“We are looking for peace, we are looking for security. We are looking for development. We are looking for progress. We are looking to get Nigeria back to where it is today.
“We are also asking, introspecting and asking ourselves, as Nigeria is like this, could it be our fault? Could it be the fault of women?
“If we say that our leaders in the public space are irresponsible, how did they become that? Who taught them? Those are the questions we want to look at.”