Leaders Urge Nigerians to Vote Without Ethnic, Religious Sentiments

Segun James

With the 2023 elections less than a year away, political leaders, yesterday, came together and urged Nigerians to do away with sentiments, when voting people into public office next year.

Speaking at the fourth annual lecture of freedom online publication held in Ikeja, Lagos on the topic: “Nigeria’s political indices: Bright or bleak future,” leaders like former Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, former governor Peter Obi, Senator Ahmed Markafi and former Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, submitted that Nigeria requireda leader that could unite the country and move it forward as past leaders had contributed to the challenges facing the country.

In his submission, Senator Markafi, who was the chairman of the occasion , said the country had challenges that needed to be addressed, and if not addressed, could have consequences on the country.

He urged the people that by 2023 general election, they should vote wisely and usher in good leadership that would take care of the problems facing the country.

Makarfi noted that because the division in the country was glaring, any government that emerged in 2023, should be ready to form government of national unity with a national agenda.

“We must bring unity. l want unity in addressing the problems. Political colouration should not take the centre stage,” he said, adding that the private sector, which has a lot of role to play in determining, who leads the country, should play it well.

Obi, in his submission, said Nigerians should be wary of the situation of things in the country, and failure to have good leadership to rule the  country could destroy every potential the country has.

“What we are experiencing today is cummulative of leadership failure. We are  assesing our future, a future, which everybody is worried of. We lack leadership, everything can be destroyed  by poor leadership. That is the problem of Nigeria,” he said.

Daniel noted that Nigeria’s future was bright if Nigerians were ready to take the right decision, adding that the narrative could be changed.

He added that despite the economic challenges facing the country, the international community still believed in Nigeria and the country has a bright future.

He, therefore, urged the leaders to do away with ethnic sentiments, because it was one of the issues drawing the nation backwards.

“Every leader should forego any bitterness they nurse. Some policies are made with parochial interest,” Daniel said.

Peterside, on his part, said most of Nigeria leaders had mismanaged the nation’s resources and as such, urged Nigerians to learn from history and should focus less on event of yesterday but the future.

“We often focus on yesterday and pay little emphasis on the future. Nigeria needs unity of vision and purpose. Nigeria doesn’t have a vision that unified it as a nation, but we have individual visions. We should elect leaders, who are not realistic but idealistic,” he said.

A former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, who was represented by his personal assistant, Prince Uthman Shodipe, said there was hope for Nigeria so far right thinking Nigerians do not keep quiet in saying the truth.

He said Nigeria was not yet a nation, because “we don’t have common destiny and it is a country struggling to survive, because things are not yet the way they supposed to be.”

Contributing too, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Chief Gani Adams, said restructuring of the country was the only solution to the problems facing Nigeria as a nation, and maintained that the problem of the country needed to be solved before we talk of another general election.

Earlier in his welcome address, publisher of Freedom online, Mr. Gabriel Akin-Adewo, said politicians needed to draw a line between governance and politics and that could be achieved by paying attention to the development of the country.

He noted that the failure to pay attention to development was responsible for high rate of  insecurity and poor state of the economy, adding that over centralisation of governance has further compounded the problems.