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Ex-lawmakers task elite on insecurity, advocate leadership training

By Nkechi Onyedika-Ugoeze (Abuja), Oluwaseun Akingboye (Akure) and Agosi Todo (Calabar)
23 August 2021   |   3:35 am
A former member of the House of Representatives, Joseph Akinlaja, has blamed the current insecurity and lawlessness in the nation on the elite’s flare for breaking the law.

Joseph Akinlaja

• CSO urges responsible governance

A former member of the House of Representatives, Joseph Akinlaja, has blamed the current insecurity and lawlessness in the nation on the elite’s flare for breaking the law.

Akinlaja said this at the weekend during a public lecture organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ondo State Council, at Bliss World Resorts and Hotel, Ijapo, Akure.

At the lecture entitled: ‘Insecurity: Roles of The Society and The Media’, he said there are enough laws in the country guarding against all forms of crimes but some people, particularly the elite, break the laws at will.

“For instance, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane is meant for BRT buses. But some elite would decide to drive through the lane and ‘Danfo’ drivers would follow. When the elite escape from punitive measures, then laws become ineffective,” he said.

Akinlaja, who is the current Chairman of Zenith Labour Party, also noted that the disturbing spate of banditry and insurgence in the country is the outcome of the nonchalant attitude of some parents towards caring for their children.

According to him, “those who give birth to many children without caring for them are producing armies for insurgents who recruit them to prosecute their nefarious ambitions”.

This came as a former lawmaker and founder of Baze University, Abuja, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, called for mandatory leadership training for candidates intending to occupy political offices at local, state and federal levels.

He also advocated overhaul of leadership recruitment process and the scrapping of ‘state of origin’ as requirement for Nigerians to contest elections.

He spoke on the topic, ‘Building A Nigeria That Is Fit For Nigerians’, at the reunion of the 1998 Set of Government Secondary School, Kubwa, FCT (codenamed Klub 98 Initiative).

Represented by the Dean of Student Affairs, Aghedo Oshioreamhe, Baba-Ahmed said: “Why can’t a Hassan Musa be the Governor of Lagos State? This state of origin thing we imposed on ourselves is limiting us. It cannot help us get the kind of leadership we desire, especially at a moment when the need to strengthen national unity has increasingly arose.”
Meanwhile, Connected Development (CODE), in partnership with OXFAM, has engaged civil society organisations (CSOs) on providing supportive mechanisms that ensure government and private sectors are held accountable to the people.

At a two-day workshop on Capacity Building for Public Engagement and Participatory Governance in Calabar, CODE’s Programme and Research Associate, Dr. Onyenkachi Onuoha, said it is expected that CSOs get empowered as advocates and policy influencers for effective engagement with policy makers for the well being of host communities and citizens as well.

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