by Seyi Lawal 

Two Nigerian leaders recently pinpointed bad leadership as Nigeria’s problem. 

 An emotional Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, while delivering the keynote address at the NGF Governance Share Fair in Enugu yesterday, he observed that things had gone “completely” wrong in the country saying, “We have failed as a people.”

Obi who is also the Vice Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum and the chairman of South-East Governors’ Forum lamented on the state of affairs in Nigeria. He believed that for Nigeria to achieve meaningful development and good governance, Nigerians must avail themselves of scrutiny.

 

“We in Anambra State want to learn. That is why the process of Peer Review Mechanism came and we embraced it. This one came and we embraced it. We have failed as a people. That is why what Governors Forum is doing is commendable,” he said.

Also lending his thoughts to the matter, former Petroleum Minister, Prof. Tam David West, grieved that the country, after about 100 years of amalgamation, continued to wallow in under-development occasioned by bad leadership and a defective constitution.

West, who held that the nation had been engaged in what he called “motion but no movement,” said many things were wrong with the nation and its governance.

He stated that the leadership structure and attitude to national issues were misguided and borne out of self-centredness.

 “Our country Nigeria is going through the hard path. We are subjected to the wrongs of the past. We are still fighting with the past, we are still struggling to ensure that we make things right. It is unfortunate that the foundation is wrong.”

Obi appealed to the state governments to avail themselves of processes of learning like the Peer Review Mechanism and Governance Share Fair.

Source: The Punch.