Nigeria, wealthy nation with poor people —Bakare

 

Despite its numerous natural resources and wealth, Nigeria has millions of citizens who are living below poverty line because of poor leadership.

This was disclosed by the Convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and General Overseer of the Latter Rains Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, recently in Lagos, during the public presentation of the book entitled: The Accidental Public Servant, written by former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nassir el-Rufai.

While insisting that the wealth of the nation had been squandered by just a small group of people, the lawyer-turned preacher branded this category of people as ‘corrupt politicians who have turned the political and economic chaos in the country into a fruitful venture for themselves.’

Speaking specifically about the revelations embedded in the book, and how it had opened a can of worms, Pastor Bakare added that “It is a terrible paradox that a wealthy nation will have citizens that are very poor. Since the book was published and many hitherto unknown things have become known to the public, enemies have become friends and friends have become enemies.”

He further disclosed that most of those leading the country were equally “accidental public servants” but whose decisions, activities and actions were rather “incidental” and had brought untold hardships to the people.

The writer of the book, Mallam El-Rufai, while bemoaning what he termed the ills that had befallen the nation, especially Nigerian youth, who are 35 years of age and below, noted that this particular generation of Nigerians had never seen a Nigeria that worked.

He further added that sadly, this category of Nigerian youths formed 75 per cent of Nigeria’s population.
“Seventy-five per cent of Nigerians have never had to opportunity of seeing a Nigeria that worked. This is the category of young men and women of at most 35 years of age. But sadly we once had a country that worked,” the former FCT Minister remarked.

Speaking further, Mallam El’Rufai insisted that “the book is therefore recommended for those who belong to this category of youth so that they can learn from what had happened and prepare themselves for the leadership role meant for them in the future, because there is nothing the present leaders are doing that those coming behind can’t do, whether to fail or succeed.”

Also present at the event was the Chairman of the Ikeja Branch of NBA, Mr Onyekachi Ubani, who opined that what the nation needed were bold men and women who would be willing to make selfless sacrifices for the collective greatness of the country.

“Unless there are people who are willing to show uncommon courage, nothing would ever happen,” he said, while also adding that “Nigerians must be bold enough to tell the truth and also demand for truth. It is when this is done that there can be a positive change in the country.”

Other speakers also disclosed that the book, among other things, also talked about the need for all Nigerians to know that they didn’t have to be perfect or have a perfect environment before they could transform their society, but that rather, it was the determination to see a positive change in the society that should be the motivation for any leader, especially those occupying public positions to bring about positive change.