Former
Speaker of House of Representatives Ghali Umar Na’Abba has described the
leaders that ruled Nigeria in the last 18 years as accidental leaders going by
the process of their emergence.
Na’Abba
spoke in Abuja at the 2016/2017 Matriculation and Fellowship Endowment Ceremony
of the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS).
He
blamed the country’s leadership recruitment process for the accidental
leadership problem.
The
ex-Speaker said: “Circumstances at hand or situations on ground have to a large
extent over the years determined, who and who was elected into office in
Nigeria as President since 1999 as against level of preparedness on the part of
the leaders in terms of clear vision and programmes obtainable in most
democracies of the world, culminating in accidental leadership for the
country.”
According
him, accidental leadership brings about trial and error in governance, which,
he said, has been the lot of Nigeria since 1999 till date.
Na’Abba
said this has led to poor governance and frustrations on the part of Nigerians.
He
expressed regret that leadership recruitment process in Nigeria has been
hijacked by a few politicians.
He
urged for what he called regular ‘tutorials’ for political leaders at all
levels and called on more Nigerians to participate in politics with a view to
opening up the political space.
The
former speaker said: “I believe that not just the Legislature, every arm of
government that is serving the purpose of governance must invest in exposing
democracy to the people. It is a sad commentary on our political life that
today recruitment into leadership has been subverted by a few politicians
because they deny Nigerians opportunity to contest elections and achieve their
aspirations through the systematic appropriation of political parties to
themselves
“These
politicians have stopped the growth of democracy. And it is true that unless
democracy is allowed to grow, we cannot achieve the desired political growth,
we cannot achieve the desired economic growth and we can also not achieve the
desired social growth in our country. And that is why we are still in
political, economic and social doldrums. We have been having successive
accidental leaders since 1999.
“It
is time for us to begin to understand that the more participation Nigerians
enjoy in politics, the more political development we attain; and consequently,
economic and social development.
“We
have been advocating that tutorials must be taking place on a continuous basis
for stakeholders in democracy from the local governments to the states. Every
stakeholder, particularly party executives, because what is sad today is that
most of those who hold positions at the executive level on our political
parties cannot distinguish the duties, functions and distinction between and
among our political institutions. So, with this lack of knowledge it is almost
impossible for them to understand the kind of people that should serve at
various levels”.
House
of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara said the National Assembly had made
appreciable efforts in fulfilling its democratic obligations to Nigerians by
paying particular attention to capacity-building.
Dogara
explained that parliamentary capacity development was important to ensure
balance of power among the branches of a democratic system.
He
hailed NILS/UNIBEN for the programmes designed to build capacity of legislative
staff.
The
speaker said the knowledge imparted to participants would build a pool of
competent staff and members to enhance international best practices in the
discharge of their duties.
Director
General NILS Prof. Ladi Hamalai congratulated the students and urged them to
take their studies seriously.
Over
85 students matriculated in Masters in Legislative Drafting, Masters in
Parliamentary Administration as well as Masters in Legislative Studies.
Besides
Na’Abba, four former presiding officers of the National Assembly received NILS
Award of Fellowship.
They
include: former Senate President from 1979 to 1983, Senator Joseph Wayas; Dr.
Ken Nnamani (2005 to 2007); Aminu Bello Masari (2003 to 2007), who is Katsina
State Governor and former Deputy Senate President Senator Ibrahim Mantu (2001
to 2007).
The Nation
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