From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo
A retired clergy, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, has urged the political elite and interest groups to eschew primordial sentiments and be more concerted about development challenges and support genuine people-oriented development ethos and strategy of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, which had over the years been elusive in
the country.
Ladigbolu gave the advice at a sensitisation programme in Oyo, Oyo State.
He said despite that the country is abundantly resourced and has progressively witnessed phenomenal growth over the years, it is incontrovertible that there had been a patent increase in the manifestation of the absence of real development, in terms of the quality of social existence and of social relations of majority of the populace.
According to him, “The first pre-requisitie of good governance is that the average citizen must have an assurance or at least near assurance, of justice, fairness, and equity in most of his/her relationships in the society be it in the economic, political or social realm. It is in this kind of situation that the average citizen has a stake in the stability and progress of the society as a shareholder; and it is this kind of situation that generally disposes citizens to be law-abiding and against lawlessness or criminal conduct’’
“In the past, the concept of democracy was, in practice, government of the greedy, by the greedy and for the greedy, while governance has become oligarchy and corruption-ridden with contents of the National Anthem and pledge being turned into mere nominal mouthing.”
He added that “it is this kind of situation where there is meaningful participation by overwhelming majority of the population that implies good governance.”
Nigerian masses, he asserted, are tired of a political and economic dispensation superintended by callous exploiters and punitive overlords, hence the much-awaited war against corruption.
“The present administration is doing everything possible to secure the North Eastern States from the menace of Boko Haram and bring impunity to an end. So, anyone or group opposing the present administration is still living in the past and truly not relevant with realities. A key responsibility of government is the security of lives and property of the citizens.”
On war against corruption, he described it as a good omen for the emancipation of sustenable democratic governance anchored on equity and justice.
He said: “Nigeria has witnessed a long period of impunity whereby high profile and well-connected criminals often escape being sanctioned. The Rule of Law must be jealously protected by all functionaries of government, and elements of the Judiciary at all levels must be challenged to discharge their sacred functions with utmost commitment to the principles of justice and fairness, in strict adherence to the Constitution of the Federal Republic. Our current situation, whereby high profile criminals, who have stolen billions of
Naira, often go with a pat on the back and sometimes given state pardon, while those guilty of petty crimes are sentenced to long years in jail, or are even dispensed extra-judicially by the police, cries out to heaven”.
