Some N’"Assembly Members Can Barely Write Their Names”:Dep. Senate President
Just
yesterday we brought you the news of three alleged graduates of the
Enugu University of Science and Technology (ESUT) whose questionable
degrees are currently been investigated following their inability to
properly read and write. Now, the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief
Ike Ekweremadu, has lamented the low quality of leaders in the country
and has frowned on the educational quality of some National Assembly
members, saying they can barely write their names.
Ekweremadu
stated this in Awka, the Anambra State capital on Monday while
delivering the 2012 Zik Lecture Series organised by the state council of
the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The lecture was entitled, ‘True
Federalism and the Political Ideology of the Great Zik’.
He
said it was still a surprise to him that as educationally advanced as
the South-East “we still send to the National Assembly some people who
can barely write their names”.
Ekweremadu, who
described the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as a knowledgeable leader, said
without knowledgeable leadership, the country was heading nowhere.
According
to the lawmaker, the country needs leaders that are patriotic,
selfless, knowledgeable, incorruptible, who have a lot of integrity and
who will always put country first.
He said, “For
Nigeria’s, particularly, low development or rather lack of it has been
variously traced to successive national leadership.”
Ekweremadu
said though a proper federal structure and an error-free constitution
were desirable, without purposeful and transformational leadership, they
would not help the situation in the country .
He
said, “Even the best constitution or federal structure in the world
cannot yield the best of democracy dividends or drive the lofty dreams
of a nation unless there is a general commitment by the leadership and
citizens alike to live by the principles and letters of that
constitution and the norms that promote development.”
Ekweremadu
added that Nigerian leaders had often mistaken stubbornness and
arrogance as principles in politics, saying “this hasrobbed Nigerians of
great opportunities of linking up with modernity and technology”.
He added, “Leaders who cannot think beyond their immediate environment have nothing new to offer their people.”
Ekweremadu
urged Nigerian leaders to adopt sound principles like Azikiwe did in
his days so that they could lead the country into the elite corps of
nations.
First son of Azikiwe and Owelle of
Onitsha, Chief Chukwuma Azikiwe, said for any leadership to have meaning
it must identify with the downtrodden.
He said, “If our farmers and the have-nots are empowered, then they will impact our economy and themselves.”
-PUNCH
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