Former Speaker of House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has blamed politicians for the many problems bedevilling the country.
Bankole, who is currently facing corruption charges in Abuja, said this while delivering a lecture at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta on Wednesday.
In a paper entitled, “Mentoring and the Challenges of Leadership in Africa”, the former Speaker said the political class had worsened the woes of the ordinary Nigerians.
He noted that if Nigerian leaders had returned to the standards of the nation’s founding fathers, many more concrete achievements and tremendous breakthroughs would have been accomplished in the country.
Bankole, who also spoke on the need to mentor future leaders properly, said it was a sure way for the survival of democracy in Nigeria.
He said, “These leaders fail to mentor those who are to take over from them and what we have instead are sit-tight leaders who decide to die in office.
“Nigeria will only be placed on the path of progress, growth and development when we start to prepare our youths for leadership. Proper tutelage is indispensable for success in any vocation and Nigeria must urgently start the process of disallowing untutored and untested persons from mounting the saddle of leadership.”
Canvassing a way out, he said, “We must seek to build a system that enables us make creative use of people who have occupied leading positions in our national life to gain useful experience.”
Earlier, the FUNAAB Vice Chancelor, Prof. Olusola. Oyewole, said there was a need to insulate youths from the foibles of the current leaders.
“There is a need to mentor a future generation of leaders who will not be bedevilled by our past unproductive and destructive attitudes. We need to draw attention to great leaders whose legacies can serve as beacons of hope to our country at such a time as this.
“To move beyond the gloom of these days, we need to get some shinning lights to remind us that we can still make it.”
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