Former NBA chair Olisa Agbakoba asks Obasanjo to lead the search for new young political leaders

FORMER Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Civil liberty Organisation (CLO) president Olisa Agbakoba has asked ex-president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to use his influence to search for vibrant young leaders that will govern Nigeria in the future.

 

Mr Agbakoba made this request yesterday in a personal letter he wrote to the former president, lamenting the poor quality of leadership as the bane of the country. In the letter, titled, Nigeria Needs a Generational Shift in Political Leadership, Mr Agbakoba expressed concern about the quality of leadership in Nigeria, noting that corruption was endemic and poverty was high, while life expectancy was low.

 

According to him, Nigeria ranks poorly on all international human development indicators, even as he recalled the word of the late writer of repute, Chinua Achebe, where he pointed out the situation of Nigeria was directly linked to failure of leadership. Mr Agbakoba further lamented that Nigeria was held back by a crop of leadership that had outlived its usefulness and effectiveness as a result of old age, whereas the modern history of the country  was shaped by young people, including the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, who were still quite young then.

 

“Our country is held back by a crop of leadership that have outlived usefulness and effectiveness as a result of old age. It beggars belief that there is no culture among our political elite to encourage younger people with new ideas to aspire to positions of leadership, in particular the office of the president.

 

“The modern history of Nigeria was shaped by young people as Your Excellency was 39 years when you became head of state, Zik was 40 when he founded the NCNC, Awolowo was 43 when he became premier of Western Region and Ahmadu Bello was 40 when he co-founded the NPC. Ojukwu and Gowon were in their 30s when they took centre stage in Nigerian politics,” Mr Agbakoba said.

 

He added that it appeared a contradiction that after a young vibrant set of leaders got Nigeria off the ground in the early 60’s, the country had steadily descended into chaos and was probably now ranked as one of the most ungovernable countries in the world. Mr Agbakoba said it was due to this that he felt compelled to request for Chief Obasanjo’s intervention, who he posited had enough clout to galvanise the political elite to bring about the needed change,

 

Mr Agbakoba added: "Nigeria should by now produce like in France, a Macron or in Canada, a Trudeau. I believe it is time for our elder statesmen to give way to a young new vibrant political leadership.

 

"I am also convinced that with your support this can be achieved and expanded to become policy amongst all political parties in Nigeria. I strongly feel that a radical change in political leadership from old to new will be transformational.”

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