James Ibori, former governor of
Delta state, says Nigerians should be more concerned with whether the youth are
ready to lead, rather than a mere generational shift at the nation’s helm of
affairs.
According to him, what the nation
needs is courage and vision as “age has nothing to do with good leadership”.
A lot of Nigerians have been
clamouring for a generational shift in the country’s leadership.
The ‘Not too young to run’ bill —
which gives the youth the better chance to contest in elective positions — has
also been passed at the national assembly.
In an article he wrote, Ibori
said politics is a “game of ideas and numbers” and that the Nigerian youth
needs to pay “the required price.”
He argued that the call for
President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election so as to pave way for a
youth to lead the country is unjustified.
“The choice we face is not that
of ‘paedarchy’ or ‘paedocracy’ versus gerontocracy,” he said.
“This age-related argument should
not be aimed at Buhari. The constitution gives him the right to seek the
presidency for two terms. The argument for and against him should be based on
his record of achievement.
“The young ones need to make the
necessary sacrifice, study the problems facing the society, master how to solve
the problems of the various parts of the Nigerian federation.
“Has the youth trumped the old in
behaviour, morality, leadership, integrity and frugality? How have our youth
fared in the professions, the military and the civil service? Do they even hold
out any hope for the nation?”
Ibori said unlike the Nigerian youth,
some of the world’s leaders including France President Emmanuel Macron —who was
39 years old when he emerged — and former US president Barack Obama had
something to offer before coming on board.
“The election of a Macron in
France may have galvanised a section of Nigerians to think that the time is
now, he said, adding: “Macron did not contest for office solely on the basis of
being a ‘youth’; he ran in a national election based on concrete ideas.”
Citing the case of Chukwuma
Nzeogwu — who was 28 years old when he oversaw January 15, 1966, coup, Ibori
said “ironically, the problem of Nigeria has been caused, in large part, by
exuberant young men who were at the helm of affairs in the first decade of the
nation’s independence”.
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