The Northern and Southern Elders’
Forum have met in Abuja and expressed shock over what they described as the
worsening state of affairs in the country.
The groups also revealed their
plan to come together to form what would be called Nigerian Elders’ Forum.
Spokesperson of the Southern
Elders Forum, Prof. Banji Akintoye briefed newsmen after a three-and-half hour
closed-door meeting at the weekend in Abuja.
Akintoye said that the elders
were worried “that things are not well with our country.”
The Forum further lamented that
the quality of leadership has fallen so drastically, adding that the country
has descended to a level where people now kill one another.
Those in attendance at the
meeting include: Prof. Akintoye, Dr. Yime Sen, Yinka Odumakin, Dr. Afred
Mulade, Sen. Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, Sen. Chris Anyanwu, Francis Doukpola, Dr.
Chike Dike, Engr. Bello Suleiman, Sen. Ibrahim Y. Lame and Amba. Bala Sani.
Others include: Sam Nda-Isaiah,
Sheik Idris Hayatudeen, Sen. Saidu M. Dansadau, Alhaji Falalu Bello, Dr. Doyin
Okupe, Yerima Shettima, Dr. Charles Nwekeaku, G. G Darah, Barr. Abdullahi Usman
Toro, Prof. Rahila P. Gowon and Abdulrazaq Adamu among others.
Akintoye said, “We are elders, we
are not active politicians. Most of us are not active politicians. We have come
together because we are worried about the condition of our country. Things are
not well with our country. A lot of things are happening in our country that
ordinarily should not happen.
“Ours is a land of promise, a
land well-endowed by nature with a lot of wealth but we are not using the
wealth to enrich our people. Instead, we are going down, down and down in terms
of prosperity and progress.
“So, we have decided to work
together – that is the most important thing because the problems are many.
There is a general problem like the problems of ecology. The desert is moving
South upon us, upon our country and we are not doing anything about it.
“The ocean is moving in from the
South, parts of Lagos already under sea level and we are not doing anything
about it. Parts of the South-south too already under the sea and we are not
doing anything about it, and in the East, there is serious strange problem of
gully erosion. Nobody seems to know what to do about it.
“And then, the economy itself, we
have become a country that is no longer productive because lack of productivity
is the big problem now of our country, and we have to do something about it. We
also have this huge problem of poor governance.
“It is no longer a question of a
party, it is no longer a question of one party is doing better than the other,
you can see now clearly, even though our political parties are rarely no longer
political parties, they are just neighbours or combination of people who want
to gather together and win elections and control the wealth of the country
which has come to me, as making yourself rich.
“That is what it has become, and
the quality of leadership has fallen so drastically that it is not possible to
have any progress in the hands of such poor leadership and then now we have
reached a point at which where we are actually killing one another. People
burning around killing their countrymen and destroying their livelihoods.
“So, we cannot go on like this,
we elders of the country have decided that we cannot go on like this. We must
change actions to change these things.
“What we have decided is to set
up – and this is the height of our decisions – to set up a Nigerian Elders
Forum.
“The Nigerian Elders Forum that will establish
its own means of meeting and study situation and provide solutions and make
sure that the decisions have impact on the lives of our country. Those are the
things we have decided today.”
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