Leader
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State governor,
Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday passed a damning verdict on the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), saying the country’s economy has been crawling
under the ruling party because its members are selfish politicians who
are only interested in maintaining power and influence instead of
solving the problems of the people.Asiwaju, who stated thus while delivering the 70th anniversary business lecture for the Island Club, Lagos, yesterday, accused those in power of living extravagant lifestyles and wasteful spending, saying : “They wash their feet in champagne when too many people struggle to find clean water to soak their garri.”
Tinubu, who was represented by the governor of Oyo State, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, to deliver the business lecture, also observed that Nigeria’s over-dependence on oil revenue and near total neglect of agriculture had placed the country on a precarious level of growth and development, adding that Nigeria must start now to chart a new path in the critical areas of its politics, economy, education and infrastructural development or else it would risk rising levels of poverty and political discontent.
“We live in a fast-paced world but Nigeria is only crawling. In front of us, progressive development moves quicker than us. With each day, the distance between development and us increases. Behind us, calamity moves fast, gaining ground on us. With each day, it comes nearer and near to us. The most troubling aspect of the current state of the union is that we lack inspirational national leadership. The country is adrift on a dark ocean with no clue how to get to safe harbour.
“The people have lost faith that government is capable of solving the problems affecting them. The people see government more as a burden than benefit, more as overlord more than a servant. The ruling party caused this. Most of its politicians are not interested in progress; they live to maintain power. Thus, they invest their efforts in gaining and keeping influence. They care little about solving public problems and devote scant time to it.
“I shudder to think of the state of the nation in years to come if we continue in this limp fashion. Those now in government take false solace in the belief that Nigeria is a land of happy, carefree people who will somehow manage to eke a living no matter how badly governed we might be. Those in governance better look again. Whatever happiness we had was borne of fantasy or of faith and patience that a better day was to come,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment