Writing By Shindong Bala; Editing By Godwin Duru
Former Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman has called for a review of the political system in Nigeria to instill confidence of the electorate into voting credible leaders who will adequately address the nation’s challenges.
He made the call at a National Dialogue Series tagged ; Development as an Attitude, held at the Arewa House Kaduna.
Dr. Shamsuddeen stated that the present political system does not give assurance to electorate that their votes will count in any electioneering period, thereby discouraging them from trusting and participating actively in the process.
“We have so many challenges. We have economic challenges, we have social challenges, we have all sorts of challenges in the country. But really, the most significant challenge is the reform of the political system. until we address the political challenges in this country, nothing will work So, how do we elect political leaders? how do we engage in electoral reform, very vital, so that the vote of the average citizen will count.”
Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman however maintained that those who are benefiting from the dysfunctional system are the ones who have the responsibility to make the change and probably will not, because they are the great beneficiaries.
In an address, Professor Osita Ogbu spoke on the need for leadership reorientation , stressing that people must come into governance with certain philosophy, ideology, framework and competence for development.
“By bringing these kinds of ideas before they assume office. We don’t go into office empty-handed, without knowledge and hope to achieve. But more importantly, even if you don’t, you should recognize that you don’t, and therefore look for people who will help you achieve.”
Earlier, Tayo Adeloju, Chief Executive officer of Nigeria Economic Summit Group said a similar event will hold in all Regions of Nigeria where economic, social, industrial and technical issues of development will be discussed.
He argued that government policies must be based on a good understanding of Nigerian context and history as cut and paste of foreign models will not work in Nigeria’s peculiar system.
“You cannot transform anything if you are not engaged. And engagement cannot happen in Abuja and Lagos alone, ……. an idea driven by constitutional democracy that says the ideas that form and shape democratic governance and its development And so you have to go to the people and dialogue to get a sense of what ideas are useful for their development and that should drive ultimately what leaders gather to discuss.’
Cov/Shindong Bala
