Professor cautious politicians as 2015 draws nearer From MUSLIUDEEN ADEBAYO, Ibadan AS the 2015 general elections draw nearer, politicians and other stakeholders in the election matters have been charged to be patriotic enough and put the interest of the country above their own selfish goals. The founder of Shafaudeen in Islam, Professor Sabit Olagoke made the submission on Tuesday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital during the Olalekan Olomide Platform for Development Lecture themed “Development and How it Begins With You” The Professor of Engineering said the only solution to avoid chaos and clashes during and after the coming elections is for the politicians and other stakeholders to display high level of patriotism and put their own selfish interest aside. Olagoke who identifies selfish development as the rationale behind the retrogression way of the development in the country also decried the lost of moral values from the family to the larger society. According to him, “Democracy is all about service, most of us while getting to power go for self development, self enrichment instead of developing our areas and that is why we are still here” The Ibadan based Islamic Preacher said all stakeholders must be mindful of the USA prediction about Nigeria in 2015 and put the interest of the country and the people against selfish development. “Like American we say, we the people and the government will continue to defend the rights of every citizens, if we are able to see democracy through that process, things will be better for us, before 2015, let them do something to this Boko Haram problem, it is essential, because once that area is not really treated, American prediction may come like that, and before you know it, we may not be able to control it” “Everybody must be a stakeholder when it comes to issue of security, that area must be addressed fully now, it is essential, Nigerians are so resilience, we must continue, but at the same time we must be proactive in planning” “Our government must be proactive in solving all these problems of insecurity so that the elections will be beneficial to us” National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Garba Muhammed represented by Mallam Saheed Ahmed Balarabe spoke on “The Imperative of The Nigerian Media in National Development”. The President of Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Dr. Rotimi Oladele in his presentation titled “Nigeria and Her Many Challenges: Reputation Management To The Rescue” while identifying weak policy, redundancy, incompatible planning with population, misplacement of priorities across board, inadequate infrastructure, lack of maintenance culture and negligence of key sectors such as agriculture and tourism as the bane of development in Nigeria called for sustainable skilled acquisition among the teeming unemployed youths in the country to reduce unemployment. Oladele who also advocated for financial autonomy for local government areas across the country to ensure accelerated development in rural and urban areas also called for demonetization of political system. He also noted that collaboration with other countries, serious leadership style and faithful followers will help to move the country forward. The organizer of the event, Mr. Kola Olomide said the lecture is aimed bring experts from different fields in finding solutions to problems of the country and therefore contribute his own quota to the development of the country at large. He said the lecture is targeted at honouring his father, Mr. Olalekan Olomide. Other speakers at the event include, the Olubadan of Ibadanland who spoke through Prince Femi Lanan, Professor Oladipupo Akinkugbe, the Are Alaasa of Ibadanland; Chief Lekan Alabi, and state Commisoner for Information and Orientation; Prince Gbade Lanan who was also represented.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 09:56:24 +0000