Former Head of State and one-time All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, has defended the involvement of older generation of Nigerians in politics, saying both old and young politicians have roles to play in governance. Buhari made the remarks yesterday at the 50th anniversary lecture of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall, University of Ibadan, He was the chairman on the occasion. The event was attended by Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi; his predecessor, Rashidi Ladoja; interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Chief Bisi Akande, APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, and former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasir El-Rufai. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s eldest son, Chukwuma was also there. While espousing the importance of age and experience in governance, Buhari cited instances across the world where leaders in their advanced ages made critical developmental impacts in their countries’ history. His words: “China and Japan post-1945 had a history of very old people managing the affairs of these two great oriental economies. Mao Zedond and Chou En-Lai in their 70s, laid the foundation for their successor, Deng Shao Ping, to bring one billion people out of poverty into self-sufficiency in food supply and an economy second only to the US. “Charles de Gaulle led French resurgence after the war when he was over 70 years and in Britain, three old men managed its recovery through 1950s and 1960s. The last three Saudi Arabian kings ascended the throne in their 70s and 80s and see what transformation the nation enjoys in the last 40 years. If you think that this achievement is solely due to oil resources, take a look at Nigeria and consider what poor use we made of our resources.” The former military leader, however, acknowledged the importance of having the younger generation, saying they had the strength and vigour vital for good governance. “The ideal thing is to have a mixture of experienced people who will bring their wisdom to bear and young men and women with energy and vigour to cooperatively run an administration. A young Singaporean leader, Lee Kuan Yew in his 30s, assumed the premiership position and turned his country to a beacon of efficiency, prosperity and growth. John Kennedy is another good example of a young leader. He kick-started American technological achievement by inspiring oratory,” he said. Buhari also praised the late Dr.. Nnamdi Azikiwe for his contributions to Nigeria’s development, saying Azikiwe was the most out-spoken and internationally-recognised Nigerian nationalist.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 23:07:10 +0000
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