Shun emotions, vote for credible leaders, Hamzat urges Nigerians

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3 years ago

As the 2023 general elections draw near, Lagos State deputy governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has urged Nigerians to shun emotions and vote for credible leaders based on their accomplishments, saying that they should do this in order to have a country that is beneficial to all.

Hamzat made the call on Monday at the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT) Good Governance Workshop with themed: “Credible Leadership and Good Governance – From Home to Hero,” held at Raddison Blu Hotel, GRA, Lagos.

According to him, governance is not about emotions or trial and error, saying Nigerians must vote in leaders that have good antecedents and not be swayed by emotions in order to find lasting solutions to myriads of challenges facing the country.

“Governance is not about emotions or trial and error. We must look at what we really want. In Nigeria today, we must have a coincidence of wants. We must agree and be ready to make sacrifices for our children.

“It is not about everybody thinking they have the solutions to the problem of the country. We should stop attacking ourselves. There must be a partnership,” the deputy governor said.

Hamzat averred that no nation would develop unless its citizens were well informed, as he cited the third American President, Thomas Jefferson, to buttress his point, calling on Nigerians to be informed and verify information given so that they would not be deceived with bogus statistics and lies thrown around.

He further averred that Nigerians must come together to solve the nation’s problems, adding that there must be partnership and coincidence of wants among all citizens.

The deputy governor, while describing the breakdown of the family structure as one of the fundamental problems of the nation, charged parents to take good care of their children as, according to him, they have abandoned their roles as parents and failed in giving their children the needed training and upbringing.

He said that children were no more learning, but rather looking for means to make quick money.

“We should be realistic and understand our problem. Our problem is that we are not taking care of our children. We have abandoned our children as fathers and mothers. The reality today is that the level of discipline in our homes and at schools has collapsed,” Hamzat stated.

He, therefore, tasked religious bodies to strive to change the mindset of the youths through their sermons on morals and virtues, urging them to also charge the citizens to be more Godly.

Earlier in his presentation, titled: “It Takes a Village to Raise a Hero: Imperative for Community and Religious Leaders,” the former governor of Kano State, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, who was represented by Alhaji Olarewaju Kamaal, stressed the need to strengthen and restore family values in the country.

Kwakwanso said that the various social vices in the country were due to the breakdown of the family structure which is the bedrock of any society, enjoining religious leaders and scholars to tell Nigerians to be closer to God and pray for their leaders.

President of the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT), Mr Niyi Yussuf, in his welcome address, stated that the event, which was the second in the series of its Good Governance Workshop, was in furtherance of the society’s mission to promote good governance in the country for the benefit of all.

Yussuf said that the belief is that if there is good governance in the country, there would be solutions to the various challenges facing the nation.

He noted that the foundation for good governance must be laid right from the family which is the first unit of socialisation, assuring that NASFAT would continue to preach good governance in the country.

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