A fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Professor Ayodeji Olukoju, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of some of his supposed strongest supporters, who appeared bent on alienating him from those who took the risk in backing him for
the Presidency.
Olukoju also called on President Buhari to be sensitive to the yearnings of ethnic and religious minorities, take greater interest in the running of the ruling All Progressives Congress and rebuke those who had turned their back on the party that produced them.
The don made the call while delivering the 8th convocation lecture of the Ajayi Crowther
University, Oyo, while speaking on the topic, “The Challenge of Change: Nigeria in Comparative Perspective.”
According to the convocation lecturer, the wind of change started blowing across Nigeria,
well before 2015, as a result of what he described as “abysmal performance” of the immediate past administration and the undemocratic activities, fuelled by the excesses of the then ruling party.
Commending the President for raising the bar of service in public office by demonstrating
that frugality, personal discipline and exemplary leadership were not alien to African leadership, as well as his commitment to the war against corruption, the former Vice Chancellor of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State, however, cautioned that he should always be careful to match rhetorics with commensurate actions and follow due process in prosecuting the anticorruption war.
He said, “At this juncture, we pause for a word for President Buhari. It is good that he treads with caution and one admires his body language, which has been backed by some positive action – the enforcement of the Treasury Single Account, consistent in giving
full disclosure even though always on his foreign trips, the relative frugality and modesty of his operations and entourage and the pre-induction of his ministers.
“Buhari should be wary of some of his supposed strongest supporters, who appear bent on
alienating him from those who took the risk in backing him for the office he now occupies on a pan-Nigerian mandate.
“He should be sensitive to the cries of ethnic and religious minorities, and take a greater interest in how the ruling party is run and be seen to be loyal party man as a rebuke to those who have so soon thumbed their noses at the party that produced them.”
The guest lecturer, who also recounted the various challenges and lost opportunities for change in Nigeria, lamented that the nation’s political history was replete with instances of crises that presented opportunities that were not taken.
Tracing the nation’s history from the post-independence era to the military and various
other political regimes that had emerged in the country, the guest lecturer noted that the inability of past leaders to bring about the desired changes left more to be desired till date.
The former Vice Chancellor, who also acknowledged some exemplars of change, urged Nigerian leaders to take a cue from the sterling leadership qualities of late Nelson Mandela, which had been set as a benchmark for global leadership.
