Political scientists in the country under the aegis of the Nigeria Political Science Association (NPSA) have said that Nigerians should preoccupy themselves with how to select the right person that can fix the country as president in 2023 instead of dissipating energy on Muslim/Muslim ticket in the next general elections.
Addressing journalists on the state of the nation in Ilorin at the weekend, the national president of NPSA, Professor Hassan Saliu, alongside some other members of the group, said that the association was only concerned about people who can change the negative narratives about Nigeria.
“A lot of things have got mixed up with religious sentiment and religious politics in Nigeria. For us, Nigeria deserves better leadership and people who can change the negative narratives about Nigeria. If that one leader comes from one particular area he’s welcome. If he comes from another one, he’s welcome. We don’t want to be drawn into Muslim or Christian matters. We are above that. All that we want is good governance. Who are these people? What are their credentials, and antecedents? What are they putting on the table? For us, we haven’t seen too many of their programmes on the table.
“By the way, why are people wasting their time on the vice presidential slot? As somebody said, the vice president is a spare tyre, that may not be needed at all. But the man who is being given the mandate what is he up to, what are his plans? How is he going to implement the plans? We need to have a timeline about what he intends to do so we can hold him accountable. For now, it’s like everyone is just talking. It’s motion without concrete movement” he said.
The NPSA national president, who stressed the need for Nigeria to imbibe the culture of political inclusiveness to enable it to get out of its current security challenges, noted that all forms of security challenges across the nation’s geopolitical zones were a result of political exclusiveness.
Saliu equally attributed the menace of money politics as witnessed in the recent presidential primaries of leading political parties in the country to the problem of excluding some sets of people.
Credit: Nigerian Tribune