The spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed Photo Credit:
In an interview with the Punch, published on Sunday, the NEF spokesperson urged Nigerians to elect a leader who could turn the nation’s fortunes around.
He said Nigeria needed someone with the understanding, personal quality, mental and physical capacity and integrity to inspire citizens to work harder and follow.
He warned against yielding power to persons who are completely ill-equipped to govern.
“God has given us everything to live on. We don’t need to fight for anything. No part of Nigeria is so poor that it has to fight another part of the country for food or resources. If we don’t get it right in 2023, I am afraid that we cannot just hope that in another four or eight years, we will be lucky enough to survive this decline in every index of national life.
“I don’t think we can survive another decade together if we continue to go the same way we have been under Buhari,” he said.
He blamed the nation’s stunted growth and development largely on military interregnums.
According to him, the military did not just stunt the economy, it nurtured corruption.
Baba-Ahmed also cautioned against electing leaders based on ethnicity and region, saying citizens should learn from their experiences in the past decade.
To ensure the North elect the most competent candidate for the presidency, the NEF spokesperson said his group was collaborating with other pressure groups to evaluate the candidates and acquaint them with the issues central to the region.
“We will ask them for commitments and to undertake that they will lead the country with honesty and goodness and keep their eyes on the economy and the fight against corruption and insecurity. That is what we intend to do.
“It is going to be a very serious conference, and we have extended invitations to all the aspirants in that regard. They will come in person with their running mates. We will spend a few hours with them. We have incredible and respected Nigerians who will come there and interrogate them. Hopefully, something positive will come out of this,” he added.
Describing old age as both an advantage and disadvantage for any president, he said the benefits of either youthfulness or old age could be useless if not rightly deployed.
“One can be young and do nothing, and one can be old and still not understand what change is. Take a look at the president. He has never changed anything in this country from 2015 to date. So, we don’t want to put too much emphasis on age, although it has its values,” he stated.
Baba-Ahmed opined that the Buhari government and his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, allowed security to fester by using the military and police to deal with agitators and other social menaces rather than dialogue when required.
