Making Nigeria great requires everybody’s contribution, says Makinde.
..Lauds Aransiola on 70th birthday.
Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has said that for Nigeria to realize her potentials and become great, Nigerians need to leave their comfort zone and work towards achieving this.
The governor stated this on Friday at the 70th birthday celebrations of Rev. (Dr) Moses and Pastor (Mrs) Funmilayo Aransiola and 50 years in the Ministry, held at the International Conference Center, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
According to Makinde, the country’s current challenges would not become history until all Nigerians commit to changing the country’s narrative.
He added that wishing for a change without working for its realization would only end in frustration.
He said, “I have heard that Nigeria would be great. Yes, I have the vision as well but we all have to leave our comfort zones and contribute. People may think things cannot continue as they are for the next 100 years, where we are just moving from one problem to the other, focusing on the wrong things.
Truth is, they can continue for the next 100 years because I have seen it happen.”
The governor cited the example of Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been embroiled in series of crises for over 60 years.
While calling for attitudinal change about politics and governance, Makinde said Nigerians would have the Nigeria of their dreams only when most Nigerians decide to pay more than a cursory attention to politics.
He said, “Some say it is the political leadership that is the problem, but do the leaders come from heaven? If you don’t participate in politics, you will get the kind of leaders that you deserve. But if you participate, then, we have a chance to keep bringing up the good people.
“When I decided that I would contest in this space, a lot of people asked if I was out of my mind. That’s the risk inherent in politics. So, a lot of us don’t want to go into that very dirty environment. We don’t want to go into politics because we don’t want to get stained. And if we complain about leadership, it only means we have not played our part.
So, please join politics and let people call us names together, but we will begin to sanitize the leadership process and, over time, we will get to where we are going.”
Makinde, who emphasized the need for the country to be productive, said Nigeria’s huge endowment of natural resources would not translate into economic prosperity without the country taking productivity seriously.
Making a case for giving young people leadership opportunities, Makinde said though he became a governor at 51 years of age, he was still Oyo State’s youngest democratically elected governor.
“After I became the governor, I also produced the youngest Speaker in the history of Oyo State and he is currently the Chairman of Conference of Speakers in Nigeria. So, I will support the not-too-young-to-lead agenda fully.”
While congratulating the celebrants on the attainment of the milestone age of 70 years in sound health, Makinde acknowledged the impact of their ministry and prayed for long life, good health, continuous impact and enlargement in their work for God.
Also in his remarks, a former governor of Ondo State, Dr Segun Mimiko, called for the restructuring of the country, stressing that the current structure of the country would continue to keep both the people and the country down.
Earlier in his remarks, the guest speaker, Prof. Mike Ozekhome SAN, in his lecture titled “Nigeria, from where comes our help” said insecurity, banditry, wastage and leakages in government are problems that hinder the growth of Nigeria.
He commended Governor Makinde for the security architecture emplaced in the state, especially the establishment of Amotekun Corps to protect lives and properties of the citizens.
Prof Ozekhome also called for the restructuring of the country.
The event had in attendance the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, represented by the Ekiti State Head of Service, top Oyo State Government functionaries, traditional rulers, religious leaders and captains of industry, among other dignitaries.
