Former Commonwealth Secretary-General urges Nigerians to Vote for Trustworthy Politicians

A former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, renowned diplomat and elder statesman, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has called on Nigerians to vote for trustworthy politicians who will prioritise the revamping of the nation’s governance system, declaring that the 2023 election is a watershed for Nigeria.

Anyaoku stated this at a lecture held in his honour, tagged, “Chief Emeka Anyaoku Awards/Lecture Series on Good Governance, the 11th in the series”, held at the IACD Library and Resource Centre, Jericho, Ibadan, Oyo State capital, themed: Imperative of Good Governance in Nigeria.

He blamed the many challenges confronting Nigeria on the military incursion into the country’s polity, urging Nigerians to consider the nation’s diversity as a blessing and work to strengthen its cohesion, as other countries of diverse nationalities were making significant progress across the globe.

The keynote speaker at the event, Prof. Ayo Olukotun, who is the Director, Oba Sikiru Adetona Institute of Governance Studies, Department of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, noted that rationality must be brought to bear on public sector finances in order to achieve maximum results.

Delivering a lecture themed: “Nigeria’s Elusive Search for Good Governance,” Olukotun listed some factors that inhibit good governance to include institutional decay; lack of inclusiveness; lack of respect for the rule of law; poverty of ideas and ineffective ethical leadership, adding that Nigerian citizens must work actively to achieve the turning point needed as a nation.

Also speaking, the chief host, Governor Seyi Makinde, disclosed that his administration had brought to bear good governance in the state by employing principles of transparency and  integrity to activate good governance, expressing appreciation to speakers at the event who had alluded to good governance in Oyo State.

Makinde stated: “It is not only me but some of the people we are working together to provide good governance for the people. I coined an acronym of FAITH for this. F is for Fidelity, A is for Accountability, I stands for Integrity, T is for Transparency and H for Honesty. Two of these have come into play in governance in Oyo State.

“In our administration, we decided to be transparent with the finances of the state. For each budget cycle, we hold town hall meetings across all the geopolitical zones in the state to ask our people what they want to see. We also let them know that government resources are limited,” the governor noted.

He also insisted that for there to be good governance, critical issues that should be looked into include accountability, police, devolution of powers, local government autonomy, freedom for states to create as many local government areas as possible for administrative convenience and for public officials to be able to take criticisms, both constructive or otherwise.

The 11th Chief Emeka Anyaoku Lecture Series, which was organised by the Youth Affairs International Foundation, in collaboration with the Oyo State Ministry of Youth and Sports, was chaired by a former Governor of Edo State and Chairman of the Governing Council, University of Ibadan, Chief John Odigie Oyegun.

N.O