… says leadership should be based on merit, not entitlement
A former governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has said the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has shown that leadership and governance should be based on merit not religious or ethno centric.
The erstwhile governor of Kaduna state, says when leadership is based on merit, national development will become central focused and there will be even development.
El-Rufai spoke on Sunday at the launch of an autobiography and retirement programme of Prof Ishaq Lakin Akintola of the Lagos State University (LASU).
Prof Akintola will be retiring from the university officially today after 39 years of service and having attained the statutory retirement age of 70.
El-Rufai, who was the keynote speaker and awardee at the event, said Tinubu’s administration is on the right path to make Nigeria work with its decisions so far.
The former governor while commending Tinubu on the policy directions with which he started his adminsitration, said he has deflated the ranks of those that did not see any good in the same faith ticket.
“As a people, the earlier we distil ourselves from the primordial ethno-religious perception of things, especially as it concerns national leadership, the better for us,” he said
“The way with which the present administration at the centre is changing things for the common good of the Nigerian people within a short period shows that leadership should be hinged on merit and not entitlement basis.
“We must de-emphasise religion and ethnic colouration for us to build a society where no one should be discriminated upon on the basis of ethnic nationality, religion or political leaning.
“As members of the two major religious groups in the country, if we find ourselves in public positions, we should ensure we practice the basic principles of leadership as encapsulated in both Christian and Islamic religions.
“Both religions espouse the culture of good leadership, but some individual persons tend to do that which is at variance with the scriptures.”
Commenting on the recent crisis been witnessed in Kaduna, the former governor said leadership choice based on entitlement in the state plunged it into the protracted crises in the past years.
El-Rufai however, said a recent change in the old tradition of leadership choice had changed things for the better in the state.
