Osun state governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has called on Nigerians to jettison the age-old primordial sentiments and embrace unity and peace in the spirit of democracy.
Speaking at Aurora Event Centre, Osogbo, Sunday, during a democracy lecture organized by the Osun state government in conjunction with the civil society coalition, Oyetola said Nigeria can rise from the rubble of failures and missteps of yesterday and reach its greatest heights, stressing that “doing so would necessarily require that we jettison the age-old primordial sentiments that continue to threaten our unity, peace, and progress.
“We must galvanize ourselves for the transformation of our land. We must rely on our shared values and the things that bind us together to build a nation and a democracy that will deliver values and the good life to our people and make us take our place in the comity of nations,” he added.
The Guest Lecturer, Prof Sola Akinrinade, stressed the need to curb the cost of the government saying the excessive cost of governance is affecting Nigeria’s capacity for national development.
Speaking on a topic titled: “June 12: 29 Years After – Integrating Nigeria’s Democracy in the Fourth Republic, The Osun Perspective,” Akinrinade lamented the level of corruption, positing that myriads of vices are signs of a sick society.
He said, “the excessive number of legislators, failure to restructure the civil and public service, massive corruption at every level of governance, the monumental corruption in the oil industry corruption, etc. are all pointers to a sick society.”
The University Don posited that the selection of constituency projects should not be left to the whims of the legislator but should be an inclusive process involving town hall meetings and consultations with the people, saying “when the people are involved in determining what comes to them, it would be easier to assume ownership and a legislator cannot then parade publicly funded projects as their contributions to the community.”
In his address, Adegboyega Awomolo SAN maintained that democracy is worthy of celebration owing to the good performance and even distribution of dividends of democracy.
According to him, commendable infrastructure, stable and improved educational system, world-class, standard healthcare facilities and abundance of peace in the state, despite threats of bandits, terrorists and criminals, even as records in our neighbouring states are matters worthy of the celebration of democracy day in Osun.”
The Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Engr Lekan Badmus, argued that the immortalization of MKO Abiola by the federal government is commendable, saying that Osun has promoted true democracy that Abiola agitated for with governor Oyetola listening to the citizens to know what they need before formulating policy and embarking on any project.
He said, “Oyetola has shown us that emotional intelligence, sincerity of purpose, honesty, integrity, compassion, focus, inclusiveness, creativity, commitment and dedication, virtues that our Governor possesses abundantly are essential to success in the arts and science of governance.”