Former Minister of Petroleum, Profes­sor Tam David- West and other eminent Nigerians have called on Nigerians to say no to bad government and misrule and further lampooned the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government, which he de­scribed as a failure.
The Professor of Virol­ogy stated this while speak­ing at the 5th Gani Fawe­hinmi Annual Memorial Lecture organised yester­day by the Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organisation (GAFAMOrg) at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State.
Professor David-West bemoaned the complacent attitude of Nigerians to­wards fighting for a change and argued that it has been the major reason the coun­try continues to suffer from misrule and bad govern­ment policies.
“We must learn to voice out our discontentment to government and fight for change, although I don’t support violence, but I be­lieve in protests because it makes government ungov­ernable to bad governance. Nigerians must take their destinies in their hands and say no to bad government. Things have turned for the worse in this country and I have never seen things so bad. We are in a govern­ment that allowed tertiary institutions to go on strike for over six months, over 200 of our young innocent girls were kidnapped and still in bondage, and the only thing the government could do is to share money to the parents of the girls. We’ve had the highest num­ber of killings in this coun­try, yet we have a govern­ment that pledged to protect lives and property,” he said.
He further lambasted the ongoing media jingle prais­ing the administration. “We keep hearing of transfor­mation taking place, but it is glaring that what we are experiencing is negative transformation”.
Also speaking, Professor Akin Oyebode warned the populace to eschew hero worship attitude towards elected government offi­cials as he called for greater vigilance of the electorate using their franchise and in knowing who they elect into power.
“For long, majority of our people have been docile and overly trustful of their leaders. They had evinced an attitude tending towards veneration and hero-wor­ship of these self-appointed masters. Going forward, the people should seize the ini­tiative and see themselves as the real masters in the political game.
Professor Oyebode harped on the need for the electorate “to exhibit great­er circumstance by wash­ing with cynical acid all the promises from the sweet tongue of seekers of public office.”
The chairman of the oc­casion, Mr. Femi Falana be­wailed the increasing spate of terrorism in the country as he called on politicians to stop politicization of Boko Haram. He also called on politicians to emulate the leadership qualities of the late legal luminary, Gani Fawehinmi.
In the same vein, Na­tional Chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Tanko Yinusa and President, Campaign for Democracy, Dr Joe Okei- Odumakin encouraged Nigerians to emulate the ‘uncommon courage’ of the late human rights crusader and get more involved in the electoral process