Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the House of Representatives has declared on his official Twitter handle that the godfathers in Nigeria are not true leaders.
Yakubu Dogara
He condemned the influence of godfathers in Nigerian politics noting that it is impeding the very existence of good government in the country, The Punch reports.
On his rating, the speaker said that after corruption the next issue that Nigerians must confront in order to enjoy the dividends of democracy was to end ‘godfather politics’ which he said was another form of corruption.
The speaker however did not mention any particular godfather but said that while true leaders raise competent leaders, godfathers only focus their attention on raising sycophants.
Speaker Dogara defied the directive of his party to emerge as the leader of the lower legislative chamber on June 9.
The All Progressives Congress led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had favoured Femi Gbajabiamila, who is presently the Majority Leader of the lower legislative chamber to be the speaker. But Dogara eventually defeated him in an election held in the House on June 9.
The speaker said that with godfathers are always breathing on the necks of their godsons who hold public offices, the country cannot kill corruption and make progress. He queried why the success or rising profile of a godson should turn into the godfather’s insecurity. He asked further about why godfathers always want to have followers who do not and must not have a sense of self-worth.
In his words, the speaker asked: “Why does certain godfathers’ security rest on the insecurity of those they claim to have helped to power? Thank God for the social media but how many of us can stand up to what we hold dear, especially when our godfathers say no. Where is the place of character in our leadership recruitment process? Why are we no longer convicts of our own conviction?
“Why should the success or rising profile of a godson turn into the godfather’s insecurity? Why do we abandon our convictions at the caprices of a godfather without demonstrable evidence that we are wrong?” he wondered.
Meanwhile, it was learned recently that Dogara approved a proposal to increase the number of standing committees in the House from the present 89 to 95.
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