Former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke has described Nigerians as behaving like tenants in Nigeria.
Mr Duke made the statement at the Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders which held on Tuesday at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to him, Nigerians, especially young people who represent more than 60 of the population, should play a pivotal role in leadership and governance.
Themed ‘Open Governance: Improving Transparency and Accountability in Government’, the Symposium brings together leaders in politics, business, media, and more to discuss issues and challenges of open government and active citizenship.
Speaking during the panel session titled ‘Office of the Citizen’, Duke stated that Nigerian youth need to get involved to make a difference while in the prime of their lives, or suffer the consequences of not making the right demands from their government.
“Godfatherism grows out of mentorship… They are there to set you on a path, but do not let them enslave you. Right now, Nigerian youths have the numbers to make positive changes in this country, and they should use it,” he said.
“There is a lot of contempt in government now because there are no consequences to wrong actions by the government. The failure in the country is the youths’ inability to aspire for better lives and situations for themselves. They behave like tenants in their own country.”
Speaking at the event, Rinsola Abiola, a youth advocate and media aide to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, urged Nigerian youth to make use of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill in requesting for information in order to make decisions.
