Nigeria needs good leaders not restructuring – Ex-lawmaker

A former member of the House of Representatives, Bimbo Daramola, has said Nigerians are mistaking the leadership challenges confronting the country for structural challenges, hence the call for restructuring.

Daramola, who is seeking a return to the House in 2023 on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, Ekiti North Federal (Oye/Ikole) Constituency 1, said what Nigeria needed urgently was to fix the leadership crisis rocking it, following which all things would fall in place.

The SDP candidate, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday during a chat with journalists, said he was back in the race “because of young people who believe in what I represent. I expect that this is another election that will show the way in this country. Nigerians should take a stand for the right people. It is up to us to liberate our people.”

The former lawmaker condemned vote-buying, describing vote-buyers as “exploiters,” saying, “That is why those elected leaders behave anyhow because nobody will ask them questions after the transaction.

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“Vote-buying as a phenomenon is a threat to our democracy. There is no doubt about that because it compromises people, it takes advantage of the weak, poor and less-privileged. Vote-buying can’t stop unemployment and hunger after elections. If we abdicate responsibility, then all of us are going to pay the price and I hope that does not happen,” he said.

On the clamour for restructuring, he said, “We should not mistake a leadership challenge for structural challenge. I know what has plagued our country till date is a leadership problem. How do you deal with a nation that loses 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily and you think restructuring will cure that?”

Daramola, who said corruption was at the background of the country’s problem, said, “For instance, successive administrations have been dealing with the Lagos–Ibadan Road, do you think restructuring will cure that? Let us fix our leadership challenges and problems, then we can fix all other problems.

“A man who is corrupt in Nigeria, when he gets to the Republic of Oduduwa will be a mega corrupt man. A thief in an entity called Nigeria will be a mega thief when he gets to the Republic of Arewa or Ndigbo.

“So, we need to be very careful about the direction that we look for the solution to our problem. What is the restructuring agenda vis-a-vis corruption? What is the restructuring agenda vis-a-vis losing 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily. We have been told we don’t have anything in the reserves anymore. How does restructuring stop that?”