The National Director of Publicity and Advocacy of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has exhorted for President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023 to “create hope among our young people” when elected.
The leader stated this while lamenting the current state of Nigeria at 62.
According to Baba-Ahmed, the nation lost its way sometime in the 1960s and even now, adding that it also lost opportunities and made wrong turns.
He said:
“Of course not! At 62, this country is supposed to be run as one of the best countries in the world. We lost our way somewhere around the 1960s and now. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of opportunities and made wrong turns.
“As a result, the country has faced incredible damage that a lot of other countries may not have survived. We should be grateful to God that we have survived it, and we should be grateful to those patriots, who still believe in the need to work for Nigeria’s survival as one nation and its unity and economy.”
The leader added that the country was not too late to have a remake and hence he advised presidential candidates vying for the seat to have hope in Nigeria.
“We must find a way to create hope among our young people. This is the most important task for any leader who wants to take over from the President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We must have a leader who can inspire hope and confidence and a nation to work harder. We need one who can exploit our economic resources and build our values of honesty, hard work and tolerance.
“These things are very critical. Nigeria has not had it too badly either; we have survived for over 100 years since amalgamation in 1914. So, we have done well, but we can do a lot better.”
