Aremu urges Nigerians to demand accountability, good governance from leaders

The Secretary General of the Textile Workers Union, Issa Aremu, has charged Nigerians to demand accountability and transparency and good governance from political leaders.

Aremu said in a statement in Kaduna that Nigeria and Africa were no longer exhibiting virtues and values of their past leaders who were committed to development and growth of their countries and the continent.

His words: “The widening disconnect between the elected and appointed government officials and the people they represent is the bane of good governance in the country.

Aremu, who delivered the 2017 Justice Mustapha Akanbi lecture to mark 85th birthday anniversary of the pioneer Chairman of ICPC, said Nigerians must ensure that they demand accountability from those elected to govern them if the nation must move forward.

The National Executive Council (NEC) member of NLC, Aremu observed that the crisis of leadership in Nigeria would not be resolved through discovering “better new leaders, but through a new relationship between elected leaders and the people they claim to represent”.

According to him, past Nigerian and African leaders such as the late Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo, Aminu Kano, Amical Cabral, Sekou Toure, Leopold Senghon, Samora Machel, Augustine Neto, among others represented the aspirations of their peoples while most present day leaders are ‘self-indulgent’ and ‘self-absorbing.’