We must kill some leaders to save Nigeria?

Editor, The above was the main headline in the front page of Sunday Champion, October 11, 2009. It was credited to Chief Niyi Akintola, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Chief Akintola, like most silent majority Nigerians was saying what he believes that for Nigeria to move forward something drastic has to take place. The bottom line of his submission is eradication of corruption. He will be lucky not to be hounded like Chief Nnia Nwodo whose contribution to a recent discourse in Enugu made people believe that he was calling for the military to come in.

But there is difference between the views of Akintola and Nwodo. He knows his right that no one can arrest him as the two unlucky and hapless pastors who were reportedly arrested for abusing the leaders during their preaching at this year's Independence services; the arrests were done as if we are still in the military era. The SAN had posited that for Nigeria to move forward, politically willingly, what happened in Ghana has to take place in Nigeria. And what happened in China, the Asian Tiger, which technologically has now overtaken the western countries, has to also apply. He revealed that the cabal causing this entire one step forward and many backwards for the country are not more than 5,000 out of the 140,000,000 Nigerians. He argued that if boko haram siege could cost about 2,000 innocent lives, there was nothing wrong in 5,000 moving out of the way for Nigeria to be liberated.

He accused the EFCC of not doing enough and revealed that in an organized system, you conclude investigating someone before you make it public; as against the publicity the anti-graft agencies in Nigeria give to matters at the preliminary stage of any allegation. Such gives the culprit the opportunity to correct records deceitfully.

If this is coming from a learned SAN, I would suggest that the leaders should retrace their steps to save us from going the impending deluge. It is painful for instance to see how some past and present leaders of the States that receive jumbo allocations from the federation arrogantly misappropriate funds.

Peter Kosowei
421 Aba Road
Port Harcourt.
[email protected]