Lagos – Prof. Abolade Adeniji, the Dean, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, on Wednesday advised Nigerians from all walks of life to give their best in service to the nation.
Adeniji gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on the sideline of the first Posthumous 80th Birthday Lecture for late Gabriel Fakeye, the spiritual leader of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church.
He said that Nigeria could move to the next level only if its people would “re-dedicate themselves to the Nigerian project’’.
“True transformation is an ideal; it is something we all have to work towards; I have no problems with our pluralism; I have no problem with our politics.
“I have already averred to the fact that our politics will become better purified over time.
“But I think what all of us can do in the mean time is simply to rededicate ourselves to the Nigerian project.
“It is known that this country has potentials; it is known that this country is promising; it is known that this is one country that can work.
“So I think the challenge really is what every one of us can do to make this country work.
“If you are politician just play decent politics, if you are a religious leader, know that you have a responsibility to impact positively on the society.
“It may not be our generation that will get it right, but at least we can lay a foundation, things are rough now, we don’t seem to be getting it right.
“But I am persuaded by the fact – it may not be acceptable to many – that the quality of leadership we have now is by far better than what we had in 1999.
“If this our experiment continues, there is bound to be quantitative improvement in the quality of the leadership.’’
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
The theme of the birthday lecture was: “Religion, Politics, Ethnicism and the Quest for True National Transformation in Nigeria.’’
NAN reports that Fakeye died on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. (NAN)