Godfathers are not true leaders, says Dogara

Godfathers are not true leaders, says Dogara 24 Aug 2015 12:00 AM  The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has condemned the influence of godfathers in Nigerian politics, noting that godfathers are not true leaders. The Speaker said ‘godfatherism’ was hindering the delivery of good governance in the country. He said after corruption, the next issue that Nigerians must confront in order to enjoy the dividends of democracy was to end ‘godfather politics’ which he said was another form of corruption. The Speaker, who represents Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa federal constituency of Bauchi State, said this on his official Twitter handle. In the series of tweets, Dogara, however, did not mention any particular godfather. He said while true leaders raise competent leaders, godfathers only focus their attention on raising sycophants. “Are godfathers true leaders? True leaders raise leaders while godfathers busy themselves in raising sycophants,” he said. It will be recalled that Dogara defied the directive of his party to emerge as the leader of the lower legislative chamber on June 9. The All Progressives Congress, led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had favoured Femi Gbajabiamila, who is presently the Majority Leader of the lower legislative chamber, to be the Speaker. Dogara, however, defeated Gbajabiamila in an election held in the House on June 9. The Speaker said, “After killing corruption, the next thing to kill is ‘godfatherism.’ In fact it (godfatherism) is corruption in another form. So let’s kill both. “With godfathers always breathing on the necks of their godsons who hold public offices, we can’t kill corruption and make progress. Why should the success or rising profile of a godson turn into the godfather’s insecurity? Why do godfathers always want to have followers who do not and must not have a sense of self-worth? “Why does certain godfathers’ security rest on the insecurity of those they claim to have helped to power? Thank God for the social media but how many of us can stand up to what we hold dear, especially when our godfathers say no. Where is the place of character in our leadership recruitment process? Why are we no longer convicts of our own conviction? “Why should the success or rising profile of a godson turn into the godfather’s insecurity? Why do we abandon our convictions at the caprices of a godfather without demonstrable evidence that we are wrong?” Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng.com