Abbas Jimoh
28 October 2008
Former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Professor Jerry Gana yesterday said Nigeria has not been able to develop because it has always been plagued with leaders without ideas.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Christian Book Fair in Abuja yesterday, Gana lamented that Nigeria has failed to develop as a nation despite the huge human and natural resources because its leaders lack creativity and innovation to move the nation forward.
"Our leaders have no ideas, no creativity and when there is no idea, there is no knowledge. Where there is no knowledge, the people perish," Gana said.
He said the absence of reading culture amongst the people has also affected the leaders, who do not have time to read and develop themselves in order to come up with new ideas with practical solutions to the country's many problems.
He said; "It is sad that the reading habit is going down very rapidly in Nigeria. People do not like reading. However, the discipline of reading books and getting ideas I believe is something that ought to be cultivated all times.
"The linkage really is that whatever anyone is going to do starts from the thought process. The power centre is the mind. If you feed lots of rubbish into your mind, of course you will act rubbishy and act in a very foolish way. Therefore, character, integrity and being full of good ideas have a very strong relationship with the books you read.
"Leaders must always be ahead, ahead in generating ideas, alternatives, programmes and so when leaders have ideas and are full of knowledge, the people will rejoice because the leader will always be coming with something fresh. When the leaders are stale, society will also go stale because no society can rise above the quality of its leadership. This is why I pray that with these things people are doing will encourage our leaders at all levels, to study and read and feed the mind and be creative", he said.
Gana who also spoke on the ongoing reconciliation process by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra said they have made giant steps towards ensuring lasting peace in the state. He however charged the feuding parties to ensure justice and fairness in the state for peace to reign.
"We should be grateful to God that the nation is not at war, there is a number of problem areas like in the Niger Delta and some political problems in Anambra. I thank God for the opportunity that has been given to me to reconcile our brothers in Anambra. We are making very good progress," he said.
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Professor Jerry Gana, if our leaders have no ideas and or creativity why do we still let them rule us. Why, should body destroy hisor her own country. Why should our leaders take us for granted Why and why do stand still while the world moved on. Why.