Ighodalo urges Nigerians to vote for detribalised leaders

The Senior Pastor, Trinity House Church, Ituah Ighodalo, on Tuesday advised Nigerians to vote for detribalised leaders in the forthcoming general polls.

Ighodalo gave the piece of advice during the 5th edition of One Man Art Conference, organised by Dr Bolaji Akinyemi in Lagos.

Ighodalo said the nation was in a critical condition as Nigerians were faced with various choices of leaders.

He urged Nigerians to evaluate properly before casting their ballots.

According to him, the nation needed leaders who are truly passionate about “Project Nigeria”, who are disciplined, hardworking, energetic and of good pedigree.

“We need leaders who think least of themselves, not interested in wealth acquisition but are well educated, informed and intelligent.

“Above all, they must be leaders with the fear of God and with these qualities, such leaders will be able to make remarkable impact on the nation,“ he said.

Ighodalo noted that Nigeria was known as a country with great resources but unfortunately, Nigerians did not have true and genuine love for their nation.

He said Nigerians must go through some processes of reorientation to be able to come up with change of approach to the ways things were done and be truly patriotic.

“I want to tell the nay sayers that Nigeria will rise again, though there had been crisis, those were sacrifices for the eventual good of the nation.

“ I am concerned about the depreciation in the quality of life here in the country.

“To change things, we need reorientation and total change of approach to everything we do. We need to reawaken ourselves to be selfless for the collective good of the nation,” he said.

Earlier, Akinyemi, the programme’s convener, urged church leadership in Nigeria to take politics seriously and desist from exhibiting attitude of indolence to issues.

“I am amused at how ignorant the leadership of the church are or are pretending to be as Christians against the backdrop of obvious onslaught of hell targeted at our faith.

“It is time we all rise to unanimously pick credible leaders that are detribalised,” he said.

Also, Maj.-Gen. Pat Akem-Vingir (Rtd.) urged Nigerians to pick leaders who were capable of giving people from various ethnic nationalities some sense of belonging in the face of cultural diversities.

“Let us elect leaders who can separate their vision from their ambition, leaders who can build human capital, who are data-driven and willing to proffer lasting solutions to our critical problems,” he said.

Prof. Remi Sonaiya, the only female presidential candidate who contested the 2015 election on the platform KOWA Party, advised Nigerians on time management, hard work and honesty, if the nation must be repositioned.

Femi Soneye, Presiding Bishop, Miraclebreed Assembly urged Nigerians to constantly seek knowledge on all spheres of life such as politics and finance.

He said this would further develop individuals to be great and outstanding leaders.