Two university teachers, Professor Bashiru Ajala of University of Jos, and Dr. Remi Medupin of Al-Hikmah University, Kwara State have attributed Nigeria’s poor growth to lack of patriotism and selfishness on the part of its citizens.
They said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at the first memorial lecture of Ayo Tiamiyu Odebisi organised by the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) also known as Pyrates Confraternity.
Dr Medupin, who was the guest speaker, specifically accused some of the country’s leaders of “stealing more than they can spend.”
He added that those amassing stupendous wealth at the expense of the generality of Nigeria ‘are irrational,’ adding that ‘irrationality negates justice.’
The economist said that “justice has remained elusive in Nigeria because those who are at the helm of affairs are not rational. The political economy of Nigeria does not give room for justice.”
Prof Ajala, who was the chairman of the occasion, said both the led and leaders in the country are “selfish, self-centred and satanically greedy. The followers believe that the country belongs to the rulers.
“We are unpatriotic and undisciplined. Our patriotism has dropped to the lowest ebb. If we are not careful Nigeria will become a failed state.”
Commenting on the late Odebisi, Prof Ajala said he was instrumental to the formation of the soya beans association of Nigeria.
He added that Odebisi’s contributions to agriculture business in the country were phenomenal, adding that “his life was not about himself but what the farmers would get.”
In his remarks, Kwara State Chair of NAS Dele Abiodun absolved the fraternity of cultic tendencies, saying that “though we are not against the government in their bid to get rid of miscreants in the guise of various associations; we abhor being christened with them or being seen as the origin of evil.
“I appeal to all here to research into our efforts with the ministry of education on various suggestions of curbing cultism at various higher institutions of learning. I want to emphatically say, as it had been since 1984, the Pyrates Confraternity had evolved from the institutions of learning to become an association that tackles global issues, it is no more a college fraternity.
“These pseudo-associations are offshoots and grooming waterholes for thugs and assassins that are useful hands for hire by our corrupt and clueless leaders. We are what we are; a group of unconventional proactive people acting as a team in guiding this nation and anywhere we find ourselves towards an egalitarian world. We will not cease in our drive nor we will falter in our quest.”