As Nigeria celebrates its 60th independence anniversary, an elder statesman, His Highness, Anabs Sara-Igbe, has appealed to politicians to avoid any acts which would invite the military to take over power.
Speaking in an interview, the elder statesman appealed to politicians to play politics by its rules and see democracy as a game in which they could win or lose in an election.
He said that they should learn from the experiences of the 1960s to the late 70s and early 80s and avoid military incursion in the country’s democracy.
His Highness, Sara-Igbe said: “As a country, we have tasted both dictatorship and democracy. We are presently in democracy and democracy shall work and I pray that the politicians should learn their lessons from the 1960s to the late 70s and early 80s and try as much as possible to avert another incursion of the military”.
He, however, said that politicians in position of authority should concentrate on developing human capital and infrastructure.
The elder statesman said: “They should play according to the rule of the game and see democracy as a game of winning or losing but what is uppermost should be the development of the country, the development of the state, the development of the local government and the development of the community. When politicians see themselves as agents of development, they should be able to think of human and infrastructural development. If we get to that, I think Nigeria will be a good place”.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition Nigeria as a manufacturing country not an importing nation saying that this would increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the currency’s competitiveness in the international market.
He said that politicians should imbibe the spirit of democracy and avoid acts that could cause chaos in the country.
The elder statesman also advised politicians to see election as a race in which they could win or lose and appealed to them to be conscious over alleged looting of resources of the country.
He said a situation where few Nigerians would loot the resources in the country was unfair and unacceptable.
