Former Speaker, House of Representatives, Oladimeji Bankole has called for less emphasis on the age of the leaders to pilot the affairs of the country.
He made the call on Saturday on the sidelines of the 16th Annual Ramadan Lecture in Kaduna.
The event, titled: ‘Social Media: Effects on morality,’ was organised by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria.
Bankole, who was the special guest of honour at the annual event, urged Nigerians to continue taking part in the electoral process to elect responsible leaders.
According to him, it was more important for the country to be led by leaders who were genuinely interested and committed to the Nigerian project, than to debate over the age of the candidates.
He said morality and a sense of responsibility often start from the home, adding that there was the need to get things in the right order.
It’s always from home. Sense of morality can be treated from primary schools, secondary schools – formative years of young people. Parents must get more involved in moulding the character of their children,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bankole said social media was not the cause of Nigeria’s problems, but rather a consequence of the country’s challenges.
“Without a proper diagnosis, we cannot begin to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
At this point in our history, I will advise that we should not confuse causes and effects, symptoms and consequences,” he said.
Making an instance of Islam as a simple religion that has been solving societal problems, Bankole called on Nigerians to go back to the Quran for guidance.
However, he added that issues should be placed in their right perspectives, as “the problem here is that we are putting number five as number one and we expect peace to reign.”
NAN