Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, weekend said young people ought to be groomed well before handing over leadership to them. He stated this in Owerri, as part of his Christmas goodwill message to the people of the state, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo.
The release gave some reasons why the governor made the statement. ”What Nigerians and of course the leaders in particular need to do now, is to unite and begin to build a country of our collective dreams and aspirations.”
He added that,”The leaders cannot afford to hand over to the next generation what we have at the moment as a nation, in which ethnicity, religious bigotry and zoning of political offices are still the order of the day.”
It was his view that,”Nigerians must endeavour to hand over to the next generation, a united and prosperous nation, all the ethnic and religious groups can be proud of.”
He however, called on Nigerians to accept that the current recession in the country was a national challenge. “Nigerians especially the leaders should appreciate themselves and see the current recession as a national challenge.
“Christians in the state in particular should pray more than before, for the good of the state and her people,” Okorocha said.
The governor also blamed past leaders who lacked proper family upbringing for the lack of peace in the country.
Okorocha made this statement while expressing worries over the state of the country, during a church service at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ogboko in Ideato South Local Government of the state.
The governor also heaped the blame on the failure of the family in preaching peace. “If peace and love had passed from the families in the country since the nation’s independence, there would not have been the civil war or Boko Haram or IPOB or Niger-Delta Avengers,” he said.
He regretted that,”It was the seed of discord sown long before now that has given birth to all these agitations on the basis of tribe and religion.”