Nigerians Must Be Pragmatic In Choosing Their Leaders – El-Rufai

Posted by: Folamidavid in News, Politics Nov 29, 2019

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said for Nigeria to fulfill her full potential, the people must be pragmatic in their selection of leaders.

Nasir revealed this at the 2019 Ajasin Foundation Colloquium organized in honor of the first governor of Ondo State, the late Adekunle Ajasin, held in Akure, the state capital.

Speaking on the theme, “Promoting economic development, social justice and rule of law as pathways to stability, peace and prosperity in Nigeria,” El-Rufai added that Nigerians must have access to justice as long as the rich also enjoy their wealth.

His words, “Those people that are saying politicians messed up the country are at fault because our best never join politics. They are all working with oil companies and so on.

“When the bad politicians are messing up the country, they are shouting. You better come and join us to collectively move the country forward.

“If we must make progress as a nation, the laws of the land must balance. One of the problems of the country is that the elite are not sitting down to agree on the minimum. They should make the country work, because if the country works, they will be the greatest beneficiary.”

Ondo State governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu also said the rule of law is important for the development of Nigeria.

He said, “When Nigerians returned to the country, they started showing their status. Some we say, I am the governor or the deputy governor. Without rule of law, there can’t be social justice.”

Is he making sense?

Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (born 16 February 1960) is a Nigerian politician who is the Governor of Kaduna State, Nigeria. He was the former Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises, the head of privatisation agency in Nigeria. He was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja from 16 July 2003 to 29 May 2007. He is a member of All Progressives Congress (APC) and was elected as the Executive Governor of Kaduna State during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

EL-Rufai was born on February 16, 1960 in Daudawa of Faskari Local Government Area in Katsina State. His father died while he was 8 years old. He was sponsored throughout his schooling days by an uncle in Kaduna, and as a result he grew up in the Northern state. He went to secondary school in the Barewa College, where he graduated at the top of the class, winning the “Barewa Old Boys’ Association Academic Achievement” Trophy in 1976. Incidentally, in Barewa College Zaria, the former President Umaru Yar’Adua was the House Captain of Mallam Smith House which was Nasir’s dormitory as a junior. He went off to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earning a Bachelor in Quantity Surveying degree with First Class Honors. He also attended post-graduate programs at Harvard Business School and Georgetown University. Since leaving public service, Nasir has completed an LL.B degree from the University of London, graduating in August 2008 with Second Class Honors, Upper Division, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in June 2009. He also received the Kennedy School Certificate in Public Policy and Management having spent 11 months as an Edward A. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management from July 2008 to June 2009.

El-Rufai is married to writer and novelist Hadiza Isma El-Rufai. Together, they run the Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation (YELF), set up to honour their daughter who died in 2011.