10th June, 2017
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba has blamed the country’s problems on the political class, describing them as selfish and insensitive to the plight of the masses.
Agbakoba took this position while speaking at the Liberal Forum Policy Townhall held at the University of Lagos, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
While making his contributions on the topic: “Conglomerate Governance in a Prebendal State, Is True Federalism the Answer?” Agbakoba described the relationship between the political class and the masses as that of the zookeeper and the animals.
Agbakoba also posited that the emancipation of the Nigerian masses lied in the hands of students and the teeming youth population whose task he said, was to galvanize civil society to stand against the elite class.
In his comments, the lead speaker at the Townhall, Professor Richard Joseph said the absence of true federalism and good leadership was a fallout of the unseriousness of the political elite.
Other speakers at the policy Townhall included former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu; former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Dr. Obadiah Mailafiah, and Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje.