A Lagos-based lawyer, Pa Taiwo O Stephen Fadahunsi, has challenged Nigerian politicians to prioritise the well-being of the Nigerian masses in whatever leadership positions they find themselves.

Fadahunsi, in a statement marking the 40th anniversary of the demise of his father, lamented the poverty and misery in the country, saying that it was not the kind of country his father and other nationalists envisaged when they fought for the independence of the country from the British.

Sir Odeleye Fadahunsi was the governor of the old Western Region in the First Republic, serving between January 1962 and January 1966, when the military took over the reins of power from the civilians in a bloody coup that led to the killing of prominent politicians and top military officers.

Though he survived being killed by the rampaging military officers on the night of the coup, Fadahunsi however, died on May 12, 1986, at the age of 81 in his hometown of Ilesa, Osun State.

In the statement issued by Fadahunsi, made available to newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, he lamented that the country has drifted away from the vision and dreams of his father and other nationalists, with a call on all and sundry to urgently arrest the drift.

According to him, contemporary Nigerian politicians and leaders should draw inspiration from the nation’s founding fathers by living for the people through personal sacrifice and exemplary leadership.

“As I reflect on the life and times of our founding fathers, including my late father, who demonstrated leadership by making the welfare and well-being of their people the cornerstone of the leadership endeavor, I remain sad that the nation they envisaged at independence is not what we have now.

“In Nigeria, we have politicians, be they legislators and those in the executive arm of government presiding over a nation so riddled by poverty and misery, yet they go about doing nothing about it. They behave as if they don’t care about the country.

“As a people and as a country, we lack a lot of things that can facilitate our corporate progress and development. No electricity, no road, no water, nothing. Our people are really struggling. They (the leaders) don’t care,” he said.