Let’s be more patriotc –Mohammed
By Abubakar Imam
A former Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Ilorin, Dr AbdulRasheed Alada Muhammad, has urged Nigerians to show more patriotism for the country to attain its full potential.
Dr Muhammad gave this advice last Monday (September 28, 2026) while speaking with UNILORIN Bulletin on the 66th anniversary of the nation’s independence in his office.
The don, who is an Associate Professor, said that the country possesses abundant natural and human resources needed for its all-round transformation. He, however, regretted the absence of what he called “enabling patriotism” among vast majority of its citizens.
Dr Muhammad observed that many Nigerians, including leaders and the led, do not possess the desired patriotism. Hence, the stagnation in core areas of national development, which the country has been experiencing for decades.
He recalled that Nigeria was on the same level of development with countries like India, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, at independence but noted that those countries are today far ahead of Nigeria in many aspects of national development.
While saying that all hopes are not lost, Dr Muhammad encouraged leaders in all sectors of national development to always lead by example.
He said that when leaders show patriotism in their words, actions and inactions they would be directly or indirectly inspiring followers to do the same.
Dr Muhammad specifically condemned what he called “primitive accumulation” of wealth among many of the nation’s leaders particularly some of those who are holding either elective or appointive positions.
He said that it is the activities of those categories of leaders that is impacting negatively on the majority of the nation’s citizens who are left with little or nothing.
He said that the genesis of most of the problems bedeviling the country is deeply rooted in corruption, adding that the rising insecurity cannot be divulged from the endemic corruption among a few that have subjected the majority to poverty.
Dr Muhammad reminded all that primitive accumulation is unnecessary as it would not help the accumulator at the long run when they would also be in need of essential services that could not be provided because of their greed.
