Nigerians Hungry Because Leaders Are Repeating Past Mistakes — Frank Tietie
The Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy for Social Economic Rights (CASER), Barrister Frank Tietie, has said that the current food crisis in Nigeria is as a result of political leaders repeating mistakes that grounded the country at different seasons in the past.
He said leaders appear to be ignorant of the country’s history.
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Tietie shared this views on Tuesday after he was conferred with a Life Membership Certificate of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN) by its president, Prof. Samuel O. Aghalino.
The lawyer said with the “insane level of low politics” that is practised in Nigeria, only leaders who have a sense of history could effectively navigate the future from lessons of the past.
According to him, 2024 was not the first time Nigeria experienced hunger but it was expected of current leaders to understand the mistakes of the past otherwise they would keep taking actions that are detrimental to the citizens.
Tietie said, “Until we understand certain actions and make changes, we will continue to make the same mistakes in the expectations of different results. That is why we have all these frustrations. Nothing is new under the sun. Nothing that is happening now in Nigeria, has not happened in about three cycles in Nigeria’s history. So we are in a fourth cycle, why will a fourth cycle of hunger, and political crisis hit us to the extent that the country will always be on the precipice as it is going to go to civil war? It is as if we are moving around in a circle and not making progress; the reason is because we deliberately do not know that we have made these mistakes before and we keep repeating them.”
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He explained that from the Kano riots to the civil war, those periods were enough to teach today’s leaders lessons from the mistakes past leaders have made, and “how we can correct them.”
He recommended that every Nigerian leader, at every level, must have a basic knowledge of Nigeria’s history because it is with history one can understand the people, and their kind of politics while leveraging it to bring development.
He emphasized that history must become compulsory for anyone who wants to become successful as a leader in Nigeria and that citizens should have a knowledge of history so they won’t be deceived by incompetent politicians and leaders.
He thanked HSN and attendees for the historic moment and certificate, adding that his advocacy is aimed at improving the quality of life for every human being.
In his remarks, Aghalino said Tietie deserved the life membership certificate for demonstrating an uncommon capacity to confront the national question with patriotic zeal.
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“I concluded that Tietie must not be speaking from the perspective of stomach infrastructure, he has been speaking from the fact that this nation is great and we must make it great and we must work in unison to make it great. And each time he speaks, I pick out his snippets of historiography and see nuggets of historical wisdom.
“I said for you to do your thing well, you must be a historian. I now realize that as the president of HSN, we need partnerships, big voices, and people with media presence to tell our story. If we have people like Frank Tietie as members of our society, we know that some of the challenges we are having in our society could be brought to bear in our national discourse.
“Being a life member of HSN society is a very special thing to us because life members are people we can run to when there is any trouble. We are proud that with you, with us, we can join in the national discourse on how we can move the country forward,” the professor added.
He said if leaders are conscious of history, some of the decisions they make in private and public life will be guided accordingly for national integration and harmony.
“It is our pleasure to present this life certificate. On behalf of the council and members of the Historical Society of Nigeria, I hereby present this life membership certificate to Barrister Frank Tietie. Congratulations,” he said, while presenting the certificate to Tietie, earlier.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees, CASER , Otunba Gbenga Onayiga, thanked the Historical Society of Nigeria for the honour, assuring that the honoree remains a lawyer with a difference.
