Prof Emeritus, Dame Uche Azikiwe, the widow of the first President of independent Nigeria, the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, has advised Nigerians against migrating abroad in the face of the nation’s challenges.
Prof. Azikiwe advised Nigerians to think of rebuilding their country by staying back to make it work instead of abandoning it under the guise of ‘Japa’.
Mrs Azikiwe, who also advised wives of leaders in the country to have something to do for themselves, called on them to bring up their children in the best way so that they will love Nigeria.
The wife of the late Azikiwe spoke on Thursday at the sideline of the 4th Zik’s Annual Award Lecture 2023 in Abuja.
Mrs Azikiwe spoke when her son, Uwakwe Azikiwe, who was also at the event, explained how he returned to the country to see his fatherland after completing his studies abroad.
Noting that she was in academics, Mrs Azikiwe said, “I would advise the wives of our leaders to have something to do and to be able to bring up our children in the best way so that they will love Nigeria as my son said earlier, they are not leaving Nigeria.
“No matter the way Nigeria goes, we must live in Nigeria, so that no child would Japa tomorrow or next. Let us stay in Nigeria and turn Nigeria to the best we can.”
She, however, said the family sometimes feel bad when it hears some persons say some negative things about her late husband, given that the things said are not true
She said, “When we hear these social media people say nonsense, we feel bad but with something like this (Annual Award Lecture), we know that Zik is still alive.”
Responding to criticisms that have trailed some of her late husband’s actions in some quarters, Mrs Azikiwe said: “He wasn’t a saint. Even Jesus Christ was crucified by people, so we don’t feel all that bad when people criticize him or feel bad because some people say he did this or that. There is no worry about that, he was a human being.”
Speaking at the event, the chairman of the occasion and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammad Sa’ad Abubakar, tasked leaders to emulate the exemplary selfless leadership style of the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who he said, gave his all to give Nigeria a solid foundation.
The Sultan, who was represented at the event by the Emir of Wase, Mohammad Haruna, expressed confidence that the country would continue to have good leaders even as he lamented that events emanating from the leadership corridors were giving the picture that Nigeria was derailing from what the nation’s forefathers bequeathed to the current generation.
He said, ”We will continue to have good people like the Zik of Africa in Nigeria, we will continue to have people that have this country at heart, so that they can be celebrated the way the Zik of Africa is being celebrated today.
“Looking at the generation that I belong to, I think we have to live together. Our forefathers did, it seems that we have derailed from the foundation they laid for us, and I want to use this opportunity to ask Nigerians to come back to the way our forefathers laid the foundation of Nigeria so that Nigeria can be Nigeria of our dreams. And we do not doubt that the crop of leaders that we have in Nigeria today, can’t take Nigeria to where it is supposed to be in this world, where it should be ranked as one of the best countries.
“The death of Zik should not be waved away. We should strive to see Nigeria be the way he wanted it to be before he departed this world. This is what Nigeria needs.
