National Coordinator, Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has said there are lots of artificiality in governance in Nigeria, adding that many Nigerian leaders live false lives.
In an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, he advised Nigerian leaders to be "more sincere and natural".
According to him, some public officials live false lives that they could not sustain when they are out of office. He said there was the need for discipline among the leaders and the followers.
He said, "To the government, I think they should be more sincere. They should be more natural rather than being artificial in whatever they do. They have a lot of artificiality in governance. You see people living a life that they would not be able to sustain out of office. That is artificiality. That is someone giving you what you know you are not primarily due for.
"We should be natural, disciplined and show leadership by example."
Oloyede said NIREC had always played prominent roles in ensuring religious harmony, peace and development in the country.
He noted that sometimes it could be difficult to harmonise opinions and reach an acceptable position when the two NIREC constituent bodies – the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs – differed on an issue.
He added, "NIREC is not a third party. It is a joint body. That is also part of the problem. When two people disagree and these two people are the people who are talking, at times you have difficulty in bring the two together. Because when two people are aggrieved, and you are asking two of them to still come together, it is not as simple as that.
"I believe that what we need to do is that those charged with the responsibility of overseeing that aspect of our national life need to be a bit more involved and more sensitive so that when there are problems, those who are really involved in this matter, their advice would be sought and something done properly and promptly."
