The Apena of Egbaland and Oluwo of Iporo-Ake, Chief Alani Bankole has said only lazy people are hungry in Nigeria, insisting that the country is filled with opportunities to make money.
Bankole, who spoke on Wednesday during a media interaction, blamed parents and the system for encouraging laziness among youths, saying many young people have lost the culture of hard work.
According to him, the Bible is clear that anyone who does not work has no business eating, adding that Nigeria still offers enough legitimate opportunities for anyone willing to work not to be poor.
“There are too many opportunities in Nigeria for us not to be hungry. Most people who are hungry today are lazy people,” he said.
He said children should be exposed early to productive activities and taught the dignity of labour, recalling that young people of his generation often combined formal education with practical work.
The Egba chief, who clocked 85, maintained that many parents have failed in training their children, noting that instead of teaching them how to create wealth, they pamper them and expect the government to provide everything.
“Teach people how to make money, don’t give them money. Salary jobs are only meant to eat. When you learn how to create wealth, you become rich,” he said.
He, however, admitted that the system itself is largely responsible for the everyday calamity in the country, saying the British handed over a faulty system which Nigerians have continued to practise to oppress and suppress others.
“The system has encouraged a lot of nonsense. The system is responsible for our everyday calamity. Is it Tinubu that will go and farm for you?” he queried.
The traditional chief said the failure of governance is tied to a system where a President or governor is forced to pick aides from every state or constituency without merit, making it impossible to assemble the best team.
Bankole, who is the father of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, called for a deeper conversation on the structures governing the country, stressing that replacing one political administration with another would not necessarily produce fundamental change if the underlying system remained the same.
The octogenarian and former National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, argued that the quality of leadership was inevitably influenced by the structures and resources available to those entrusted with governance.
“You can only give what you have,” he said, stressing the need for Nigerians to focus on institutional development and human capacity alongside political leadership.
When asked to advise politicians ahead of the 2027 general elections, the traditional chief declined, saying he had retired from the kind of politics being practised today.
“No, I can’t advise them because I’m not used to this type of politics. When we were in politics, you couldn’t find me in any township at this time. I would take my campaign to rural and border areas.
“But today, you don’t see politicians go to anybody. I don’t know how they do it. They are practising a type of politics which I’m not used to, which I don’t know about. So that’s why I cannot, because when I was growing up, I didn’t go through this nonsense,” he stated.
