The Ekiti Council of Elders has urged political leaders to embrace integrity, accountability, and responsible governance, saying the growing culture of corruption and wasteful spending is undermining national development.

The secretary of the council’s board of trustees, Bayo Orire, said the country’s political environment had increasingly diminished the value of honesty, with people who resisted corruption often perceived as lacking political intelligence.

Mr Orire spoke in Ado-Ekiti on Friday at a news conference heralding the second edition of the Joel Babatola Annual Lecture Series, themed “The Paradox of Nationhood: The Struggle for Reinventing Nigeria’s Security Architecture.”

He expressed concern that public office had increasingly become an avenue for personal enrichment rather than service delivery, citing the high cost of governance, extravagant lifestyles of political officeholders, and poor execution of public projects.

He said the situation was particularly disturbing as many communities continued to lack industries, adequate infrastructure, and meaningful agricultural development despite huge public expenditure.

Mr Orire also commended President Bola Tinubu’s efforts at decentralising the military and other security institutions, describing the initiative as a strategic approach to strengthening national security.

He explained that concentrating critical security infrastructure in one location could expose the country to serious risks in the event of an attack, adding that decentralisation would promote local participation, employment, and economic opportunities.

Mr Orire also endorsed the establishment of state police and the growing involvement of community vigilante groups and local security outfits, describing them as important measures toward addressing the nation’s security challenges.

He said community-based security initiatives were already recording encouraging results, particularly in the fight against kidnapping and other criminal activities.

“On security, we have seen how the president is trying to decentralise the armed forces and other security services, and that is commendable.

“Security-wise, that is a very sensible decision because if you concentrate everything in one location, an attack on that location could have devastating consequences for the entire country,” he said.

Earlier, the chairman of the council’s board of trustees, Olufemi Adewumi, said Nigeria’s security challenges and fragile national unity, driven by mutual distrust, religious differences and ethnic divisions, had made responsible leadership more urgent.

Mr Adewumi said the council, comprising individuals of integrity and patriotism, was committed to promoting national unity and contributing to efforts to address the country’s challenges.

(NAN)