Don’t Dance on Graves, Prioritise Nigerians Welfare, Prof. Angaye Tells Political Leaders

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

A nonagenarian and Professor of Economics, Gesiye Angaye, has called on Nigerian political leaders to prioritise the welfare of citizens, expressing concern over what he described as a serious moral and governance crisis in the country. Angaye, a former Commissioner for Planning and Budget in Bayelsa State, said the country is facing rising insecurity, hunger, unemployment, and poverty, while political leaders appear disconnected from the daily struggles of ordinary citizens.

Speaking in Yenagoa last Monday, the elder statesman from Okoloba in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State said it is worrying that while citizens are suffering and burying loved ones, members of the political class are busy with celebrations and early political campaigns.

In a paper titled: Anchoring on the Graves: Moral Collapse, Elite Indifference, and the Crisis of State Responsibility in Nigeria’, the nonagenarian scholar said many Nigerians now live in fear because of kidnapping, banditry, and violence.

He stressed that the main duty of any government is to protect lives and property, stressing that when people cannot travel safely, farm freely, or send their children to school without fear, then the government has failed in its responsibility.

    The elder statesman noted that hunger in Nigeria is not by accident but a result of failed policies, adding that a country blessed with oil, gas,s and fertile land should not have millions of people struggling to afford food.

   He cautioned that the growing fear is discouraging many Nigerians from speaking freely about the state of the nation, as they worry about possible harassment or intimidation.

    The former commissioner said democracy loses its true meaning when citizens cannot freely express their views, adding that silence should not be seen as agreement.

    He further expressed concern that politics in Nigeria now focuses more on power and personal gain than on service and compassion for the people.

    He also urged both leaders and citizens to show moral courage by speaking truthfully and peacefully about the country’s challenges.

    Prof Angaye called on governments at all levels to restore empathy in leadership and make the protection of human life their top priority.

    According to him, “While citizens bury their dead, political actors dance, literally and metaphorically, at rallies, celebrations, ns and defections. The contrast between elite comfort and popular misery reveals a deep moral fracture in the Nigerian polity.

    “Hunger is not a natural disaster; it is a policy outcome. When millions cannot afford food in a country rich in land, oil, gas, and human capital, the issue is governance, not fate.

    “A political class that remains festive amid mass hunger demonstrates what may be termed institutionalised insensitivity—a condition where suffering no longer registers as a policy emergency.

    “Politics in Nigeria has increasingly become a zero-sum contest for access to resources, immunity, and privilege. Human lives are treated as collateral damage. Insecurity is politicised; poverty is instrumentalized; and deaths are statistics.

    “The early fixation on the 2027 elections, amid mass suffering, signals a troubling moral inversion: winning power has become more important than preserving life. This represents a collapse of ethical leadership and a distortion of democratic purpose.

    “This paper is written not out of hatred for Nigeria, but out of love and responsibility. Silence in the face of injustice is itself a form of complicity. To speak calmly, truthfully, candidly, and courageously is a civic and moral obligation.

    “Nigeria still has a choice: to restore compassion to governance, to re-centralise life as the supreme value of the state, and to rebuild trust between rulers and the ruled.

    “But this requires moral courage, especially from elders, scholars, and citizens who refuse to dance on the graves of the innocent. Beware of dancing on graves, which could collapse or give way to others to dance on your graves.”