The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has said there is nothing wrong in having godfathers in Nigerian politics.
The Minister stated this while Sseaking at the official unveiling of the Lead Generation Initiative (LGI) in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, godfatherism isn’t bad because anybody referred to that must have “paid their dues” and have some level of influence.
Sunday Dare noted that while Nigerians call them godfathers, they are called different names in other countries.
“The definition of godfatherism is not a monolith. In the context of our own politics, a godfather is someone who sits there, decides and takes all the decisions, decides who gets what, whether it is resources or positions.
“Also, before you can become a godfather, you must have paid some dues, you must have a level of influence, you must have some clout and you must have made sacrifices overtime. But beyond that, we also have godfathers for our children.
“The concept of godfatherism simply means that there are some individuals or influential leaders – who can be in block or individuals – who have the levers of control when it comes to political decisions and appointments.
“For me, in its entirety, godfatherism is not bad. But godfatherism that sacrifices competence for something else is bad,” he said.
KanyiDaily recalls that Nollywood actor and member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Desmond Elliot, had openly declared that the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu is his godfather.
