African Action Congress (AAC) 2023 presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the trend of naming infrastructure projects after President Bola Tinubu. The Human Rights Activist in an interview on ARISE Television said the current trend is a symptom of political insecurity and ego rather than national honour.
He also called the practice a level of imbecility, arguing that many of those honoured in such a way have failed to uplift the lives of the people they claim to serve.
Sowore stated that if he were president, he would rather name infrastructure after trees or rivers, emphasising that they contribute to ecological balance and serve a public good without demanding praise.
The activist further said that the move was an insult to suffering Nigerians and a sign that the government is more concerned with legacy building than governance.
He said, “I want to address very quickly the issue of naming places after the President. I think that in itself is a sign of insecurity, that the people handling the regime, or the regime itself, is so unsure of itself, it had to be naming monuments after itself when there is nothing happening in the country. There is no reason why anybody who has done well for the country wouldn’t wait for monuments to be named after them after they have left.
“But you know, you and I know this, and you mentioned it, that there’s a level of imbecility involved. That’s true. And what that means is that even other monuments have been named after people in this country. It speaks to the fact that monuments are named after people who have contributed the least amount of progress to the country. And it’s just done in a way that I have no respect for the dignity of the people, respect for history, and respect for our existence.
“If I were to become president of this country, most of the places named after these former Nigerian leaders would be named after trees, and probably rivers in Nigeria. We have plenty of them. Because those ones deserve those places to be named after them. At least they are consistent, and they contribute to our ecological balance. There are people who contribute nothing. Sometimes I get depressed when I’m driving on roads in Abuja, and I see Buhari Road, or Babangida Road, or Abacha Barrack. I just wonder what’s wrong with us. But here you have it. That’s the map of imbecility.”
