The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Senatorial Candidate for Delta South, Dr. Austin Orette, has criticised government officials and former governors who seek medical treatment abroad after leaving office, saying their actions expose the failure of the healthcare systems they supervised while in power.
Orette said it was contradictory for leaders who spent years in government without building functional healthcare institutions to rely on foreign hospitals for treatment, describing the trend as a reflection of poor leadership and misplaced priorities.
The Nigerian-American medical doctor, entrepreneur and politician also identified the collapse of civic consciousness and weak citizen participation in governance as one of the fundamental challenges confronting Nigeria, arguing that corruption is merely a symptom of a deeper national crisis.
Speaking in a statement issued on Tuesday in Owhelogbo, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, Orette urged governments at all levels to strengthen democratic institutions, promote accountability and invest in sectors that directly improve the lives of citizens.
“For decades, Nigerians have been told that corruption is the nation’s greatest enemy. While corruption has undoubtedly weakened our institutions, I contend that it is only a symptom of a much deeper national crisis: the collapse of civic consciousness and citizen participation in governance,” he said.
He maintained that Nigeria’s democratic and developmental challenges would persist unless citizens became more actively involved in governance and held elected officials accountable.
“The Nigeria we seek will emerge when citizens stop behaving like spectators and begin to act like stakeholders. Only then will corruption diminish, institutions become stronger, and leadership become truly accountable,” he stated.
Orette stressed that democracy could only thrive when citizens understood how the government works and actively participated in demanding transparency and accountability at all levels.
He lamented that many Nigerians know the President but cannot identify their councillors or members of their State Houses of Assembly, despite those officials making decisions that directly affect their daily lives.
According to him, local governments receive monthly allocations from the Federation Account, yet only a few citizens demand explanations on how such funds are utilised.
He also criticised what he described as the growing culture of celebrating politicians instead of evaluating their performance, saying competence, accountability and measurable development had been replaced by ethnic, religious and political sentiments.
“Leadership has been reduced to personality worship. Rather than demanding competence, accountability and measurable development, many people judge leaders through the lenses of ethnicity, religion and political loyalty,” he said.
Orette argued that while religion plays an important role in society, it should not replace civic responsibility.
“Faith is important, but faith should never replace responsible citizenship. An unhealthy culture of excessive religiosity, detached from civic responsibility, has encouraged passive acceptance instead of constructive engagement.
A society cannot pray away problems that require informed governance, sound policies and active citizen participation,” he added.
The Delta South senatorial hopeful also expressed concern over the country’s worsening security situation, saying ordinary Nigerians now organise their lives around fear instead of criminals fearing the law.
He accused many state governments of prioritising prestige projects over productive investments capable of improving electricity, infrastructure, healthcare and economic opportunities.
Speaking on healthcare, Orette said it was unacceptable for leaders to abandon Nigeria’s health sector while depending on foreign medical facilities for their own treatment.
“As a proud son of Delta State, I find it deeply troubling that we continue to celebrate expensive projects while neglecting investments that would generate sustainable economic prosperity.
A state blessed with enormous natural and human resources should not still struggle with basic infrastructure like reliable electricity.
“Perhaps nothing illustrates our leadership crisis more than government officials and former governors who seek medical treatment abroad after spending years in office without building functional healthcare systems at home
. When leaders refuse to trust the institutions they supervised, they expose the failure of their own stewardship. Even more troubling is that many of these same individuals seek elective office again and are often rewarded with another mandate,” he said.
He, however, insisted that citizens also bear responsibility for improving governance, noting that poor leadership thrives when voters fail to assess elected officials based on competence and performance rather than ethnicity, religion or political patronage.
According to him, national development cannot be delivered by the President alone but requires effective governance at the state and local government levels, supported by active and informed citizen participation.
“The future of our nation depends not only on electing better leaders but also on becoming better citizens. Democracy flourishes not through blind loyalty but through informed participation,” Orette added.
