AYO ESAN
FORMER Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, has said the two major parties in Nigeria – the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party have no ideological focus.
He said the only difference between the parties was in their names, noting that politicians were defecting to the ruling party mainly because people no longer played politics of principle.
The former minister, who spoke in an exclusive chat with The POINT, said politics of opportunism had taken over Nigeria’s political space.
He said, “Though people are defecting to the ruling party, but my own feeling is that there is no difference between the two major parties – APC and PDP. The two parties have no ideological focus. The only thing that separates them is the name.
“People no longer play politics of principle. People are no longer playing politics of conscience. Politics of opportunism has taken over the nation’s political space, and this is dangerous for the nation’s democracy. It would also stifle meaningful development.”
He also called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security now, saying this would enable all hands to be on deck to solve the insecurity crisis at hand.
Adeniran said, “I believe that if a state of emergency is declared on security, it will enable all hands to be on deck. If this is done, it will enable the government to get rid of all sources of insecurity.
“When you have such a situation as we find ourselves in the country today, where individuals can no longer move about freely, and where lives and property are no longer secured, the best thing to do is to declare a state of emergency in order to restore normalcy.
“There is nothing for Nigerians to fear about a state of emergency being declared on security; the only thing to fear is even our own people because anything that they do, very often, they do it wrongly.”
On the way forward for the country, the renowned educationist and politician said the way forward was to restructure the country.
“There is no alternative to restructuring if we want to get out of the woods. It will not only ease the tension in the land, it will also give everybody the opportunity to realise their potentials,” he said.
“It will promote healthy competition among the federating units. It will also eliminate the daily cries of marginalisation, parochialism and favouritism. Then people will be given assurance that once you are a Nigerian, then the sky is the limit for you,” Adeniran noted.
