- No use being a giant without economic power – Analysts
- First Republic politicians were the best, put country first – Itsey Sagay
- Afenifere, PANDEF, Farounbi insist on restructuring
- Have faith in greatness of Nigeria – Solomon Arase
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, MAYOWA SAMUEL AND BRIGHT JACOB
As Nigeria marks its 63rd independence anniversary, prominent citizens have lamented that the nation has not fared well in governance, specifically in the areas of politics, economy, security, education, healthcare and infrastructure.
They said the nation had been unlucky with bad leaders since it became politically independent, adding that the dreams of its founding fathers would not be achieved if political leaders failed to desist from being corrupt, greedy and unintentional about the economic development of the nation, which prides itself as the giant of Africa.
These prominent Nigerians, in their separate opinions on how Nigeria has fared since 1960, decried the level of despondency currently rocking the nation, occasioned by economic hardship, rising poverty, insecurity and other forces widening the national fault lines.
An Afenifere leader, Niyi Owolade, submitted that Nigeria had been plagued with bad and corrupt leaders, a situation he said had been dragging the country backward.
Owolade, a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Osun State, said it was sad that some of the nations such as Cameroon, Togo, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Senegal, and Mali, among others, that gained independence same year with Nigeria, had gone farther while Nigeria has not made any significant progress.
He identified worsening insecurity, harsh economy, lack of sufficient infrastructure, poor education standard, hardship and bad governance as parts of the challenges confronting the nation, adding that successive governments had failed to restore hope to Nigerians.
“One of our challenges is followership. Nigerians don’t demand accountability from their leaders and they don’t give them the necessary caution when they misbehave. It is never too late for us to be intentional in sanitising our nation.”
The Chairman, Board of the Osun State University Teaching Hospital also blamed Nigerian citizens for failing to hold their leaders to account, and charged them to be more proactive in demanding good governance from their political leaders.
“It is so sad we are celebrating independence in misery and pain. It is a pity Nigeria has been so unlucky with bad leaders. The countries that gained independence at the same time with us, which used to be behind us, are now ahead of us. The level of the hopelessness on the faces of Nigerians is indescribable.
We have not fared well in any of our critical spheres such as economy, politics, security, education, infrastructure among others.
“I just want to call on our present generation and future leaders, our youths not to give up on Nigeria in the ugly face of our socio-economic challenges. The strength that our youths espoused during the ENDSARS struggle should not be allowed to die. Youths should rise up and take over this country in a very legitimate and democratic way.
“One of our challenges is followership. Nigerians don’t demand accountability from their leaders and they don’t give them the necessary caution when they misbehave. It is never too late for us to be intentional in sanitising our nation,” he stated.
In his submission, another senior citizen, Yemi Farounbi, blamed poor leadership for the backwardness assailing the country, saying the political class had been benefiting from the wrong system in the country.
The former Nigerian Ambassador to The Philippines said, “Political class have skewed the country to their benefit because of the wrong system and that is why they don’t have the will. They have been benefiting from the wrongness. If I get gold in Bayelsa, it belongs to Nigeria but if I get oil in Zamfara, it belongs to Zamfara State.
“They want a perpetuation of the mistakes they are benefiting from. There is an alliance of profiteers who are in government, profiteers who are in the military and the police, and profiteers who are in other countries stocking Nigeria’s money in foreign banks and these foreign countries have used this money to grow their economy, their agriculture and build infrastructure for themselves and now they are returning the remaining to us. The profits of corruption are really affecting us.
“People are grumbling and unhappy. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 133.1 million Nigerians, out of 205 million, are multidimensional poor because some people feel they can continue to control and personalise our resources. They can’t do this forever. If these leaders can reason and return all this money, I am sure the people will forgive them.
“A time will come when people who don’t ‘japa’ will not tolerate all this any longer. When you frustrate a goat to the wall, it will turn and face you and bite you. So, our political leaders, especially those who are benefiting from the dislocations and contradictions in our system should let us sit together and make Nigeria a better place for all of us. There is enough in Nigeria for the needs of everybody but there is not enough in Nigeria for the greed of some people.”
A legal luminary, Itse Sagay, said, “One area I want to talk about is in the quality of Nigerian politicians and those who want to acquire power.
“What has struck me is that, starting from the very first set of leaders we have had like Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa and Nnamdi Azikiwe, that group, very unfortunately for Nigeria, is the best we have ever had.
“The First Republic politicians were the best. If you study them carefully, none of them was there for what he could get for himself like money, acquisition, luxury. Awolowo was operating from his house when he was premier. He did not leave home or move to any premier’s lodge.”
“And if you study Sardauna (Bello), I don’t think he had a Kobo more than yourself at the time he died, the same thing with Balewa who was a very simple man. He had no house at home in his village. He also had no house anywhere in the world,” Sagay added.
He noted, “What motivated them was the opportunity, the honour to be given the affairs of the country to run. They sacrificed everything they had for that aspiration to have meaning to Nigerians. They struggled, they sought nothing for themselves.
“What brought them down, unfortunately, was competition among themselves, particularly the fear of the ruling Northern People’s Congress of Ahmadu Bello; the fear that Awolowo was such an effective opposition leader who could end up as Prime Minister of the country; they did not want that.”
Moreover, Sagay said Awolowo was then sent to prison so that his party would be destroyed. In Sagay’s submission, that was part of what led to the demise of the First Republic when soldiers eventually seized power.
“That was the mistake they made, otherwise in terms of service, they were just absolutely impeccable,” he noted.
Comparing the First Republic politicians with the present crop of leaders, Sagay said it had “gone progressively worse”.
He also said the quality of politicians in Nigeria was “just too poor” and that it had spread to other aspects of life in the country and resulted in the problems faced in various sectors.
He said, “Now, about subsequent politicians; it has gotten progressively worse.
In other words, the previous set (of politicians) is always better than the latest (ones). At the present time, we probably have the worst set. Let me give you an example. We have the National Assembly which is more concerned about its remuneration, about making millions per person every month at the expense of the country. The result is that we are not making any progress at all.
“The quality of politicians now in Nigeria is just too poor. And this has spread to other aspects of life. That is why we have problems of insecurity, economy and the rest. It is as a result of the poor quality of politicians; when people are looking after themselves rather than after the country. This is what is bringing us down and our tragedy.”
The spokesperson for the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Ken Robinson, decried the state of the country’s democracy, which, according to him, had been characterised by negative factors hindering the prosperity and growth of the economy.
Restating the call for restructuring to enhance the country’s unity, Robinson is glad the country has been able to overcome the challenges, while calling on President Bola Tinubu to be more committed to fairness and equity in order to further promote the unity of the country.
He said, “The economy, whether it will grow or not grow, whether it will be good or bad, depends on some factors. It’s about governance, national attitude, and the way we do things, it’s the disposition of government and the attitude of its citizens.
“We’ve had issues, challenges and in recent years, the economic status of the country hasn’t been very good. Nigeria has been characterised by corruption, maladministration, sectionalism and parochialism, to the extent that when one person comes into office as the head of state or the president, things are done in certain ways to favour certain sections of the country.
“So, economic and socio-economic development can’t fester in a hostile environment where there’s lack of trust, instability or no unity. These are factors that will hinder our economic prosperity. The basis, of which Nigeria was founded, was faulty, and these faulty lines have persisted.”
He added, “Therefore, today, situations, as they were, have even broadened those fault lines along ethnic religious lines, so people look at Nigeria from the perspective of religion or ethnic basis.
“As we said, Nigeria was a forced marriage, we the people of Nigeria, of various ethnic nationalities that form this country never sat down to discuss and agree on terms and conditions as it were, for this union. We were forced together, many have said, basically for administrative convenience and economic exploitation. So the foundation is faulty, and the Bible says if the foundation is faulty, what can the righteous do?
“That makes us restate our call for the restructuring of this country, to correct some of those foundational imbalances. Until some of these imbalances are corrected, Nigeria might not be truly united, and where there’s no unity, lack of trust will continue.
“Albeit, PANDEF wants to congratulate Nigerians on the nation’s 63rd anniversary.
Many will say there’s no need to congratulate ourselves but 63 years together, no matter how bad it is we should congratulate ourselves for overcoming the challenges of these divisions.
“We call on President Tinubu to do everything within his powers to ensure that he respects and commits to democratic governance and broadens the political space to be fairer and be more equitable in his project distributions and appointments as well as in terms of policies. He should work for the good of all Nigerians.”
Speaking on security, Robinson asserted, “It is important to state that the task of securing the nation, in terms of taking the nation from its quagmire where it is, with the instability, insecurity, poverty, criminality, violent crimes, and all that, in almost all parts of the country, to the extent that in some areas, people can no longer travel to their homes, villages and communities, is that bad.
“Even if, as it has been said, some of these persons who carry out these dastardly acts are non-Nigerians, they come from somewhere, people know them. We call on security agencies to double their efforts, and be decisive”
“In the last administration, there were insinuations that the government was sympathetic to the course of some of these criminals as it were. Now, we hope that with the emergence of new service chiefs and security heads in strategic organisations of the country, they will do all that it will take to decisively, dispassionately deal with these issues of banditry in the North East, Boko Haram in the North West, and some elements in the North Central areas,” he added.
He noted, “It’s a serious challenge, not just to social life, but also the economic growth of Nigeria, when the county is facing a series of security challenges. The Commander-In-Chief and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has all the resources he needs out there, it may not be enough, but they should be judiciously used.
“There are even insinuations that criminality, banditry and other terrorist acts, have become conduit pipes for people to siphon money, and that budgetary allocations for security matters are not judiciously applied, and that some people encourage these activities to continue, so that they can always be getting money. It has become a farmland as it were.
“If this situation is true, then it’s very unfortunate that citizens of Nigeria, people who have enlisted to serve and secure the country, will turn around to be trading with the lives and safety of our people.”
Elder statesman, Ambrose Ezewunwa, said, “In her rosy years, Nigeria was tagged “Giant of Africa” in population, economy, security, infrastructure and education.
I can vividly remember in the 70s and 80s, other nationals of both African continents, Europe, America and Asia had Nigeria as their destination point. We were not keen on traveling to these other countries except on a visit. Our educational system and standard were first class in the world. Overseas schools saw it as a privilege to have Nigerians enroll in them. Students from other African and Asian countries applied for scholarships in our universities.
“Our hospitals were among the best because we had qualified medical doctors and nurses produced in Nigerian universities. Our economy was buoyant, our naira was a very strong currency sought after by other nationals. All these were because Nigeria was a producing economy. Our leaders were playing the role of “Father Christmas” to our African neighbours, giving scholarships to them, tarring their roads, providing electricity, supporting the governments of these countries and even paying salaries of some countries. That was how buoyant Nigeria was.
“We had some of these nationals living and working in Nigeria even without residence permits because ‘Nigeria was the big brother’. The freedom of some African countries was secured by the efforts spearheaded by Nigeria. Almost the entire Southern African countries had their independence through our efforts. Our leaders boycotted some global meetings, international sporting events to press for the independence of these countries. They also spent our money pursuant to its realisation.
“Cities like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Aba, Kaduna were littered with industries producing for our local use and exporting to African countries and some Asian countries, but all these are now in the past. A country that was giving alms to other countries is now cap in hand running to these countries. Our naira has turned to tissue paper (worthless). What all these mean is that Nigeria has fared very badly at 63.
“Some people would say so far so good but I’m saying so far so bad. You know why? We were called third world countries alongside Brazil, Korea (both South and North), Singapore, Malaysia and a host of others. But are we on a par with these countries now, the answer is no. We have drifted off to the fifth world if there’s anything like that. We, as a country, are among what Europe and America call underdeveloped countries. I lived many years in Lagos. We used to have shift work where some people resumed work in the morning, some in the afternoon and some at night and we were going and coming back from work unmolested. No security issues. Today could this be possible with insecurity everywhere? A country that restored peace in Liberia, Sierra Leone and so many countries has lost territories and hundreds of lives to terrorists. This is my assessment of Nigeria at 63.”
“It is obvious that no nation is perfect; we have had our fair share of hate and violence but this is the moment to build our new future full of love and understanding. We must decide now to join hands with the present government to move our nation forward”
Head of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the country has had so many lows but commended the present administration for a fight to finish the battle against narcotics and illicit drugs.
He said, “Although the current Federal Government has opted for a low-key celebration of the 63rd independence anniversary of Nigeria understandably, there is certainly one key law enforcement institution that has intensified strategic combat of narcotics and has massively made efforts to minimise the spread of illicit substances and this body is the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency.
“Still reflecting on being a 63-year-old nation, we need to also note that in only 100 days, so much has been achieved in the key area of drug use reduction by the NDLEA.
“What is intriguing is that incidentally and historically, on the eve of the commemoration of the independence day anniversary, NDLEA hosted the high profile meeting of the Heads of Counter-narcotics Institutions all around Africa.
“The significance of hosting the 31st meeting of heads of national law enforcement Agencies in Africa cannot be lost to the low profile nature of the celebration of the 63rd independence day by the Nigerian government.
“If for nothing, the independence day solemnity ought to be used to reflect on the phenomenal efforts and milestones that the NDLEA under Brigadier- General Mohammed Buba-Marwa (retd) has achieved in less than two years and indeed in the first 100 days of the new president Tinubu’s administration in the area of enforcement of the relevant laws against hard drugs trafficking and addiction.”
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission Solomon Arase (retd) called on Nigerians to have faith in the greatness of the Nigerian nation, insisting that all hope was not lost. “Nigeria must rise again, the labour of our heroes past must not be in vain,” he said.
He stated, “It is obvious that no nation is perfect; we have had our fair share of hate and violence but this is the moment to build our new future full of love and understanding. We must decide now to join hands with the present government to move our nation forward.
“This day should be special for Nigerians and their loved ones and that it should present to them the sacred opportunity to celebrate the glory of freedom. Be assured that the labour of our heroes’ past shall never be in vain. Nigeria must rise again.”
