Nigerian elite competing in game called ‘state capture’ -Atedo peterside

…As Ike Nwachukwu wants Nigeria decentralised

Atedo Peterside, founder of Anap Jets Limited, has said that the members of the Nigerian political and business elite were competing in a game called ‘state capture.’

He defined state capture as a situation where a country that is supposed to work for 200 million people, works for a handful of people.

Peterside said this on Tuesday while speaking at the 4th Nigerian leadership colloquium in honour of Ituah Ighodalo’s 63rd birthday with the theme: ‘Mistakes Nigeria Made’, which was held at the Trinity Church in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The former group chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings said that the political and business actors were working to ensure that Nigeria only works for them.

“The common trend that I see today, 2024, is that many actors; political and business actors, are actually competing at a game called ‘state capture.’

“The Nigerian state is supposed to work for 200 million Nigerians, but I’m concerned that this set of people are making sure that it doesn’t work for 200 million Nigerians, it only works for them- a handful of people,” he said.

Speaking on the theme of the event, Atedo identified nine major mistakes Nigeria made. This includes the first military coup in January 1966 and a counter coup that followed in July.

He mentioned the civil war, which led to the destruction of many lives and property in the country.

The Anap chairman also mentioned the introduction of religion in politics by the elite, lack of conflict resolution mechanism, enthronement of injustice and rewarding bad behaviours as major mistakes made by the country.

He added that people no longer believe in serving but getting reward from the office and Nigerians no longer believe in their leaders’ words.

Peterside also said that parts of the mistakes Nigeria made was the destruction of standards in the civil service by the military.

According to him, “We have never adopted global best practices of resolving crisis; the words of leaders are no longer their bonds; we enthrone injustice; we reward bad behaviours, among others.”

Speaking on the solutions to the country’s problem, Peterside called for electoral reform, advocating for the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) instead of Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC). He argued that the former has elaborate data than the latter, which enables rogue electoral officers to overturn the will of the people.

He also urged citizens to continue holding the leaders accountable for their actions, saying that the whistleblowers must not stop to expose wrongdoings.

He also called for a strong opposition to strengthen the country’s democracy and hold government accountable.

The event, which was chaired by Ike Nwachukwu, a retired general and former minister of Foreign Affairs, had Reuben Abati and Professor Olubukola Oyawoye as discussant

In his opening remarks, Nwachukwu faulted the current presidential system in Nigeria, saying that the system was failing because it gives too much power to the president.

He advocated that the country should rather be decentralised to give more autonomy and powers to states to control their resource to develop their state and people.

He further noted that Nigeria should rather copy the French system, where 70 percent of the ministers are members of the parliament, while 30 percent of the ministers should be appointed from people outside of government.

“The current presidential system is not the best for Nigeria, it has been compromised, we should have like what they have in France.

“We said 70 percent of the ministers should be people in parliament and 30 percent should be people outside government, the presidential system is not the best, it is expensive,” Nwachukwu said.

Nwachukwu, who was chairman of colloquium, further said that Nigerians must endeavour to avail themselves of the mistakes in the past, which may have hampered the growth and development of the country.

“The mistake Nigeria made is wide, it is good to know them to survive as a nation,” he added.

Speaking on the current structure of Nigeria, he stressed that there the need to decentralise government, warning that the current system was not viable.

He noted that all states in the country had the potential to develop with the available resources at their disposal.

According to him, “We must decentralise the country, every state would be in control of its resources and percentage given to the central government.”