In voices laden with regrets, some Nigerian politicians have come to a sorry assessment that leaderships have failed the citizens, and that there was the urgent need for meaningful dialogue for the country to move forward.
In separate interviews with BDSUNDAY on their assessment of Nigeria’s 60 years of independence, Ayo Adebanjo, elder statesman; Chekwas Okorie, politician and former national chairman of the defunct United Progressive Change (UPP); Wale Oshun, National leader of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG); Sanni Yabagi, national chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), among others said it has been years of locusts and caterpillars.
Ayo Adebanjo said that those of us who fought for independence know that it is not a day for celebration; it is a day of mourning.
“Our founding fathers would be sad about where we are now if they are around. Those who started with us and came here to take palm oil fruits look at where they are now. We should have moved beyond this stage, it is sad.
“What are the things that were prevalent now? We have bad leadership. We have to change the constitution; it is favouring a section of the country, it is disadvantageous to others. There is corruption and lack of good leadership; the people in power lack the experience and competence to lead the people. “Let’s change the constitution, create a platform for us to discuss. Let us talk and then we can know where we are going. Let’s restructure the country, then we would have federating units and the regions can function on their own.”
“With the present constitution, the North is dictating the pace; it favours them, look at the killings, because they are in power,” he said.
In his response, Chekwas Okorie, said Nigeria has had a checkered history since 1960.
“At independence, the country started with a quasi-federation where the regional governments as federating units enjoyed reasonable latitude to develop and grow at their own pace. Revenue allocation formula was based on 50percent by derivation,” he said.
According to him, “The regions contributed to the federation account and explored and exploited their comparative advantages. Competition by the regions was healthy. It was at that period that Eastern Nigeria was recorded as the fastest growing 3rd world economy.
“Before the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war, civil servants from the regions were reluctant to accept postings to the federal civil service because they considered the condition of service better at the Regions.
“The military intervention in governance from 1966 reversed everything and put Nigeria in the reverse gear following the concentration of power and governance at the centre, thus practically destroying the fabric of our federalism as we knew it. The imposition of the highly vexatious and obnoxious 1999 Constitution by the Abdulsalam Abubakar military government worsened the Nigerian situation.”
Okorie further said: “All subsequent Federal Governments have been bedevilled by the problems of disunity, suspicion and lack of patriotism arising from lop-sidedness of the political structure of the imposed constitution which the framers of the document mischievously inserted near impossible conditions for its amendment.
“Ironically, even some of the leaders that conspired to give Nigeria the 1999 Constitution have joined to raise the alarm that Nigeria is faced with the danger of disintegration without the moral and political will to support the restructuring of the country.
“It is only a national dialogue convoked, funded and supported by the Federal Government that can restore Nigeria on the part of stability, unity, peace, growth and expansion of our economy. Nigeria still holds a great promise but this will depend on the sincerity and patriotism of its leadership at all levels.”
It is the view of Wale Oshun that the country has not made the desired progress.
“We have been talking; nothing to say again, but independence was a good time. I was ten year old, there was a process and the country was making progress. We received good education, in public schools, and I got a good job after school.
“But people now cannot be sure of that, we had good education and many things, intending graduates were sure of jobs. But since then there has been a persistent decline, especially at the time of the military regimes. The civilian administrations have not been able to fix it, the civilians have been militarised. The country is in a bad state, but we cannot just be complaining all the time, that is the situation,” he said.
According to him, “We need to go back to regions; we should have six regions from the present set up. I believe restructuring should be the way forward, the reason is obvious; all the regions would be contributing to the centre rather than the centre lodging it on everybody.
“We should change to regionalism urgently and those who wish to come together because of language similarities, proximity or religion would do that.
“If any country wants to have theocratic state they can have it. Is it not obvious that the present system failed us?
“With this regional system in place, everyone would have a right, it would allow each region to grow according to their pace.”
Sanni Yabagi, national chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), told BDSUNDAY that Nigeria has changed since independence but the problem is how much?
“You have to check our human development indices then, when you check you can now give your verdict to say, this is where we were then and now,” Yabagi said.
“When you look at the indices of development; when you compare us with the countries that got independence at the same time, we have not fared well. However, for that fact that we are still one nation is still an achievement for us.
“We thank God we are still one and we would still be one, but in terms of development we have not been able to meet up compared with our resources we should be able to take charge of Africa,” he further said.
He believed that “We should have grown beyond this with our population, human resources and capacity. A lot of people say for us to still stay as one nation despite these challenges is an achievement. There are countries like Singapore, Indonesia and some others who got independence at the same time as us. They are now described as developed countries, but we are still an undeveloped country.
“That is why we think Nigeria should look for alternatives in terms of power. We need leaders who believe in the corporate entity of the country and would fight to improve the lives of Nigerians.
“The ADP is well positioned to deliver the greatness which the country represents. We have not been lucky with leadership.”
According to him, “The present leadership cannot guarantee good welfare for its citizens; it is like it is not there. That is why we are saying Nigerians should look for alternatives in terms of leadership, the old parties, PDP and APC have failed.”
Gloria Okolugbo, former commissioner and governorship aspirant Delta State, regretted that at 60 years, things were obviously not the way many citizens expected them to be in Nigeria.
“Personally, heading forward, I long to see our Nigeria back again, the glimmer of hope, spring forth in eyes sunken with drugs of a generation that struggles to see hope with no support,” she said.
Okolugbo further said: “I want a Nigeria where everyone takes responsibility for the sludge and the cleaning is fiercely sincere. I want to see a country where the answerable questions are replaced with the hope of new beginnings. I love to see a country where the only chance of being rich is not stealing.
“I am told that today women take their boys to the grooves to throw the cowries to scam with success. Mothers encourage their girls to marry the yahoo boys to escape the hunger they are sentenced to.
“I am told that life today is different and we have no idea the world of the millennials, the zee generation nor the x-generation.”
According to her, “The way we are now, I am lost at how archaic our values have become and how I am rethinking my opinion in the realities of the day.
“I am lost as to how I can too scale to see the challenge, the hopelessness in a generation let down by mine that made such mindless sacrifice for the wrong things?”
In his assessment, Wunmi Bewaji, a former minority leader House of Representatives, said Nigeria was presently at the crossroads.
“Go to the street and speak to Nigerians and hear what they would say,” he said.
On the way forward, Bewaji said: “It is for us to discuss; you cannot rule the people like a conquered territory. Nigeria is a republic may be, Muhammadu Buhari has forgotten two things are outstanding in our name; the word federal and the word republic. The word federal means there are component units, they came together to form Nigeria in 1914.
“Of course, we know, for example; we have Yoruba and Igbo land and they have their territories. Anybody can settle down in Lagos, that does not mean Yoruba land is not Yoruba land, or Igbo land is not there if you can and settle there.”
The former lawmaker further said: “We need to come back to the table, if the British can bring us to the table to talk, how much we ourselves? It appears we can’t do that, or maybe we are afraid.
“And some people would say because they are at an advantage so at the moment they are not interested in talking. You can see that the country gradually is disintegrating under their noise.
“Can you imagine a country bombing its own territory? There is a United Nation treaty on warfare against collective punishment; so don’t be happy when you hear Nigerian Air force has bombed another location.
“Are you saying in that village all the people there are Boko Haram? Are we not saying there are innocent people living in those communities? That the Buhari government is bombing its own territory; I think it has failed, so the signs are there.”
“When you look at the whole union, you cannot legislate unity, but can only preach it. Unity can come through mutual respect,” he further said.
