• Politicians Without Vision Hold Nigerians Hostage
• FG, State Govts Order Low Key Celebrations as Economy Tanks, Hunger Bites Harder
• In National Broadcast, President Tinubu Pledges Additional N25K Monthly Wage For Six Months to Low-Grade Workers
• 15 Million More Vulnerable Households to Benefit from Expanded Conditional Cash Transfer Programme
• Touts End of Fuel Subsidy, Says ‘Reforms May be Painful, But is What Greatness …Require’
• Assures FG ‘Doing All … to Ease Today’s Difficulties’
October 01, (THEWILL) – The immediate past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, remembers with nostalgia the Nigeria of his childhood when every food item on the table was home grown, people cared for one another and there was a sense of community. This is hardly anymore in modern day Nigeria in the eye of the former governor of Osun State who turned 66 on May 27.
For a man who is just three years older than Nigeria and has served as a commissioner in Lagos State, the economic nerve of the country, a two-time governor of Osun State and federal minister, contextualising Nigeria’s growth and development for the past 63 years of nationhood should be a child’s play.
“Today, people can hardly feed. I mean eat,” he said with some concern at the weekend during a book presentation event in honour of one of Nigeria’s foremost public intellectuals and social theorists, Odia Ofeimun. A team from THEWILL attended the event.
“The poverty is so deep that we (the governed and governors) have to set aside our differences and work to make this country work again. For Nigeria to get out of the current rot caused by successive governments, the country must emphasise production over consumption. The worst thing that can happen to any man is to beg to eat as many people are experiencing in the country today,” he said.
For the Speaker, House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass, who is three years younger than Nigeria, there is so much palpable gloom in the country that urgent, concrete measures must be taken by the Executive and legislature to lead the way to salvation.
Addressing members of the House upon resumption on Tuesday, September 26, Abass lamented, “The country is challenged on several fronts…. National Security remains precarious, cost of living crisis occasioned by high cost of energy, cost of food skyrocketing daily, lack of liveable wages, the negative effects of the unpredictable and fluctuating foreign exchange rates, a disappearing middle class…people are hungry and despondent.”
It was in recognition of these mounting national challenges that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, at a press conference last week said the 63rd Independence Day celebration would be low-keyed.
“As you are aware, the President has given approval for this 63rd anniversary to be low-key in line with the present economic realities,” he said.
President Tinubu is expectedly sounding upbeat about the country. During his televised address to mark the country’s 63rd independence anniversary celebration, he said the conduct of the 2023 general elections, in a long chain of polls since 1999, has proven that democracy has taken a sure footing in Nigeria.
“This year, we passed through a significant milestone in our journey to a better Nigeria..” he said, adding, “by democratically electing the 7th consecutive civilian government, Nigeria has proven that commitment to democracy and the rule of law remains our guiding light.”
Many states, reeling from the devastating impact of the unplanned removal of subsidy on petrol and the shoddy palliatives, may follow suit. Osun state on Friday issued a statement, urging its citizens to stay indoors, “meditate and pray on the state of our nation.”
Sixty-three years after independence from British Colonial rule, Nigerian governments are still battling with how to execute programmes of economic transformation. So far, the country has witnessed six civilian administrations- Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,President Shehu Shagari, President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, President Goodluck Jonathan, President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, as well as eight military Heads of State- General Aguiyi Ironsi, General Yakubu Gowon, General Murtala Mohammed, General Olusugun Obasanjo, General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Sani Abacha and General Abubakar Abdulsalami.
Currently, the country is known as one of the eight largest oil producers in the world, but without a functional refinery. Oil thieves boldly steal the oil in barges off the coast in the Niger Delta with no single culprit arrested, despite government awareness and revelation by government oil surveillance contractor, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, that the thieves are known to the establishment. In the 2022 Corruption Index, Nigeria was placed 150 out of 180 countries by Transparency International. To get a clearer picture of the sorry state of affairs, Nigerian electricity supply has fluctuated scandalously between 3,000 and 5,000 megawatts since the beginning of the Third Republic in 1999.
In statistical terms,133 million Nigerians are dimensionally poor, according to a survey sponsored by the Federal Government and the World Bank. The unemployment rate stands at 41 per cent, according to KPMG, with agriculture, which provides 25 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, accounting for 70 per cent of its labour force.
The country has fallen on hard times due to the untamed violence of killer herdsmen and bandits. Everywhere you turn, there are either calls for separation or self-determination. Sadly, a hungry country cannot contribute to the emerging world increasingly being governed by Artificial Intelligence and robotics, although it will be impacted by them all the same.
ROAD TO THIS SORRY STATE
Kayode Soremekun, professor of International Relations at the University of Lagos, thinks Nigeria has a big challenge with leadership, especially the kind that have poor vision. Speaking with THEWILL on Friday, he said, ” We have had the same set of political actors over the years and to that extent, you do not expect anything different. It is a case of leadership without vision. This has created problems, particularly with easy resources from oil money. There was a time we had a policy on Operation Feed the Nation, it did not work. So that was a case of good policy but bad implementation.”
Odia Ofeimun agrees with him. According to the essayist, poet and political thinker, “For God’s sake, we do not have a poor society. It is good to state it clearly. What we have is a society that is undermanaged and mismanaged. How we get out of that stage is where we are now.”
Many of the leaders, he said, have a low sense of social purpose.
The case of leadership without vision and bad implementation has been held accountable for some of the otherwise brilliant policies and policy projections that were launched with fanfare and came to nought.
The Vision 2020 project, drawn up by captains of industry, professional and occupational bodies during the Presidency of Yar’Ardua in 2009 is an example . It was designed as a strategic framework for the Federal Republic of Nigeria to develop its economic and political strength by 2022 when Nigeria was projected to be “one of the 20 largest economies in the world, able to consolidate its leadership role in Africa…”
With the social political crisis in the country today, it is safe to say that the project was not only neglected but abandoned. Another example is a recent one. In 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari signed an Executive Order to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary, legislature and local government. The order on local government was still trending in the media when a large number of state governors across the political parties stormed the presidential villa to register their protest against it. They all felt threatened by the notion, let alone autonomy for the local governments considered as the only administration closer to the grassroots. Buhari caved into their demands.
In his book, Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966-1976), an American historian, Max Siollun, summarised the Nigerian problem since the adoption of the unitary system of government after the 30-months civil war, thus: “The Federal Military Government became the custodian of all oil proceeds, subject to the paying of token ‘derivation formula’, royalty to the individual state that the oil was derived from.
After collating all oil proceeds, the FMG shared it among all the states in the federation, regardless of whether or not they produced oil. ”While this seemed equitable… federal control of oil proceeds subsequently weakened and discouraged the economic prowess and financial autonomy of each region, turning them into little more than beggar subsidiaries to the Federal Government, totally beholden to and dependent on remittances from the FMG. Federal control of oil revenues thus led to continuous agitation for new states to be created.
”Whereas new states were previously demanded on the basis of self-determination and in order to prevent minority ethnic groups from being dominated by the large ethnicities, state creation became a way of creating new economic entities that would demand their own share of revenue from the federal government.”
Despite the challenges of nationhood, six decades plus of sharing the same territorial space among the diverse people “means that God is a Nigerian,” is Chief Willy Ezugwu’s view. Ezugwu, Secretary-General of the National Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) told THEWILL in a brief interview at the weekend that Nigeria is so blessed with human and natural resources that once the country gets the leadership equation right every other thing will fall into place.
He said, “Name any mineral resources you can find in any place in the world that you will not find in Nigeria. Then turn your gaze to Nigerians in the diaspora and see how they have assumed leadership roles in virtually any area of human endeavour. We need to set the enabling environment right through visionary leadership.”
SHARP CONTRAST
Potentially, Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa with a long-term projected GDP Annual Growth Rate of between 3.10 per cent in 2024 and 3.40 in 2025.
It is the eight largest democracy in the world with a large market; it is endowed with natural resources ranging from petroleum, natural gas, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, gold and arable land. At home, Nigeria is a dwarf. Abroad, it is a giant by comparison, considering the performances of its citizens in the Diaspora. Nigerian-born doctors, like Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye; Dr Professor Iyalla Elvis Peterside; Dr Njideka Udochi; Dr Onyema Ogbuagu; government officials, like Justice Minister of Canada, Kaycee Madu or his relief at a time, Sonya Savage and Adewale Adeyemo, Deputy Treasury Secretary in President Joe Biden’s government in the United States of America are good ambassadors of the country in places like America, Australia and Canada. They were all born and educated in Nigeria before going abroad to seek greener pastures
FAIR ATTEMPT AT CONSENSUS
The political elite managed to speak with one voice about the way to tackle the challenges posed to nation building, but they failed to symbolise their discovery in concrete terms to drive their dream. The solution was restructuring. No sooner had the word gained currency than it was lost in politics and partisanship.
Foremost champion of restructuring, Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba political organisation led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, defined it in terms of a return to regionalism based on the republican 1963 Constitution which improved on the pre-independence regional structure by ceding exclusive powers to the regions vis-a vis the centre.
Some groups interpreted it to mean a call for the break-up of the country, while others interpreted it as a return to the practice of true federalism, whereby the Federal Government and the states as federating units maintain a balance of power that recognises the independence of each arm with one strong enough to dominate the other.
In the heat of the controversy generated by the call for restructuring, the governing All Progressives Congress weighed in. The party set up a committee on restructuring headed by then Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai. Nigerians responded eagerly by submitting memos and memoranda to the committee, which produced a report that never saw the light of the day. During the campaigns leading to the February 25, 2023 General Election, restructuring became a campaign issue, but to no avail.
WAY FORWARD
An advocate of restructuring of the true federalism type, Ofeimun, thinks that the basis for making Nigeria great is education that is free and compulsory. According to him, “free education is the only basis upon which we can run a normal society. A society that does not have free education cannot have a good economy. We must create a society in which a child grows up to know that education is not something to pay for. And if we manage to think along those lines, we will be able to build factories that will transform our foodstuff into manageable commodities and so on.”
Pioneer Permanent Secretary of Bureau for Public Enterprises, Dr Adegoke Adegoroye, who was guest speaker at the 63rd anniversary lecture in Abuja last week said all the laws, statutes and Acts to make Nigeria work are already in place.
Men and women of integrity and excellence are in the system, but they are often blackmailed or victimised, which creates fear and uncertainty among workers.
“Integrity and excellence are values that can tackle corruption that is pervasive in the system,” he said.
Although he suggests that restructuring should not be seen as a one bullet solution to the myriads of challenges facing the country, Soremekun agrees that restructuring as a political arrangement, which gives autonomy to the units right down to the local governments, must be accompanied by ethical behaviour.
“The states, like the centre, are so far away from the people that it cannot touch them for productive ends. That is why the local governments must have both administrative and financial autonomy,” he said.
In addition, he suggests that Nigerians should go back to agriculture in a big way such that “the country should be able to feed the whole of Africa.”
For Chief Ezugwu, “Nigeria is practicing representative democracy, which means we must get our electoral processes right and allow our people to choose and change the leadership in free and fair elections, the leaders who own their emergence to the votes of the leader. Such leaders are more than likely to think about policies that would transform the economy and enthrone equity, justice and equality.”
Elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai, is full of optimism for Nigeria’s future.
“Challenges are part of the struggles in nation building,” he told THEWILL on Saturday, adding, “Our leadership needs to be more programmatic in their choice of policies that would impact on the lives of the growing population.”
The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has however assured the citizenry of good governance under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration.
In a goodwill message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, and circulated to newsmen on Saturday,Ganduje called on Nigerians not to despair as measures already put in place by the APC-led administration would reposition the country to achieve growth and development.
The APC national chairman also called on Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic and religious leanings to sustain the culture of peaceful coexistence to ensure the unity and cohesion of the country.
“On behalf of the entire members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I wish to extend my heartiest congratulations to all Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora on the occasion of the 63rd Independence Day Anniversary celebrations. I rejoice with you. I salute you all.
“Today is indeed an auspicious day as it marks an epoch in the life of our dear nation. Sixty-three years ago, on this very day, our beloved country was granted independence to chart its destiny and build a new nation”!
Ganduje is also full of optimism about the future.
He said on Saturday: “Without doubt, you will agree with me that the journey has not been without obstacles. It has been characterised by opportunities, prospects and challenges including a three-year civil war which has brought out the resilient Nigerian spirit of perseverance, industry and abiding faith in the country.
He assured and swore that the party would keep to its campaign promises and pledges .
“As a party, let me restate that the APC will remain true to its promises and pledges to the people. None of these promises I repeat, will escape our attention and none will be treated lightly,” he said.
In his message to Nigerians on the 63rd independence anniversay, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, said “the talents and doggedness of young Nigerians who have refused to give up on the country are the inspiration for a greater future.”
According to Atiku, “The energy of the Nigerian youth is a formidable force in the consternation of manpower and skills that power the global economy.
“Across the globe, and in various fields of human endeavour, the youth of this country have proven to have the competence to rival any of their peers from any part of the world.
“That success – the gallantry of our youth – is the primal element of what we celebrate today as a nation.”
Kano State Deputy Governor, Comr. Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, also called on Nigerians to embrace peace and unity. In a statement released to newsmen by his Press Secretary, Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu, Gwarzo said that the 63rd independence anniversary is a time to reflect on the country’s journey since independence and celebrate its achievements.
The Deputy Governor also urged Nigerians to work together to build a better future for the country.
“As we celebrate this anniversary, let us remember the sacrifices of our forefathers who fought for our freedom. Let us also remember the challenges that we face as a nation and work together to overcome them.
“I believe that Nigeria has a bright future ahead of it. We are a blessed nation with abundant resources and talented people. Let us work together to build a country where everyone can thrive.” stated the Deputy Governor.
Gwarzo also used the opportunity to call on Nigerians to be united and embrace peace. He said that the country can only achieve its full potential if Nigerians are united and work together.
“I urge all Nigerians to embrace peace and unity. Let us put aside our differences and work together to build a better future for our country,” Gwarzo said.
Former President, Muhammadu Buhari, in a message signed by Garba Shehu, his spokesman, on Saturday, said: “On the occasion of the nation’s independence anniversary, I send my warm greetings to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the people of Nigeria.
“For 63 years, Nigeria continues to inspire the rest of the continent with the creativity and diversity of its citizens, and now, a long span of democratic rule. I’m very optimistic that democracy as a system of government will continue to gain strength, year after year, in our nation.”
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Deputy Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
