Nigeria has missed opportunities, only urgent rebirth will save itMRS. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service and Chairman, Joint Tax Board is one Nigerian who has not lost hope in Nigeria. She says:'As we celebrate our 51st independent anniversary in our 97th year as a united nation, there is the tendency to be disappointed at our level of development. While we may not have made an absolute success in all areas of life as a nation, there are areas where we have made and are making progress.'We should therefore leverage on any feeling of disappointment we may have, and use this period to introspect and recommit to contributing to national development as would enable Nigeria transform into the country of our expectations.'As a first step, we must believe and remain hopeful as this brings positive energy and enables us endure. Secondly we must strive to remain united, as trite as its sounds, because indeed, 'united we stand but divided we fall'.'It is not a coincidence that our motto reads 'Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress'. Faith (belief) and unity are critical to the peace and progress that we all seek. It is therefore our duty and responsibility, to work hard to understand ourselves better and leverage on each other's strengths, while understanding and managing our weaknesses.'As a nation and individually, sincerity and realism should guide our every action. We should also realize that true wealth lies in one's ability to stay healthy in mind and body through the years without compromising principles and one's ability to improve the life of the other. Whereas material wealth has its perks, there is a direct co-relation between how such wealth is earned and the health of the community that we are all a part of. For true development to occur and create the kind of community we seek, it comes with discipline, focus and a commitment to constantly adding value in all activities we find ourselves in.'We should collectively work to re-align our educational, family, political, religious and government institutions from a focus on material wealth achieved or achievable through freebies or the aid of the supernatural to a focus on a sustainable foundation anchored on skill, hard work, integrity and commitment, especially considering the impact such institutions have on productivity.'Overall, we should rebuild values, character and skills, with a clear focus on building institutions, the key to national development.We can and should positively impact our community regardless of the sacrifice that will be involved, including the payment of all taxes as and when due!'Prof. Oyewale Tomori, retired Vice Chancellor, Redeemer's University, Ogun State also shares such vision. He says:'Nigeria is a 50-year-old abandoned project executed by two groups of people ' the purposeless leaders, self confessed fools and blind visionaries with a deep rooted hatred for truth and integrity, and an acquiescing timid followership, with not only an aversion to excellence, but also divided by ethnic sentiments. In the true meaning of the word, Nigeria has been executed by her leaders and citizens. That it has lasted these 50 years is evidence of the resilience and potential for greatness of the country. It is indeed an abandoned project littered with the weeds of underdevelopment - abandoned and dilapidated roads, a dysfunctional education system, a sick health system, all in the midst of seemingly unlimited resources - material, natural and a high level of human creativity and resourcefulness. Although it is essential that we know where we are and why we are where we are, but what is more important and useful is what do we do so that in the next 50 years Nigeria can be where it should be.'Enough of grousing, complaining and murmuring. We have had 50 years of such. History has shown that when a group of people or a nation was willing to change, it reinvented itself in a new process of creative thinking. We need a rethink; releasing our mental makeup from the slavery of our cultural past. We need to see how others who have succeeded have sweated and worked hard with purpose and a clear vision. We must get out of this mental shackle and bondage if we the next 50 years are to be better than the last 50.'These last 50 years have shown that the future of Nigeria is obviously not in the hands of the perpetually ageless past, but in the hands of the present, provided they decide not to fall in the dirty footsteps of the past. The last 50 years have been the half-century of the old; the next must and should be that of the youths. Like the events in the Middle East, the youths must wrest their future from the choke and stranglehold of the current leadership. Those who are suffering the excesses of the past and present system, those whose future is being wasted by the greed of the present system, must determine in their heart to disentangle their future from the merciless grip of the present system. They must determine and be ready to work for a better future and a better nation, with or without the present leadership. But let them not think all the old are bad or all the young are good. They must sieve and sift out those who will run with the future vision for a better future. They must work and make the bed they will lie on. They must take examples from the happenings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and if all else fails, that must look to happenings in Libya for example. This is what Nigerian needs to move from the disaster of the last 50 years to the glory of the next 50.'Lagos-based constitutional lawyer, Mr.Chris W. A. Akiri spoke in similar vein:'Nigeria, Frederick Dealtry Lugard's baby, remains malnourished, toothless and cadaverous at 51. This ugly situation is explainable in terms of the fact that both the egg and the spermatozoa that formed the baby in 1914 were diseased and malformed occasioning a premature birth whose result was a freak, an oddity, whose preferred staples are rancid corruption, graft, misfeasance and malfeasance.'With an overdose of this unhealthy, unbalanced and debilitating diet, baby Nigeria remains afflicted with a stunted growth, which embarrasses its younger and smaller peers on the continent of Africa and beyond. The Sardauna of Sokoto called the birth of this freak 'the mistake of 1914'; Awolowo bedaubed it 'a mere geographical expression', in contradistinction to Azikiwe's sanguinary label of 'a historical reality'.'Barely five years into independence, in 1960, the military intervened in politics, and, thereafter, continued to traumatize the benighted baby for almost 30 years of its 51 years of existence. The military it was that gave an irreversible approval to the perpetuation of manikin Nigeria's headaches.'Akiri traced the journey of Nigeria from there through 'bastardization' of Nigeria's currency in 1986, killing of Dele Giwa via a parcel bomb same year, to the killing of Chief MKO Abiola who won the nation's freest and fairest election on June 12, 1993 that had been annulled by the military.He continued: 'Then followed an uninterrupted reign of a swarm of locusts (1999-2007) during which the nation was flagrantly fleeced of its commonwealth by the three arms of government at the federal and state levels. Today, 469 legislators, each earning over N150 million per annum for a sinecure, in a country where over 80 per cent of the citizens subsist on less than $1 per day, further exacerbate the socio-economic migraine of manikin Nigeria. Power remains fitful; all infrastructure has decayed; education and healthcare delivery system are in shambles, and the question in the mouth of not a few Nigerians is 'Nigeria at 51: Quo vadis''For now, a gnawing concatenation of events, consisting of Boko haram, Jos and the unresolved Niger Delta Question, stares the beleaguered nation-space hard in the face!'Amazon of human rights struggle, President, Campaign for Democracy (CD), and the President of Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, says only changes will save Nigeria:'As long as the social, political and economic landscape of Nigeria is beleaguered by corruption and unpatriotic acts in the forms of bad leadership, fraud, disunity, tribalism, indiscipline, nepotism, insincerity, etc, a national, sustainable blueprint for development which in effect is the bedrock of national development and genuine transformation cannot be achieved.'Only upon a foundation of genuine unity, harmony and understanding among the people of Nigeria can we have an enabling environment in which to govern and subsequently achieve the goals that can move Nigeria forward.'As we count down to the 51st independent anniversary of Nigeria, Nigeria should be headed towards embarking on a total reorientation of our value system that will result in attitudinal and social changes that would have us united in flying the nation's flag with pride.'Nigeria must begin to accept the oneness of the Nigerian family and the interconnectivity of the different ethnic nationalities and geopolitical zones through marriage, residency and other affiliations. We must honestly begin to see ourselves as the collective 'we'. But this can only happen through a Sovereign National Conference that will produce a People Constitution so that we can truly accept the words 'We the People of Nigeria'.'Nigeria by now should be headed towards evolving into a major economic hub in the Africa region or even in the continent. At 51, Nigeria should move beyond good intentions, wishful thinking, and sweet talks, Nigeria must not fail to understand that all such good intentions and the many others that have been outlined in the past and now cannot achieve anything in the midst of danger and neck-deep corruption.'No quantity of branding, transformation agenda will work in this instance except Nigeria in her 51st anniversary stands as one to 'Save Nigeria' from the vicious grip of corruption, bad governance, ruthless leaders, tribalism, religious intolerance and blatant disrespect of the rule of law which have held Nigeria bondage since her inception as a nation state in 1960.'I am sure that it is not hard for us to identify where it all went wrong, we all have our opinions of where and how things went awry for Nigeria. Some continued to argue that it was because we were lumped together by Lord Lugard irrespective of our ideologies and political leanings, it was a matter of time before the ties that bound us together wore out. But it behoves on us to ensure through a genuine Constitution that is process-led and people-centred to ensure that the dreams of the founding fathers are kept alive. We can abide together with a good Constitution that spells out in clear terms our existence so that our 'unity can remain in diversity'. Nigeria in this 51st year should be headed to producing a genuine Constitution that decentralizes power and brings out true federalism. Nigeria at 51 should be headed towards fostering the true concept of Nigerian citizenship; open policy and people's participation: Entrench an ethic that will enable each Nigerian become active and constructive participants in the polity for sustainable development; true fight to bring about an end to bribery; fraud; embezzlement; extortion; favouritism; nepotism, indiscipline etc.'Professor of Francophone Studies at Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Tunde Fatunde also agrees:'It was Professor Richard Dowden at the 51st Independence Anniversary lecture who succinctly summarized the tragedy of Nigeria since her independence: ' ...of the $1 trillion transferred to safe tax havens from Western and Central Africa, Nigeria accounts for $89.5 billion'. Ifthis amount of money were invested in improving the working and living conditions of our people, we would have been part of the world's strongest economies; and not wait for Vision 20:20.'We should not forget that South Korea was at the same level of poverty and underdevelopment with Nigeria in 1960, when we had our independence. Today, we, Nigerians, consume South Korean gadgets from cars, cell phones, computers, generators and toothpick. The South Korean elite, military and civilian were able to transform their country. How' They massively invested in formation education, the backbone of modern economy, considerably reduced corruption and graft. South Korea is a leading economic power, while Nigeria is a leading exporter of raw materials!'Nigerian elite has specialized in thebuilding of public and private churches and mosques, yet our country is one of the 'un-holiest' nations in the world.'They have turned Nigeria into a potentially dangerous battleground for the next coming wars of religion that may consume Mankind this 21st century if care is not taken.'I am on optimist. Nigeria can still become a world power if her elites can use our immense resources along the South Korean model. There is the need to invest massively in formal education,fight graft and our elite should also believe in the capacity ofNigerians. This country has the resources to send all her children to at least primary, secondary and technical schools if our elite is sincere. Are they''The Dean of Faculty of Arts of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State,Prof. Y. K. Yusuf, speaks of redirections of steps for Nigeria:'We certainly need a redirection. We appear to have derailed. This is clear from the mood of the generality of the populace at this time. In times past, the approach of the October 1st Independence Day celebration was heralded by a mood of excitement. As things are now, one can only sense a disengagement between the followers and the leadership. We need to re-engage. This date in history used to be the date of the swearing-in of new political office holders and so it used to be a time of multiple celebrations. As things now stand, politicians appear to need votes but not the voters.'At this time we need to focus on the most important priorities. Things have changed and they have not changed for the better'The situation at hand is one where everybody wants to travel abroad; the educational system has deteriorated to that extent''The problem with electricity becomes intertwined with the situation of our education sector. E-learning is supposed to be the way to go now but the constant power outages will not encourage that''A rethink is very necessary at this stage. The leaders have to ensure the followers feel re-connected and a part of the nation''The former President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) Prof. Kimse Okoko says Nigeria should have at 51 been among the 20 most developed economies in the world. But it missed it since independence in 1960.According to him, most of the countries presently categorized as the Asian Tigers were at par with Nigeria in 1960.'Clearly by now we should have been among the class of the Asian Tigers. Unfortunately thatis not the case. It is rather unfortunatethat we still find ourselves in this terrible state of affairs that we are today. With Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as President,one can only hope that we begin to move away from this quagmire within the four years of his reign,' said Okoko.He insisted that Nigeria must be restructured in line with the principle of a true federal state. According to him, fiscal federalism remains a panacea to political stability and a guarantee to economic development.The Professor of Political Science also blamed the military for the political instability and economic stagnation Nigeria. According to him, everything the various military regimes did was against rapid development.'It was the military incubated corruption and allowed it to take root. There is no way a country deeply enmeshedin corruption will make progress. Even the fraudulent constitution imposed on Nigerians with all its anti-democratic provisions, is an indicator that the military never meant well for Nigeria,' he said.A prominent Jos, Plateau State-based businessman Mr. Anthony Aifuwa, also sees greed as the bane of the country's held-down progress.'So far so good, the aims and objectives of our founding fathers in fighting for independence have been defeated. They were fighting for the unity and oneness of this country. Independence was achieved on the platter of gold. But our greed after their exit set the nation on the dwindling and downward trend. Instead of uniting the country, everybody is moved on selfish agenda of enriching himself and his family at the expense of the others. No one cares for the other again. This is the birth of tribalism and nepotism in Nigeria,' Aifuwa stated.According to him, if somebody does not come from your area of origin, that person is regarded as a stranger and not a Nigerian.'Neglecting the down-trodden is not the aim of our founding fathers. The economy is already down because of greed, looting the treasury left, right and centre because some selfish people want to control the economy of this country for life and leave the country in the hands of their children and their relations only.'Look at the almajiris and Boko haram members. If we take care of them they will not be doing what they are doing now. They are human beings like us. They need to be trained. They need enlightenment. Send them to school to get education because it is from them that you get good leaders. The good leaders of the country can only be located in the down trodden and not the children of the rich in the society. If you can train the children of the poor, tell them that this is what it entails to be educated, Nigeria will be better off,' Aifuwa stated.He however added that hope is not lost.Mr. Waheed Kadiri, President, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners could not agree less:'The issue is not whether we are on the right path or not because if it were simply about a country going in a wrong direction, the ideal thing is to make a detour to the right direction or make a U-turn. In this case, we seem to have missed it entirely with laughable and unrealistic project or ideas that never materialize. Look at the project Vision 20-20:20, where is it or what is being said about it today''The truth is that we don't know where we are going at all, we have no idea whatsoever and as a result, things are the way they are today. Everything is in shambles, where does one begin
Click here to read full news..
