Ezekwesili, Nweke, Sonaiya, others bemoan poor governance, seeks constitutional reforms

Eminent Nigerians, including former Minister of Education, Dr (Mrs) Oby Ezekwesili; Frank Nweke Junior, Remi Sonaiya, Aisha Yesufu, among others on Wednesday warned that Nigeria must urgently restructure, institute electoral and constitutional reforms to save it from imminent collapse.

They gave this counsel at a webinar organised to unveil the #FixPolitics initiative to Nigerian media, even as they bemoaned the failure of governance across the country, saying only a holistic overhaul of the nation’s democracy could guarantee the needed change.

Ezekwesili, a candidate in the 2019 Presidential Election, in her presentation, observed that the nation’s democracy was faulty and could not deliver on expectations of Nigerians, saying that the current electoral and political system was tailored to favour a few who were self-serving.

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She further said that there must be good politics, strong institutions, and effective priority put in place for democracy to work in Nigeria, noting that current leaders placed priority on individual gains than the interest of the nation, but quickly said the long-suffering people that needed good governance were ones to change this narrative to deliver good governance.

“Nothing in Nigeria can change until the transformation of our politics. The long-suffering people that need good governance are the one to change this narrative to deliver good governance.

“Mobilise the Nigerian public to collectively demand a new constitution, political electoral and economic restructuring of Nigeria. Only the Nigerian citizens working together can compel the three arms of government, the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary to respond urgently and avert the imminent collapse of Nigeria into a failed state. Nigeria is currently the number 13 country on the global ranking of failed state countries,” she said.

Nweke, who is also the head of the Empowered Electorate Group, said most Nigerians voters were ignorant of the hindrance to the nation’s democracy and how it impeded the development of the country.

The former minister said the current protest in some states in the country should be a warning to leaders that Nigerians could not be taken for granted forever, pointing out that his group had decided to engage in voter’s education in order for the citizens to be aware of pertinent issues that affect them about the electoral process.

Sonaiya, a member of the sub-theme of #FixPolitics, bemoaned the nation’s electoral process, saying that Nigeria must restructure and institute holistic electoral reforms while encouraging diaspora voting to make meaningful progress.

Head of the Transparency International (TI) in Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, welcomed the #FixPolitics initiative, saying that Nigeria’s political process needed a surgical intervention to deliver good governance to the citizens.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE