In less than 48 hours, Nigeria will be 58 as an independent nation. What are your expectations of this country, 58 years after?
If you like, describe it as something either important or historical or otherwise. Nigeria attained independence on October 1, 1960, but Nigeria has existed as an independent, sovereign state since as far back as 1914. So, I don’t know how significant the Independence Day is since we were given independence not as a result of any meaningful struggle. Actually, we negotiated with the British and we were given independence in 1960. We could have had it in 1957, but somehow we could not agree among ourselves on a consensus on date because there were genuine fears among different parts of the country which came together in 1914. But be that as it may, I think every people will like to govern themselves and certainly there was a feeling of exhilaration when Nigeria became an independent country on October 1, 1960.
What are your disappointments with the country?
With the passage of time and with the benefit of hindsight, one must question really what our independence has meant and what is it today. From my true personal perspective, I have to say that our political elite, our economic elite, our military elite and other security elite have not made a good effort out of our independence. I think Nigeria is today bedeviled with more problems than it was on October 1, 1960 and this is really a shame.
Nigeria is underdeveloped today. In fact, it is one of the least developed countries in the world and, sadly, we are one of the poor countries, not because we don’t have the human and material resources. We had them then and we still have them. Nigeria is poor today because of bad governance, poor economic management, irresponsible political elite and political leadership, absence of meaningful national parties and, of course, the attitude of the Nigerian political elite. They are using tribal, ethnic and religious differences as an alibi for not being able to push the country forward. It is a very unfortunate situation.
There is another factor: one out of the three major tribes we have in this country staged their tribal coup and they claimed that it was a successful coup. In the process, they took the trouble to eliminate wholesale the military and political leadership of, at least, one of the two other major tribes. They glaringly pushed some restructuring of the country without any logical consultation but based on their own feeling that that time they were in power, they could do what they liked. That, of course, led to other attempts to restructure the country and that subsequently led to the civil war from 1967 to 1970.
At independence, the entire African continent was looking up to Nigeria for leadership and sense of direction. Why the great expectations then?
It was not because of our size that the African continent was looking up to us. It was because of the combination of human and material resources that we had and the fact that, even at the time of independence in 1960, we are almost two steps ahead most of the other African countries. So, they were looking up to us for wisdom and good governance. They were looking up to us to see how a country has the potential to develop fast and do so more than other African countries. But we have not done so.
So, it is not because we were big. After all, India was a former British colony. It is a big country and as of then with a population of nearly over 500 million people. Now, India, of most places, is almost at par with China with a population of 1.1 billion to 1.2 billion people. India was also in limbo for a number of years. The country, I think, became a more responsible country because its leaders woke up to the fact that they are neighbours to China and the Chinese, after their revolution of 1949, were determined to make something out of their lives and they have already made something out of their lives. So, by 1979-1980 when the Indians were determined about political and economic reforms and they want to transform their country, cure it of the likes of poverty and under-development, they realised that it could be done and they did it. This year, India has the fastest economic growth rate in the world. So, whatever you will say, you will have to give the Indians and the Chinese a credit for understanding what was needed and having the courage to do so. Nigerian leaders have not done so and we are still in limbo.
You will see and read some of the agitations on the pages of the newspapers and the social media; you will be surprised that some of the agitations that were there in the early 1960s are still with us till today. If somebody could grow up in 1960 and is 58 years today and is still making the same noise he was making in 1960 or post-1963, then it is a very sick society.
At what particular point do you think we missed it as a country?
Let me be honest with you: We started the journey towards missing it out of the small scuffles we had with the date of independence; 1957 or 1960. The fact was very simple. Some of the political elite in some of the regions wanted the independence as soon as possible; others were serious about waiting and making sure that they want to catch up with the others, at least, educationally. They also believed that they did not want to substitute British colonialism with the Nigerian native-born colonialists. Because the idea that some people were there because they have fast-tracked information and educational system and should now be lord over the rest of the country is neither democratic nor sensible. There were also those who insisted that they have to be given the opportunity to develop to a level whereby they can take care of themselves and they were absolutely right; they were right and are still right, even now. So, as far as I am concern, that was the beginning of our trouble.
Independence in 1960 and in 1963, we became a republic. Now, the republic was more or less patterned along non-constitutional republic. That is, we have a republic only in name because essentially the power remains with the Head of Government who is the Prime Minister. The President was like the former Governor General. Now whether Dr Nnamdi Azikwe accepted it or he didn’t like it, that dangerous dichotomy between the Head of State and the Head of Government became manifest after the coup of January, 1966. Azikwe was insisting, as far back as the elections of 1964, that he had the Prime Minister and he didn’t want to appoint a Prime Minister who has the majority in the Parliament and who could put his matter before the Parliament to pass a vote of no confidence in the Head of State. That was a very important benchmark in parliamentary democracy and that brought in confusion among those who were around then: Azikwe was the Head of State, but he was just a ceremonial Head of State and not the Head of Government. So, the Prime Minister who can muster the necessary number of parliamentarians who could pass a vote of confidence in the person who can be appointed as Prime Minister should not be subjected to your (Azikwe’s) whimsical choice. And that was what happened.
As you can see, all along, we are learning and somehow, not learning and we are still in the same process, unfortunately. Of course, it was assumed that if after the war, the military was in charge, then we are going to have a small say in government which, of course, took the decision to take the country from the parliamentary system and make it to be a presidential system, more or less like the American Presidential System or like some other presidential republics. That has worked again in struts and we are here today and I don’t think we have marched any forward since independence. Just few days ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was telling us that we may be heading for another recession for a three consecutive times. If we go back into recession, you will begin to wonder, what have learnt and what has been done?
Some people are of the view that the problem of Nigeria has its root in its foundation; that the former British colonialists bequeathed a system that cannot work. Do you believe in this viewpoint?
You just told me that what the British bequeathed us a warped system, but tell me what is warped about it.
Well, it was said that the British reluctantly and left a system that was alien; that it didn’t allow Nigeria to grow at its own pace, using its own people and culture to foster development…
If you look at the context of how they left this country, you will discover that the British went through the World War II from 1939 to 1945 and, in the process, Britain emerged a broken nation; broken economically, broken in human resources, broken spiritually and broken in whatever you can imagine. From 1945, the economy of the British Government could not sustain the kind of empire that it had. The pre-1947 Indian was nearing the population of 500 million and many other big countries and what have you were making demands on the resources of the empire. The fact remains that the cost of administering the countries, including India, Nigeria, Ghana and post-1948 Pakistan and several others, does not make staying in Nigeria realistic. So, why should the British remain in Nigeria if Nigerians does not like the idea? The British themselves were not happy about the type of huge resources they were deploying to administer the country.
Mark you, Nigeria had a few resources as of then. Oil only became a factor in the Nigerian economy in 1958 after its discovery in Oloibiri in 1956. The export of oil became a factor in the national economy in 1958. The British left in 1960. Don’t tell me that the British left reluctantly or would not have left if they want to stay. They could have stayed because there was no credible opposition if they had wanted to stay. But they were not prepared to lose lives and assets in the course of fighting a colonial war, after they had came out of the World War II devastated. Nigeria wanted them to live and they negotiated the departure date among themselves. What happened afterwards can only be put at the doorsteps of the Nigerian leaders and not at the doorsteps of the British.
Fifty-eight years after, do you think we can still get it right in this country?
We can. I am an optimist, especially where it concerns the affairs of the country. But one thing that I know also is that the Nigerian political elite in particular, at all times, think they have the opportunity and the divine right to be irresponsible, to misgovern the country, mismanage our resources and still come out and talk every time there is a crisis. I can’t see this going on or surviving indefinitely. At some point, they have to sit down and be honest with themselves and the rest of the country. I have not seen evidence of that yet, but I believe it can happen. We are going to demand a fundamental shift in mindset, but I have not seen that in any of the political parties that we have now.
and then