Scholars in the country have observed that Nigerian political system, as it is being run at levels of government in the country, is not efficient enough to drive home the desired sustainable Development goals actualization in spite of so much fund being allegedly committed to the system by various administrations since 1999.
This observation was made on Tuesday at the 15th Annual National Conference based on a theme; Nigerian Political System and the question of sustainable development, organized by the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo. Scholars from various reputable tertiary institutions in the country were in attendance.
The Dean, School of Arts and Social Sciences of the host college, Mr Sunday Adeyera noted that Nigerian political system operational procedure is weak to sanitise the economy for all-round development process, as it is being witnessed from where we borrowed it. While he appealed to political policymakers to make efforts to standardize the system, he said for Nigeria to meet its development challenges and follow the path of sustainable development, it must focus its efforts at creating demand for good governance, addressing socio-economic and political marginalization, as well as reducing inequality through inclusive policies and people-centred development programmes.
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Professor Remi Ayede from the University of Ibadan, in his lead paper at the conference, asserted that Nigerian political or government system has not functioned well to expectation and its failures has manifested in the poor social conditions of a large part of its citizens, deplorable infrastructure and the state of insecurity. According to him, the big issue which Nigerians have not been able to address is how to refocus institutions to address development.
Speaking in the same vein at the conference, the Provost, College of Education, Lanlate, Oyo State, Dr Joseph Adeagbo who delivered the keynote address declared that there is need for effective political reforms for Nigeria political system to attain goals of sustainable development.
According to him, Nigeria must go beyond setting up a component of the political system. “We must reflect on policy Dynamics and strive for policy coherence. The present multiparty system is not sustainable and it is an impediment to the attainment of sustainable development goals(SDGs),”.
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