Dr Tokunbo Pearse, who teaches Philosophy at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), in this interview by BOLA BADMUS, identifies obstacles to Nigeria’s quest for nationhood since independence in 1960.
The 59th Independence Day anniversary of Nigeria has come and gone. But I still want you to share with us what you think about the journey for the country since 1960.
The journey so far appears very redundant and backward. Every year, we seem to do worse than the year before. If we take the current administration, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, we find that in the key areas we can evaluate any government, it has been a slide backward. Several institutions have failed in everything. If we look at the economy, we will see that direct foreign investment has fallen by more than 55 per cent. If we look at the stock market, it is either the market is at its lowest in about 15 years. You look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country which surpassed that of South Africa for the first time in history during the days of President Goodluck Jonathan, it is at its lowest in about 25 years. And of course, because of the weakness of the economy, the national currency, the Naira, is now exchanges between N350 and N360 to the United States dollar. It is at its lowest in the history of Nigeria. It’s not theoretical; we all can feel it in our own lives. The cost of petrol has gone up, it used to be N87per litre; it is now N145. So, the cost of transportation to the average person has gone up. Similarly, the cost of stable food items like garri, rice and beans has gone up. Kerosene that most Nigerians use for cooking has recorded about 400 per cent increase in price, so the situation has become economically unbearable.
And if you talk about security, I have some statistics from the UNESCO that shows that Boko Haram activities in the North- East had abated to some extent but the insurgents are still alive and active, as well as operating and destroying the region. So, we have not technically destroyed Boko Haram. Bandits are also on the prowl in the North- East. There is no safety in the North- West either. Bandits, robbers and kidnappers are doing their own. In the North- Central, you have killer-herdsmen. We know in the South- West itself that people don›t feel safe to travel on the highways because of kidnappers and attacks from robbers. There are serious security challenges in the South- East and the South-South. So, all these are hurting the economy. The absence of security of lives and property is bound to scare away potential investors and that is one of the reasons the country is in a shambles.
What will you consider as the main lesson Nigeria learnt since independence?
Because of the problems we have encountered in every sector, we have learnt that things must change fundamentally. There must be a structural change. That is why we have to go back to the basic. The only way forward go back to that period of time when things worked in Nigeria. The system then gave us better results than we have now. That is why Chief Ayo Adebanjo and people of like minds are saying we should go back to the 1963 Constitution because it allowed for true federalism; it allowed for regional development; it allowed different people at different levels to move their own pace and kind of development according to their own culture and resources. Let me give you an example on education. As things are now, the North is always trying to adjust educational standards so that their children can compete with others. So, they are corrupting the system because children from the Southern part of the country are being cheated; they are not being given the same opportunity and by the way, they are also cheating their children. I am an educator, I know what it is. You cannot give your children a pass mark when they don’t qualify because if you do, they will still have to compete with others after obtaining leaving the university. Not only that they may not be able to compete favourably, you would have put them in a position where they don’t qualify for, so they are likely to bring the system down because of incompetence.
The average commitment of the Buhari administration to education in its first term in office was eight per cent of the budget. UNESCO recommends 26 per cent of the budget. Education is the foundation for everything; technical and vocational art education, all of them must be developed. That’s the only way the society can grow and you must find investment. You cannot get investment through oil, through one common product. Why is it that South Africa with about 50 million people is producing 30,000 megawatts of electricity and Nigeria with about 200 million people, is producing 4,000 megawatts? If we diversify the economy and each state is allowed to develop its own economic power, an average state in Nigeria will produce 500 megawatts. Multiply that by 36 that is 18,000 megawatts as opposed to 4,000megawatts. So, unless we change the structure, we are not going anywhere.
Following the sustained clamour for restructuring of the country, the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government said restructuring was already taking place, citing the direct federal allocation to all the local governments across Nigeria. What is your position on the issue?
There is no confusion on what restructuring is all about. If the allocation from the Federation Account is going directly to the local governments, that is part of restructuring. The difference between my position and that of the Federal Government is that the whole process should be more comprehensive. It should be more inclusive and transparent. You will notice that up till now, the local governments do not get their allocation directly from the centre because states control the local councils. The reality is that the local government is independent in respect of its relationship with the state government. You cannot have restructuring in bits and pieces because when you want to build, you must go to the foundation. There must be a constitutional change that allows states to control their resources. One of the reasons I have consistently supported former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his position on restructuring is that he has published several essays on the different aspects of restructuring. So, if states control their resources, they will have enough fund to maintain their own police.
There is also the issue of governance; how you get to office. For instance, the local government structure is totally dependent on state administration as we speak. Until there is a different process in electing officials at the local and state levels, we cannot talk of states and local governments being autonomous. At the moment, it is the state electoral body that decides on local government elections. That is why the local governments are mere appendages of states. You also realize that the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) is tied to the whims and caprices of the centre. The president of the country has the powered to appoint the chairman and other key officials of the commission. With such power vested in the president, the INEC cannot said to be independent. It is abnormal to described INEC as being independent. It is not independent in any way. Atiku has said it is only when the abnormality is changed that things will be done the right way. And we don’t need to invent the way, I tell you how it is done in United States. Number one, the membership of the state electoral body should comprise representatives of all the major political parties. For instance, in Nigeria today, there are two major parties: the PDP and the APC. How can such body be composed of the APC people all through? Does that make sense? So, that’s the problem with our democracy; it is not democratic at all. There should be checks and balances. If there are seven members in the INEC, they should be the one to pick their chairman.
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What can you say about the war on corruption by the government?
Corruption is not just about financial misbehaviour, theft and greed. Dishonesty is an act of corruption; wickedness is corruption; tribalism and nepotism are all part of corruption. What can be the worst type of corruption than when you harbour corrupt people? If you are a receiver of stolen goods, are you not a thief yourself? In fact, you are qualified as a master thief and that is what the APC-led government represent. The government has condoned people who are under investigation for serious issues by its own the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). People indicted for corruption or who are alleged to have committed murder, as soon as they defect to the APC, their cases die naturally. Such persons get protection; it is not that they get protection alone, they also get rewarded.
and then