…says country is celebrating more failures than successes
By Adeola Badru
AS Nigeria celebrates her 60th independence anniversary, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC) and a renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola, has declared that Nigeria’s current political structure could not sustain the country for another 20 years.
Akintola, in an interview with Vanguard on the 60th independence anniversary of the country yesterday, noted that the only way out was for the younger generation to begin serious thinking, while also admonishing Nigerians to stop what he called the “Almajiri” culture of begging, saying that they must begin to use their hands and brain to work.
Also read: Nigeria records no COVID-19-related death in 24-hours, as cases reach 58,647
According to him: “We cannot get things right in the country. The present political structure cannot sustain this country for another 20 years. I’m not a prophet of doom. The whole thing will collapse on our heads unless you younger ones start to do serious thinking.”
“We have to stop this Almajiri culture of begging. We have to work, use your hands and brain; put your certificate aside to do something meaningful to society.”
“We are celebrating more failures than successes. It is so glaring that our failure is so thick in the air that we can cut it with a knife. We are giving our children an education that is not functional. How many of our graduates have a functional education? How many of our children have entrepreneurial skills?” Akintola queried.
Again, he said: “We were on the right track when we started. As at that time, there was healthy competition among the regions. At that time, everybody knew his or her limitation within the Federation. But the military came and distorted the template. The Unification Decree 34 has been the bane of our development till today. Others just came and latched on it.”
” It has been their guiding Bible since then. So many development plans of the country have been distorted over the years. When people have one advantage or the others, they don’t want to let go of it. Many of the ideas and things introduced to enhance our development have been distorted.”
“Obviously, we have made some gains and huge losses. The losses are more than the gains. We now have two evils dogging the country, religion and ethnicity. In the past, we only knew of ethnicity, not religion. But now, the two are the main evils chasing this country’s destiny.”
“Some of the scars of the Civil War are still unfortunately with us. But over the years, we have been able to blend together. Within nine years, one of the leaders from the Eastern part of the country became Vice-President. Another leader from the region became Speaker of the House of Representatives just to ensure that we forget about the civil war. Such things do not in any part of the world except here. I think our leaders should be commended for that step.”
On the country’s expectations in the future, Akintola said: “We have to dismantle the contraption and restructure the country in such a way that every component part would be allowed to develop at its pace. What is the business of the Federal Government in primary school education? Why should anybody sit down in Abuja and be appointing judges for Zamfara or Ekiti States?”
“Also, our economy can’t just sustain this presidential system we are operating. We have seen that the presidential system of government is expensive. The parliamentary system will be better. It will be cost-effective and reduce wastage and will encourage even development. Of course, people will stop living on Abuja.”
