An elder statesman and former Osun State governor, Chief Bisi Akande, said Nigeria has had a “stunted growth” over the years and still not yet started moving in the right direction. He then called for a true federal constitution to make Nigeria work.
The veteran politician, Akande, who was the pioneer National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), gave this revelation on Friday, December 22, 2023, while featuring in an exclusive interview with a former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, on the debut of his TV programme, ‘Inside Sources’ on Channels TV.
In a groundbreaking move and highly anticipated debut Laolu Akande’s political program, “Inside Sources,” hit the airwaves with a bang with Chief Akande, a highly respected figure in Nigerian politics, who answered questions on burning national issues.
The programme according to the host is aimed to provide a platform for fresh ideas and meaningful conversations on Nigerian politics.
As “Inside Sources” premiered on Channels TV, captivating audiences across the country, the inclusion of the A-list Nigerian, Bisi Akande as the first guest may be seen as a strategic move, to highlight the programme’s commitment to engaging experienced political leaders and nurturing intergenerational dialogue.
During the episode, Chief Bisi Akande and the journalist engaged in a lively and insightful conversation, discussing a wide range of topics, including governance, leadership, politics and the future of Nigerian politics.
As the host engaged Akande, a seasoned politician with decades of experience, he shared his wisdom and perspectives, providing valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the nation.
When asked whether Nigeria was moving in the right direction, the former Osun state governor said, ” Nigeria has been having a stunted growth, and today the sources of its nutrition are in deficit. The nutrition for a good polity is infrastructure and human capacity. Both we seem not to have in the right direction”
“So for that reason, I don’t see Nigeria in the right direction. But with the reason attempt to change the situation let’s hope Nigeria will be strong enough to bear the change, Akande noted.
Speaking on the deep cause of Nigeria’s diverse problems and possible solutions, Akande suggested a different approach to the educational system of Nigeria insisting the country must focus on effective education to be able to streamline the goal which he said would play a pivotal role in the development of Nigeria.
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“The differences in the approach to education had created a sort of misunderstanding among the leadership and the people of the country. While some believe in deep education, a universal education some believe in different ways of looking at it, Akande stated
He added, “While some feel that everybody should be educated, some feel that it is unnecessary, only a few should be educated. And then we have one Nigeria, where some are educated partially, some are deeply educated and some are not educated. So we can’t understand ourselves. We need to look at our education properly to be able to streamline the goal.
He also spoke about two important controversial issues, religion and ethnicity, which he said are pivotal to the country’s political growth, as according to him, “The two factors are useful elements in the community development. It depends on the user. With the right kind of constitution which we don’t have, religion and ethnicity can complement the efforts of the community makers.”
The two elements he referred to as the drivers, who can stem the tide of ethnicity and religion in politics he said are politicians and statesmen.
“We call them politicians and statesmen. Whoever wanted Nigeria to go forward could use the media and ethnicity to promote the understanding of the community towards a common goal. But the way the constitution is now, we need a true federal constitution.
“Federal constitution is a very difficult system of government. But it is a must constitution for diversity. You can’t use a unity government among the diverse ethnic communities.
“You don’t need a federal kind of government as a one nationality. But in a multi-ethnic nationality like Nigeria, you need a true federal constitution to make it work well,” Akande said.
He, however, chided the leaders who he said refused to be educated about what leadership means working against the national progress.
According to him, “But because the leaders don’t even want to be educated about what leadership really means. Because a leader must understand his people and you have to be very educated about the geography of the placement of your people, about the history of your people, and the sociological settings of your people. And about the variance in culture.”
Until you can get that, you can’t be a good leader. And that is where a federal constitution, a good true federal constitution let me put it that way is what we need to solve the problem of diversity,” Akande said.
He contended “We have no constitution now. What we have is the understanding of what is our constitution now is that the federal government takes a decision and the rest of us queue behind it.
“That is why you will see a market woman whose stall has been blown away by the wind and will be saying, ‘Ah! But we voted for Tinubu,” come and see flood in our community.’ That’s a local government job and should be directed by the state government. It has nothing to do with the federal government.
“But because our people, you know because the constitution is not well defined or simply defined, see how long it is. It is too long. All we need to do is to look at the schedule and say that this is your job, the federal government and this is your job state government. But the way it is coined and written, it is too difficult for the Nigerian people,” Akande concluded.
