Former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili on Saturday, declared that Nigeria has not yet achieved the status of a true nation.
She emphasised that the country’s failure to articulate common aspirations and unite under a shared vision has hindered the development of a cohesive national identity that citizens can rally behind.
Speaking at the 10th Edition of Pastor E.A Adeboye’s Annual Public Lecture on Nation Building on Thursday, February 24, Ezekwesili noted that despite the numerous possibilities available, Nigeria has fallen short in realising her potential.
“We haven’t done well. God is looking on us and wondering; “why have you amounted to so little, compared to all the possibilities I have given you?
“We must prepare first to imagine, design, mobilise, build Nigeria, and monitor the nation that we are building, so that it reaches the ultimate goal. That ultimate goal is to become a globally productive, competitive, prosperous, resilient, equitable, just, fair, inclusive, and sustainable country in which everyone thrives,” she said.
The minister emphasised the crucial distinction between a country and a nation, cautioning against using the terms interchangeably. According to her, Nigeria achieved independence from British rule, marking its status as a country. However, the transition to a nation has not been realised.
She further outlined the essential building blocks required for Nigeria to evolve from being merely a country to becoming a fully-fledged nation.
Her words:
“[Nigeria] needs a set of shared values, a great common identity which everyone will respect, value, and defend. We need a public leadership recruitment system, and high-quality leadership decisions.
“The second building block is that we need a deep restructuring arrangement to agree and design the most appropriate model of a federal system that matches structure with function for the most effective delivery of mandate.”
“A fundamental devolution of power to states, the key federating units, thereby reducing the list of items in the exclusive list as mandate for the federal government.
“I say here that we need institutions building agenda. A robust institution building agenda.
“Finally, we do need a new constitution adopted through ayes or no referendum on all the provisions because that brings the people of Nigeria on to a common template.
“We need a credible and transparent electoral system that deepens our democracy. Efficiently conducting elections so that it regulates and penalises poor public leadership that is delivered by politicians today without any consequences.
“How dare you deliver poor public leadership, and the citizens then vote you back in office? It is not of God!”
