Front row: Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu (left) and Chief Bisi Akande at the public presentation of Fayemi’s book: Unfinished Greatness: Envisioning A New Nigeria in Abuja…yesterday.
Then, there was the Ekiti State Cultural Troupe led by the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Professor Ojo Bakare, welcoming guests with their rich costumes and performance.
It was the official presentation of a book titled, The Unfinished Greatness, Envisioning a New Nigeria, authored by Ekiti State Governor and Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
At the event were governors from the 36 states of the federation, politicians, traditional rulers and members of the diplomatic community.
In his remarks, former Head of State, General (Rtd) Yakubu Gowon, stated that the notion of greatness is evolutionary even though the pace ought to have been faster in Nigeria.
He found the book title as a determination to remain focused on the goal of building a great nation where peace, unity, justice and security reign.
Another notion of envisioning a new Nigeria, Gowon stated, “addresses the leadership question. The country might not have gotten it right in its 62 years as an independent nation but I think we have all done our best this should not undermine our search for a quality leadership.
“We speak of leadership that makes our borders internally and externally safe for everyone. We speak of leadership with determination to eradicate poverty, disease and ignorance in the land.
“We speak of leadership that is concerned with making democracy work in a manner that makes citizens to truly enjoy democratic dividends. Broadly, we speak of leadership that makes Nigerians extremely proud of their green passport.”
Commending Fayemi for putting so much in the book, Gowon suspected that the author must have been moved to ponder on the issues from his vantage position as a two-term governor of his state and chairman, Nigerian Governor’s forum.
The elder statesman added that he found the title of the book interesting, particularly as it touched on two major issues that Nigerians are concerned about.
The first issue, he said, was the question of the reason Nigeria has failed to attain greatness in spite of her immense potential.
For Gowon, Nigeria has done well so far since independence. “As an individual, I believe that Nigeria is a country marked for greatness. That is the reason as the convener of “Nigeria Prays”, I led like-minded individuals to pray without ceasing for the good of our land.”
He added: “Regardless of the diverse difficulties -socio, political, religious and even cultural challenges that we have been grappling with since independence, our country shall yet attain the greatness that we all want it to have which is the ideal for which every nation aspires regardless of its position on the development index.”
The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, who spoke on behalf of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum threw up an argument that intellectuals in governance engage in too much analysis which can lead to paralysis.
“Indeed, this is a very important occasion and it is an occasion where we witness intellectuals in governance and intellectuals in politics because we are talking of trailblazers, the active participation of academicians in governance.
“There is no doubt this is a welcome development. It is always important for intellectuals to take active participation in politics because they are always great thinkers; they are always focused.
“They analyse conflicting issues and try to find out the areas of convergence and the areas of divergence in politics and governance because there is always conflicting variables. So, I congratulate him.”
Ganduje warned against advocacy that governance should only be left for intellectuals stressing that it is contrary to democracy.
“Unfortunately, in developing countries, intellectuals are afraid of governance and sceptical about delving into active politics because they regard politics as a dirty game. But politics is not a dirty game.
“Also, some think that intellectuals when they delve into politics resort to too many analyses but sometimes, people say that too many analyses lead to paralyses. I wonder if there is a correlation between intellectualism and good governance”, Ganduje states.
But the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who represented Buhari promptly disagreed with Ganduje on too much analysis leading to paralysis.
For Gambari, practice and politicking without a vision may also become unproductive for a country that needs to move forward. He believed that it takes a combination of people with vision, intellect, practice and record of achievements in public service that actually qualify for leadership.
“It is the Presidents view that the more people with experience and vision write about the future of the society, the better the society.
“Coming back to Nigeria, it is true that the vision of our founding fathers has not been realize but it is a work in progress. That is why this book should be read and practiced.”
The book author, Fayemi, in his remark, stressed that “state and nation-building remain work in progress. He held that although some countries may enjoy a long span of relative tranquillity, the historical fact also needs always to be remembered and restated that stability and progress require the deployment of a deliberate effort by citizens and those entrusted with leadership to advance the national agenda regardless of challenges.”
He added that there are no pre-ordained guarantees of success at all times and that every country goes through high and low moments in their historical journey. However, leaders should provide leadership at all times.
“When countries experience their high moments, it is incumbent on leaders to capture the opportunities that are offered to advance the frontiers of the national agenda. When, as is inevitable, bad days come, leadership must assume the responsibility for keeping the ideals of the national agenda high on the radar, provide citizens with a genuine basis for hope that better days lie ahead, and courageously undertake whatever reforms that are required by the times and for the achievement of the better days.”
The keynote speaker, Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, took the guests through the history of some countries of the world who took their destinies in their hands and fought to restore their dignity and those of their nations.
He held that transformation of any nation requires the people finding ways of harnessing diplomacy of thought and diplomacy of action “because it is the combination of thought and action that helps us to get a vision for ourselves and our future. It is then we begin to frame the action and through thought, critique action in order to improve in the quest for an even greater form of perfection.”
The book was reviewed by Dr. Joe Abah, and he pointed out the depth of disillusionment and frustration with Nigeria’s perennial inability to fulfil its true potential. According to him, such a state of frustration has led many to be pessimistic and defeatist in their response to national issues.
New ideas and initiatives are often viewed with cynicism and the pre-emptive evaluative judgment of “It will never work” is passed on to new initiatives before they even commence.
The Reviewer noted that although Fayemi’s book is a collection of essays, there is a coherent narrative thread running through the whole book. Citing the author, he said, “the book offers the perspectives of a firm believer in a Nigerian national agenda of unity, freedom, justice, and equity.”
The reviewer believed that the author’s perspectives are offered with the understanding that national development is not necessarily a linear process or a one-off activity that if you just undertook you wouldn’t need to make any other effort.
According to him, the first chapter interrogates whether there was a need for strategic demolition to remake a nation. “It recognises that there is a wide range of opinions as to how Nigeria can be remade, ranging from decentralisation to devolution and even to agitations for outright secession.
“Fayemi lists several challenges bedevilling Nigeria’s nationhood, including over-centralization of power, a revenue-sharing formula skewed in favour of the Federal Government, and a predominantly youthful population that have only ever heard tales of a Nigeria that once lived up to its part of a social contract, but have never actually witnessed it.”
Another issue raised in the book and which the reviewer captured vividly was the question of 1914 amalgamation. Fayemi has argued with those who perceived the amalgamation as a mistake, stressing that submission was in itself a “mistake because the peoples that now makeup Nigeria have interacted and traded with each other before the map that we now have was drawn.”
The author added that “the United States, the richest, most powerful nation in the world, is similarly an amalgamation of several peoples, some of which had their own flags and defined territories before that amalgamation.”
He further questioned those that blame every problem of the country on colonialism, noting that though now operated by Nigerians, the post-colonial state has been as alien and as predatory as its colonial predecessor.
“Fayemi posits that leaders must take responsibility and move away from the interminable blame game that tries to shift responsibility to others, including colonialists.”
The themes treated in the book include those of restructuring, intellectuals in politics, the media and the responsibility of promoting unity in diversity and democratic rule. Other themes are the role of religion in elections, turning the adversity occasioned by COVID-19 into opportunities,
The reviewer commended Feyemi’s position on the lingering issue of restructuring when he admitted that Fayemi “recognizes that if the United States, a nation forged out of common purpose and common consent, perpetually seeks to make a more perfect union, it is evident that the task of nation-building will be far more difficult in a state-created without the consent of the people and imposed by colonial power.”
