Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

‘Brexit is an opportunity to define a new structure for Nigeria’

By Sunny Ogefere
28 June 2016   |   2:49 am
As expected and predicted we now see the turmoil the leave victory has brought to the market. Virtually all the markets in the world have taken a catastrophic dive ...
Joe Keshi

Joe Keshi

Immediate past chairman of United Bank for Africa and former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joe Keshi says Brexit is an opportunity to redefine the Nigerian structure. Besides, he cautioned in an interview with SUNNY OGEFERE that ECOWAS might face similar fate if care was not taken.

Brexit and instability
As expected and predicted we now see the turmoil the leave victory has brought to the market. Virtually all the markets in the world have taken a catastrophic dive, which has created some grave uncertainty about the future. But I believe that as they go through the mess that has been created that some stability will be restored in the market. The market certainly knows how to take care of itself.

Far more uncertain is the future of Britain as we know it today. Already Scotland is saying because they voted to
stay in the EU they are now going to do a second referendum to decide whether to remain part of the United Kingdom. Ireland is saying the same thing.

In a number of EU countries, the nationalists are demanding for a similar vote. You know Greece once threatened to leave because of its financial crisis. So the chances are that a number of countries including Poland and France may follow suit … France would demand for a similar vote whether to remain in EU and when that happens the chances are that a number might just decide that they don’t want to be part of the EU again.

The major problem, which is what politicians and leaders should learn is that, they were complaining about the overwhelming control of Brussels over their national interest but the bureaucrats in Brussels did not listen, which was part of the anger that led to this exit vote.

If you do a prognosis about the way people of Europe are feeling, if given the opportunity a number of countries might actually opt to renegotiate a new relationship with Europe. While the bureaucrats were actually trying to form a supernatural institution of making Europe closer, as one government and so on, the people are saying no, we still want to be able to control some bit of our own affairs.

Implications for Nigeria
When you extend the whole thing globally, and you spread it to a country like Nigeria, then you begin to see the implications for us. There are a lot of lessons that we begin to learn. First of all democracy was at play; the people were given a choice to decide the future of a relationship. They have spoken; the consequences are theirs to manage.

Here in Nigeria, there are a lot of Nigerians who are not satisfied with so many things. Today there is this feeling that the government of the day is not being fair to all sections of the country which has of course given rise to the renewed agitation for Biafra. And you see the way the Biafran thing was put down recently in Onitsha; two things come to mind when you discuss that incident in Onitsha. Whether we like it or not Biafra will forever remain part of Nigeria’s history. Secondly, you do not bring out the army to quell demonstrations, which is the business of the police.

Thirdly, we must begin to learn how to address such innocuous agitations. It is not by sending the army to pull down anybody who is demonstrating. The right to demonstrate is part of democracy, what we have to learn is to allow the people have their say and let the government manage these demonstrations.

You also have the Niger Delta, which for me most Nigerians do not understand what the issue is. They think oh the Niger Delta people do not want us to get oil, no. The people of the Niger Delta are saying that the bulk of the oil is produced in the Niger Delta and substantial part of that money has developed what is Nigeria today while they are in penury and continue to live in poverty. They must listen to their voices and find how to address their grievances.

Government must listen to the people
So we must not ignore all the various ethnic groups that have grievances because we are in power. The government of the day whether at the local level, the state level or the federal level must begin to listen to the voice of the people.

It is the failure of the bureaucrats and the leaders in Brussels to listen to the complaints of a number of countries and peoples in Europe that has led to this exit. Of course from day one, the British has always been skeptical about being part of Europe. But as time went on, the fact that EU continued to expand without listening to the feelings of the people particularly over immigration, that led to this exit.

So for a country with a lot of pockets of protests and grievances like Nigeria, the leaders must put their ears on the ground and listen to the people. It is not by using power and it is not by showing that because I am in power I am going to do whatever I like. No, you cannot do whatever you like because in doing whatever you like, you are actually endangering the corporate existence of Nigeria; because the agitations will remain.

This is why Nigerian leaders must not fail to look at what is going on there and begin to see how they can address the grievances of everybody so that we do not get to that stage whereby everybody is now forced to say look, we also must have a vote whether we want to be part of Nigeria or not.

There are so many contending forces in Nigeria and our leaders must not loose sight of that. That is why some of the complaints that are coming up particularly under this regime must not be thrown under the carpet. We must listen to the voice of the people and address the grievances.

Brexit, ECOWAS and Nigeria
Right now, I am aware of the fact that Nigeria is not so happy with ECOWAS. The good thing or rather what ECOWAS has in its favour today is that it does not really involve the people as much as the EU involves the people. In the past, in Europe for example, for you to become a member of EU there must be a referendum in your country and everybody must vote to indicate either yes or no.

Now it is our leaders who commit that we are part of AU that we are part of ECOWAS and so on. But over the years ECOWAS has continued to behave in a way and manner that is enough to make us in Nigeria very angry. They have unnecessarily expanded in terms of administration not in terms of really actualising the mandate of making the region; ensure free movement of persons and goods, and building proper cooperation among the states. Instead one country like Nigeria is bearing the burnt of the whole administrative structure that ECOWAS is creating.

So folks like me believe that ECOWAS leaders, if they want this organization to continue to go forward, need to begin to think seriously and should not make the mistake that bureaucrats in Europe have made by trying to be supernatural in the creation of structures, by creating so many commissioners in the Commission when all they needed was just two or three commissioners focusing on the issues of regional integration.

Leaders must never ignore the complaints and the grievances of their people and if they allow it to fester for too long, they end up like this and Nigeria leaders must begin to watch very closely developments in Britain in the next couple of years because today Northern Ireland is asking why should they remain part of Britain when they voted to remain in EU. Scotland wants to remain in EU and if the rest of England is denying them that opportunity, they will want to be a country of their own.

Don’t be surprise if tomorrow Wales says it wants to be part of EU and that it wants its own independence. So at the end of the day it’s just a small tiny England remaining what we will be calling British.

If we do not take care, the same agitations will begin in a number of countries with the same people as Nigeria that why must we stay in a country where we are not treated equally, where the government of the day being nurtured by the majority are not listening to the voice of the minority.

For instance, instead of making appointments to cut across Nigerians, only one side of the country seems to be taking all the appointments. I mean that in itself is going to be a major problem as time goes on. So our leaders need to be very careful, when we voted leaders its for them to maintain the corporate existence of Nigeria not for them to lead us into a situation we now seem to be aggrieved enough to begin to demand that this country should break up.

For me, if they even give us the opportunity I will campaign that this country must remain as one country but we must define a new structure of where everybody’s voice is heard and respected.

In this article

2 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Buhari’s referendum is his military, which will always “crush” the militants. Nigeria is notorious for using her military against her people, ESPECIALLY under Buhari-led APC government!

  • Author’s gravatar

    Great and congratulations Mr. Joe Keshi, a word is enough for the wise. If it does not happen today, it is only postponed till next day. I am sure that there is nothing evil in a divorce and what a more when it is a forced marriage.