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Poor leadership remains bane of development, says Okoko

By Kelvin Ebiri
01 October 2015   |   10:59 pm
Are you satisfied with Nigeria’s progress after 55 years of independence? Not really, considering where we were coming from, I think we should have done better. Frankly, I am not satisfied with the progress we have made so far.
Prof.-Kimse-Okoko

Prof. Kimse Okoko,

Prof. Kimse Okoko, ex-president Ijaw National Congress (INC), in this interview with Kelvin Ebiri, says poor leadership remains the bane of Nigeria’s economic woes. Excerpts:
Are you satisfied with Nigeria’s progress after 55 years of independence?
Not really, considering where we were coming from, I think we should have done better. Frankly, I am not satisfied with the progress we have made so far.

If you look at the economic sector and you remember the countries that have overtaken us like Indonesia, Malaysia and so on, we were better than them, but now, all of them have overtaken us. So, in the economic realm, one is not happy with where we are. Poor leadership is a major factor that has led to this endemic corruption that has become a crippling factor. Obviously, poor leadership has a lot to do with Nigeria’s economic woes. Leadership that pampers to ethnicity, religious bigotry and all these are clearly not helpful in a nascent democratic state.

What are the outstanding qualities of the first republic leaders that you find missing in contemporary political leadership?
It is a question of relativity. Corruption was not as terrible as it is today then, so the issue of greed was not so engulfing as it is now. Obviously, the older generation were able to build new headquarters in Abuja. Abuja is a success story to a large extent compared to other capitals in the country. There are a few areas one can point to that the older leaders helped to improve the condition in the country, particularly in the area of education. Education was the signature landmark of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Education was of great priority to his generation and it showed in some part of the country and that was commendable on the part of the leaders of the past.

Leaders like Awo had respect for ideological thrust. You can see Awo talk about welfarism as a philosophy and rotation democracy as a philosophy. The older generation tried to lay strong foundation in these areas. But the younger generation are in this rush to become rich and then unfortunately for them, money is all that matters.

What are your regrets about the state of the nation and possible solutions?
My regret is that we should have done much better given the resources and manpower available. In the area of economy, we needed to have tackled transparently the issue of corruption. The economy ought to have been diversified particularly in the areas that are of comparative advantage to us. We should have fought corruption in a most transparent way which I am not seeing now, to a point where it will not consume this country. If we continue like this, we are not going to get anywhere because the resources of the country are virtually stuck in corruption. We have to place emphasis on capacity development, which means we have to strengthen the educational sector to produce the right graduates who will be in the forefront of building the country.

What can President Muhammadu Buhari do to restore Nigeria’s lost glory?
He must tackle transparently the scourge of corruption and must not allow the development of the perception that the fight against corruption is sectional and being targeted at particular individuals. He must not allow that perception to emerge in society. It is very essential for him to be absolutely transparent in the fight against corruption that there must be no sacred cows. If he does that, he will get the overwhelming support of Nigerians including myself.

In the area of the economy, now that crude oil price has collapsed, we have to take more seriously the diversification of our economy and fortify our areas of comparative strength like agriculture and natural minerals available in all parts of this country. We need to explore and develop those possibilities to be able to succeed in our bid to diversify our economy. Security wise, the war against insurgency must be carried on. We have to move away from giving deadlines because the war against insurgency is not something you can say it must stop today or tomorrow, knowing what is happening in other parts of the world.

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