Former Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Yusuf Maitama-Sule, has expressed disappointment over Nigeria’s failure to develop its politics, philosophy and economy.
Maitama-Sule, who bagged a Lifetime Achievement Award alongside a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, at an annual dinner organised by the Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies in Lagos, also described the situation facing the country as “meaningless”.
According to a statement in Lagos on Tuesday, the diplomat said present Nigerian leaders had betrayed the efforts made by the nation’s founding fathers to bring orderliness and greatness to the country.
He said, “Honestly, everything in the Nigerian state has become meaningless. In short, today there is meaningless in philosophy, intellectualism, politics, immorality in the society, corruption in the economy, fraud in act, and lack of creativity.
“Nigeria today is not what it used to be. Our founding fathers made all efforts to give us foundation and dream that between the next 15 and 30 years, Nigeria will become a great country. But things have fallen apart. The family institution today has broken down. Respect for elders and constituted authority, which used to be a standing order in our society, has now become a wasted effort.”
He, however, urged Nigerians to love one another, saying there was still hope in the country.
He added, “I remain optimistic. I believe that we shall overcome. I saw it in the past. In the First Republic, I saw so many crisis and we overcame. As we overcame those crises in the First Republic, so shall we overcome these crises in the present Nigeria by the grace of God.”
No doubt they laid a foundation. They are the founding fathers of Nigeria's problems. If you could get over the rude shock of the following questions and answer truthfully, what benefit has accrued to your life from Independent Nigeria? Can you be honest enough to tell me how your life would have been today had the British never left in 1960? Did they have to leave completely? Why not demand better treatment for locals and probably some limited self-government only? What about independence in 1990 or 2000?
These are tough questions, together with others on religion that Nigerians aren't able to apply their intellect to, preferring to brand the messenger as the devil. Go and do a quick investigation on nations that Britain stayed in till later and compare their quality of life to that of Nigeria vis-a-vis the natural endowments they have.
Independence was more a copycat mission filled with overwhelming greed by people who –if they claim to be visionary as they do– should have known that the people were not ready. This is one of the two points on which I find fault in the otherwise great intellectual leader Awolowo.
Independence was an unmitigated disaster for the African PEOPLE (not elite) and I know some will still be against me on this but hey, I have just said they've been conditioned to see that talk as taboo, just as they do religion.
So Maitama Sule, I wish you an enjoyable life but I can't wait for your generation and the military-rulers' generation to vacate the earth so we could start to rebuild the ruin we inherited from you both.
@OIbhagui