From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Tuesday, January 10, 2023, was the day the foundation of a Chatham House was literally laid in Ibadan, Oyo State. And the friends and associates of Dr Oluyemi Farounbi, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Philippines, made it possible and eventful.
The eminent personalities from all walks of life gathered at the Press Centre, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Iyaganku. They meant it to celebrate the ex-envoy, but turned out to be a good step towards a possible Nigeria’s own Chatham House.
They x-rayed the nexus between the economy of Nigeria and 2023 general elections, at the maiden public lecture of Friends of Yemi Farounbi Platform, entitled: “The Economy and 2023 Elections.” Mr Yomi Davies, a media executive, moderated.
They agreed that the elections would present a fresh opportunity for Nigeria to get it right for a brighter future, irrespective of the socio-economic and political challenges militating against the corporate existence of the country and its progress.
Communiqué issued at the end of the programme was emphatic: “There is need for Nigerians to pay attention to political process and the importance of high quality representation in the process of leadership recruitment.
“There is need to draw attention to the nexus between election and economy. If you don’t get your politics right, you will not get anything right in terms of economy. Then, attention must be paid, of course, to the issues of virtue, transparency and fight against corruption. There must be committed leadership. People who want to be part of the process must have a vision. They must not just be accidental leaders.
“We must pay attention to the whole question, especially the forthcoming general elections, which represents another opportunity for Nigeria to get it right. Implicitly, there must be transparency as far as election itself is concerned.
“The whole question for resolving crisis and the question of hope for Nigeria, especially against the background of cynicism and long crisis that we have had. The answer is that there is hope for Nigeria. But we must get it right. Of course, in getting it right, attention must be paid to the question of the issue of our federation, under which respective states can control their resources. It is one of the problems agitating the minds of people.”
It also stated that the population in Nigeria should be turned to an asset and not liability. It charged journalists to scale up and serve as watchdog of the society and set proper agenda on what should be done in Nigeria. Former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Australia, Ayo Olukanni, read the communiqué.
The honouree, Ambassador Farounbi, was optimistic: “It is possible to have a better future in Nigeria, not by revelling in nostalgic feelings, or by identification with the dresses, glasses, caps of yesterday men. We can only predict the future by inventing.”
He noted that he read the lamentation of Prof Ben Nwabueze “on the errors committed by the 49 wise men, who under the guise of enforcing unity gave us the 1979 Constitution. I know that in creating 12 states in 1967, General Yakubu Gowon stated that the states were to inherit the powers invested in the regions by the 1963 Constitution. This was not good enough for the masquerading nationalists.
“Not only did they aggregate the powers of the federating units and vested them in the centre, they distorted the delicate balance in the allocation of states and local government areas and stipulated in the Constitution, which they imposed in the name of the people of Nigeria, conditions that make redressing these errors impossible.
“Perhaps in future, the contemporaneous contradictions and inanities in Nigeria will trigger the conscience of a few more people and make them apologise for their errors. I am aware that the failures led Wole Soyinka to talk about ‘The Wasted Generation.’ Chinua Achebe lamented that ‘There Was A Country.’ Kole Omotoso expressed his disillusionment in ‘Just Before Dawn.’
“Karl Maier wrote disturbingly on ‘This House Has Fallen.’ He followed it up with ‘This House Has Fallen; Midnight in Nigeria.’ And sometimes, I added my own, ‘Darkness At Noon.’
“While the writers were busy writing their views, the ordinary Nigerians developed intense nostalgic feelings for the yesterday under Obafemi Awolowo, Michael Okpara, and Ahmadu Bello. They begin to believe that the best part of Nigeria is in yesterday. And that’s not the best. Even, their leaders who ought to pull them out of contemporary unfortunate situation have to identify with yesterday’s leaders to gain acceptability.
“The contemporary leaders unfortunately have become been anti-intellectual, artisan in reasoning and craft conscious in performance. They have abandoned the use of think-tanks as power houses for analysis of problems and evolving possible options for solving the problems.
“In the meantime, ordinary people started thinking that perhaps separation is the answer. They seem to be unaware that a granite rock broken into pieces will still be granite, unless there is alteration of the chemical composition.”
Farounbi’s welcome address was followed by a panel discussion, featuring the trio of an activist, Mohood Erubami; a media executive, Dr Femi Adefila and former General Manager, Paramount FM, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Mrs Kemi Ajayi.
Erubami argued that there are certain factors that have debarred its growth and advancement since the control of government reverted into the hands of the civilian government in 1999, laying the multiple foundations got more difficulties against efforts being made to rework and reset it for growth and developments.
He, however, identified factors that have been found to be responsible for retardation of the economy, which may fatally affect the conduct of the elections if action steps are not quickly taken.
He listed the factors to include; rising inflation, ever increasing loans, corruption impunity, insecurity, unemployment, power and energy, foreign exchange rate differentials management and control and desirability of subsidy or otherwise, subsidy withdrawal or retention.
Erubami: “The high hopes placed on the next government must be put into consideration, through immediate readjustments in leadership capacity, productive governance, creating environment for the ease of doing businesses, inclusive government of ‘stakeholdership’ to drastically reduce insecurity, improvement of the economy, food security that is visible and reaching the people.”
Adefila opined that it was quite unfortunate that “Nigeria is a country where capital expenditure is lower than recurrent expenditure. Capital expenditure is what can develop the economy. Nigeria has been using N7trillion to subsidise fossil fuel.
“Studies have revealed that Nigeria is serving debts with N77trillion.
Loan repayment is different from loan servicing. The question Nigerians should ask all the presidential candidates is ‘how’ they will achieve all the good programmes they have promised Nigerians.
“The cost of governance in Nigeria is too high in the sense that the country is being over-governed with little to show for the huge investment. The economy of Nigeria needs attention and the topic must always be discussed. Fixing the economic challenges in the country should begin with recruitment of leaders that have solutions.”
Ajayi traced the history of Nigeria from the colonial era till date. She pointed out the good old days and how the country slipped into the perpetual quagmire of economic woes.
She suggested that Nigerians have pivotal roles to play by ensuring that the right persons get to the right positions through the power of ballots.
A high chief of Olubadan, Oloye Lekan Alabi, insisted that the elections must hold as scheduled. He said postponement of election, annulment of elections or interim national government would not be accepted.
Public affairs analyst, Ayo Akinyemi, said Nigeria must move from being a consuming nation to a producing nation. A management consultant, Kola Afolabi, was optimistic: “There is future for Nigeria tomorrow if we do it well.”
Olukanni also insisted: “Nigeria and Nigerians must get it right. The structure of the country’s federation must be reviewed, otherwise the crisis will continue.”
State chairman of NUJ, Ademola Babalola, said: “The media in Nigeria have been doing their best as members of the fourth estate of the realm. Journalists in Nigeria operate in an environment, where majority of media proprietors are active players in politics, and their interests must be protected in their media organisations.”
Former General Manager, Broadcasting Service of Oyo State (BCOS), Chief Bisi Adesola, chaired the programme. He had earlier set the rules for members of the platform. He congratulated Farounbi on the success of the programme. He said more programmes would be rolled out by the “Friends of Yemi Farounbi” for engagement and betterment of the country.
Administrator of the platform, Mr Clement Ige, said: “This is our own little way to contribute to sustainable economic growth and the advancement of democracy.”