Featured, Politics
By Anayo Ezugwu
GOV. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has said that the recent happenings in the country call for sober reflection on the journey of nationhood. He acknowledged that the journey towards Nigeria’s greatness remains unfinished and that it is only by building a more perfect union, that the country can accomplish the task of greatness.
In his keynote address at the 50th Anniversary of the Centre for Historical Documentation and Research (Arewa House), Kaduna, Fayemi not many would disagree with the premise that there is a significant gap between the potential for greatness as a country, and where the nation is now. He says it is the duty of all well-meaning Nigerians to leverage progressive avenues and platforms such as this, to interrogate the issues to determine where the country is on the journey to greatness, historical missteps, achievements, and most importantly, the imperatives towards a more perfect union.
“These issues have become particularly germane against the backdrop of the significant events of the recent past. First, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which negatively impacted the economies of all countries, especially those in the global south. Nigeria was no exception, and we continue to contend with the pressures at the federal and sub-national levels, towards ensuring the right policies and interventions that would help us steady the ship of state to calmer waters.
“Second, the youth-led demonstrations against police brutality #EndSARS, which metamorphosed into agitations beyond the main subject, to encompass demands for more holistic reforms that would ensure our country becomes more just, fair, and inclusive to our youth demography which forms the majority of our population.
“I once read the story of a people who had been trying to build a wall for generations. Each time they came close to completing the wall, it would come crashing down and they would have to start all over; much like the curse of Sisyphus. Yet, every generation understood that it was its destiny to try and complete this wall. History has taught them that the wall would never be completed, but they never gave up, with each generation hoping that it would be the generation that got the job done. In relating this story to our country, Nigeria, rather than a collapsing wall, I would think in terms of an infinite wall, whose height and greatness has no limits.
“It is the destiny of every generation to take it to a higher level, but the job will never be done. Reflecting on our recent history, it is easy to point at our many false starts, or even outright betrayal of our destiny. Despite the great efforts of the past sixty years, how come this wall has barely left the foundation stage, even with our enormous wealth of bricks and mortars and expert builders? Sixty years may be a long time in the life of an individual. But a sixty-year-old nation is a nation yet in its infancy. Therefore, rather than despair over the failures of the past, I would rather we look ahead with great hopes at the infinite future that lies ahead of us, armed with that immortal admonition from the French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher, Frantz Fanon that every generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, betray it or fulfill it,” he said.
The chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, said over the years, Nigerians have agonised over the lamentably slow pace of development and that successive governments and policy makers have responded with various approaches and strategies for achieving the much desired national development. Fayemi said yet, even the most charitable analyst of political economy would be forced to agree that the country has not performed to its optimum capacity.
“In trying to explain our development conundrum, several factors have been put forward. However, it appears to me that the fundamental challenge is that we have all along positioned the cart before the horse. Before we can think of development, the first task that we have is that of nation-building. You cannot develop what you do not have.
“When the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka asked “When is a Nation,” he was attempting to draw our attention to those questions of nation-building that have remained unanswered till this day. The development of a nation necessarily derives from “elite consensus”. However, this consensus can only be forged after some fundamental questions, what we call the national questions, have been settled. Where the very existence of the nation itself is easily brought to question at the slightest provocation, then it becomes clear that our primary task is to build a nation first, as a fundamental basis for achieving development. In other words, the very notion of national greatness is directly consequential to nation-building.”
– Nov. 4, 2020 @ 14:35 GMT |
Tags: Recent happening in Nigeria calls for sober reflection – Fayemi
