By Abiola Olawale
Dr. Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights activist, has advised Nigerians to focus on building institutions that will raise governance and development in country rather than looking for high-class individuals to solve the systemic problems in Nigeria.
According to the senior lawyer, elites across political divides have exacerbated challenges bordering on governance in the country over the years.
Ozekhome stated this during an interview with ARISE News on Friday. He noted that the solution to Nigeria’s problem is creating a system that would allow the best candidate govern the country.
According to Ozekhome, growth and development will continue to elude Nigeria if the same crop of elites continues to run its affairs without strong institutions.
In his words: “The elites are united in one thing. You may hear them say they are in PDP or in APC, they have the same course of bleeding Nigeria haemorrhagically. They bleed Nigeria and they are united in that. Nigeria will continue to be on a journey to no destination like an aircraft without a compass if we think we can make it right by having another person for example who will be better than Buhari. What we need to build are strong institutions, not strong men. You will have even weaker people because the system itself is convulsive and does not allow for the best to come out, it does not allow the youths who have the brains to come out. It is a system that is being dictated by money baggism, the elites who have stolen our commonwealth through politics want to use again to corrode the system.”
To build a strong institution needed in the country, Ozekhome was of the opinion that only a new people’s constitution will bring about a new dawn.
In his words, “A new constitution will bring about a new dawn. It will take care of the interest of the youths, the women, how to devolve power, the economy because it is given to the whole people in Nigeria to debate it between now and December when we hope that a draft constitution will come out. These people who are coming together (the group drafting the constitution) many of them are not politically involved. Some of them are but they crave for a new Nigeria, the National Consultative Front. These people are coming together to say enough is enough of these armed banditries, herdsmen crisis, where Nigeria is literally being abducted. We now have ministers, governors, and some clerics going into the forests to negotiate with armed bandits. It has become the most thriving industry in Nigeria, armed banditry.”
