Nigerians Living In A Troubled Democracy, Says Dogara

• Calls For Proffer Solutions To Economic Crisis

By Khalid Idris Doya

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said that decades of poor leadership, systemic corruption and diversion of local government funds are some of the major factors that plunged Nigeria into the present economic crisis.

He stated that those who despair and have been wondering about how Nigeria got into the present unmitigated disaster, “this is it, arrived at by decades of weak, wasteful and visionless leadership at all levels of our Government.”

Dogara who was speaking at the 14 convocation of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo state as the Chancellor of the University on Saturday.

He acknowledged that over two decades of unbroken democracy has not resulted in adequate security of lives and properties of citizens, quality infrastructure, decent employment, access to qualitative education, health, shelter, food and water nor afforded the generality of people adequate standard of living which are the economic and social rights that enable people to live with dignity and participate fully in society.

Dogara stated that, “There is no hiding place for us any more because Nigeria is no longer the same. Structural injustices, mass illiteracy, mass poverty, mass unemployment and underemployment have all combined to pull out those we have pushed to the fringes of society to our streets and villages with heavy tolls on Nigerian lives and devastations at all levels.

“The numbers are staggering: with over 33% unemployment rate, assuming the numbers are not deliberately understated, and nearly 60% youth unemployment, our young people face an uncertain future.”

“We now have a critical mass of highly educated Nigerian youths who are questioning everything including questioning the questions themselves.

“It is obvious that the frustration we are feeding them has reached a tipping point whereby even the illiterates won’t take it anymore, much less the educated youths who have freed themselves from fictional constraints and are asking questions like never before.

The chancellor identified over reliance on oil revenue, removal of fuel subsidy, astronomical increase in interest rates, infrastructural deficit, policy inconsistency and uncertainty, corruption and mismanagement, weak industrial base, decades of systematic looting of LGA funds meant for development at the grassroots by states which serve as the middlemen in the allocation process and dollarization of the economy as factors that led to loss of monetary policy control, inflation and exchange rate volatility.

He said the most important question should not be how we got here but how we get out of it, saying, “Let us fix the energy crisis, for without power, our efforts to industrialize would continue to be a pipe dream. How ludicrous is it when I hear people talk about transitioning from a consumer nation to a producer nation when we cannot generate enough electricity to power our homes after years of massive investment in that sector without any demonstrable results.”

In order to make progress, he suggested that the country should be zoned and the generation, transmission, distribution broken down into manageable units.

“The concentration of power provision systems into giant/unmanageable units is a big mistake, as is evident from the historic record breaking national grid collapses within a year leading to frequent supply disruptions. This has continued to cause huge economic losses to our country, in terms of lost GDP.’

“The smartest thing to do is to borrow a leaf from other nations. Breaking up the supply architecture into more manageable units, and involving the private sector, is highly recommended. Also, allowing mini grids to sprout all across the country, should be part of our overall long term strategy.

“Let no one beguile us, for without adequate and reliable power supply, our dream of a robust MSME ecosystem would remain only that, a dream! The privatization of the power sector, started in the past, should be continued and accelerated with the speed of light.”

“Above all, we must understand that it is lack of leadership that plunged us into the mess we are in right now of failure to prevent bad problems from getting progressively worse and it is effective leadership that will move us out of here.

“To blame others is not the path effective leaders take. Grit, gravitas and gumption are what define effective leaders who do not bother about the next elections but their legacies and the next generation. Instead of spreading blame, or avoiding or circumventing tough conundrums or situations, effective leaders own and tackle those situations as if they were of their own making.

“Any transformation leader must be brave especially when those you are leading are depending on you to show up when it is really, really back breaking to do so. show me a leader who delivers sustainably strong results and I ll prove to you that he is never a wishy-washy leader.

“I will show you a leader who believes that history does not just happen to us, we make history happen. I will show you a leader who knows that not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” he added.

Yakubu Dogara commended President Tinubu for pushing the financial autonomy for LGAs.

“With what President Tinubu has done, whether it is the freeing of LGAs from the chokehold of economic stagnation the states had hitherto subjected them to or the groundbreaking bold tax reforms proposals he has placed before the National Assembly,

“I see a glimmer of hope that we may well be dealing with a leader who is prepared to lead with unbridled courage even at personal cost. It gladdens my heart that we are now dealing with a leader who is not avoiding stubborn tasks and very much unwilling to put off difficult conversations.

“With him courage has become a habit and that habit has the power to transform our leadership as the miracles we are desperately yearning for may well lie in the tasks and difficult conversations we are avoiding.”

On the Role of Universities Yakubu said, “As centers of learning and innovation, universities like ours must play a central role in addressing these challenges. Research and development should focus on practical solutions to Nigeria’s economic problems.

“Partnerships with industries and government will also ensure that the knowledge generated within our walls has real-world applications. Innovation must be the watchword because in an increasingly competitive world, anyone who innovates you in any field will out-compete you.”

I urged the students to remain hopeful and resilient, “The road ahead may be fraught with challenges, but you are equipped with the tools to overcome them. You are the leaders of tomorrow, the architects of a better Nigeria. Take pride in your achievements and embrace the responsibility that comes with them.

“The training you have acquired here has given you the license to be traced in life but the future belongs to those of you who will put to work what they have learnt here. You will soon realize that one is not wise because he knows the right things but because he does the right things he knows.”