There’s still hope for Nigeria but everyone must take responsibility for its greatness —Bewaji – Tribune Online

Wunmi Bewaji is a legal practitioner and former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

In Chief Awolowo’s March 28, 1986, letter, he famously declined to participate in the new social order debate that was ordered by Babangida. In declining, he predicted that it would be a fruitless search because the evils in the Nigerian hearts had not been exorcised. Then he warned about an alternative option where there would be permanent social instability and chaos. Has he been proven right? Are we living that alternative option now?

No, we are not. But when you say Baba has been proven right, of course, Baba has been proven right. Baba’s participation in Cookey Commission exercise would have lent legitimacy to that charade which, as we then got to know later on, Babangida was just playing the entire nation. And today, one of the things that we thank God for, Baba did not participate. And Baba said one thing famously. He said everything that he wanted to contribute, they are already in his books. Go and read Baba’s books: Path to Nigerian Freedom and The Travails of Democracy and the Rule of Law. All these issues have been well canvassed by him in his books. So, in the end, we then discovered that Babangida was never genuine, he just wanted to take the entire country for a ride and I think Baba Awolowo saw through him.

But are we now living in that alternative world Chief Awolowo predicted? Do you see chaos and permanent social instability today?

No, we really are not. But then, what Baba predicted was that—it’s like somebody who has a debilitating disease and the person is using Panadol. I think that was Baba’s perspective to that Cookey thing. Like the fundamental issues have not been resolved. And that fundamental issue that Baba was referring to, when you read Baba’s book Path to Nigerian Freedom, it’s about a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society having the need to have a federal constitution. Because in the constitutional conference that they had that Baba Awolowo led the Western Region to in 1959, what was agreed upon and what was contained in the 1960 Constitution was to create a Federal Republic of Nigeria. People do not understand that the word “Federal” is not cosmetic in our constitution. And Baba’s argument is that, you know, when you have a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multicultural society like Nigeria—and he gave examples of other nations like that—that the best constitution is a federal constitution that will allow, you know, each federating unit to develop at its own pace.

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So today, on that, Baba has been proven right because today we are talking—we are talking of subsidy, we are talking of this reform, that reform, without really doing the necessary thing, which is to restructure this country. Until we restructure this country and until we go back to a federal union, then every other thing that we will do won’t work. Now, in the end, this present administration is now agreeing to a state police. But a state police is still a far cry from what is needed. Because if you don’t have a true federation, what is now famously called true federalism, then all the other issues are just cosmetic. Until you leave the shenanigans and then focus—I mean, address the substance. And the substance of the problem confronting this country is a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-religious society that is operating a unitary constitution. It will not work. No matter the amount of reform, it will never work until we reverse the mistake caused by the Unification Decree No. 37 of 1967. That’s Baba’s argument.

Apart from the structural argument, Baba also spoke about the evils dominating the hearts of Nigerians at all levels. Do you believe the political class has the capacity for the revolutionary change of attitude that Baba said is mandatory for our survival?

No, no, you see, when we are talking of our political class, it is not imported from Mars. It’s not imported from Morocco or Ghana. Our political class, they are part and parcel of us. They represent us. They are a microcosm of the entire larger society. So, if you are stealing, if you are cheating, whether as a plumber or as an electrician or as a law professor or you are sleeping with students to give them marks and all that, one day such individuals will find their way to the seats of power.

So is there still hope for a brighter future for Nigeria then?

There is hope. The hope for Nigeria is for all of us to take responsibility and stop pointing fingers at those who are presently in government. Because those who are presently in government, yesterday they were also outside the government, accusing and criticising those who were in government at that time. And those who are outside government today, who are accusing those who are in government today, will tomorrow be in government. All of us, as citizens of this great country, we must take responsibility for its greatness.