By SUNNY IKHIOYA

The problems of Nigeria as a nation are diverse and complex. There are perennial ones that have defied successive governments: elite and institutional corruption, weak structural foundation, poor diversity management and poor resources management. These are humongous challenges that have defeated every single leader who has ruled this nation. They come with lots of promises and at their departures they leave more gaps than they met. 

Are these challenges surmountable? It is possible to the extent that we have seen great nations taking advantage of their sizes and diversity to make their country great. The United States of America is a nation that is built on diversity and even went to war to keep the country one. India and China are other great examples. If this is the case, it therefore means that our challenges are not insurmountable. 

What will make that of Nigeria a reality? Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a chieftain of the Northern Elders Forum, discussing with Seun Okinbaloye of Channels Television alluded to the fact that our situation is structural and foundational. If the system is properly structured politicians and leaders will be able to operate within that confine. 

The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians led by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, have expressed the same sentiment. This time they are asking politicians to be patriotic enough to allow the will of the people to decide how the country will be managed, with the aim of cutting off wastes embedded in bureaucracies. If the leadership can be democratically selected from the grassroots and regional levels, you need not have every body running, cap in hand, to Abuja to beg for handouts, as it is presently the case. They are also of the opinion that such arrangements will bring leadership closer to the people, and therefore, create rooms for proper accountability. The fear in the whole of these points to the lawmakers and executives currently benefitting from the present racketeering arrangements. 

If the present structure is dismantled, the bulk of them will become irrelevant to the system and therefore lose their jobs. Knowing the kind of people we have in our various legislative houses, in both states and national assemblies, they will fight back against this proposal. Because, in this country, personal interests override that of the collective. They will fight and it will be difficult to achieve. 

And this is where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu comes in. If there is anybody who understands the dynamics of this country’s aggregate relationships, that person is Tinubu. He is streetwise, intelligent, bold, creative, charismatic, a risk taker and has abilities to confront, meander through difficult challenges, command strong supportive base and still stay strong. He just showed that with the passing of the new tax laws. If you know the hostilities these laws faced in the beginning and the manner it ended, you will appreciate the stuff Tinubu is made of. Only a strong President will do that and he already exhibited these traits with the fuel subsidy and the naira floating policies, coupled with the intent to grant local governments their autonomy, even though as a governor he did not follow that path. We have waited for a strong President all these years to take us through that path, starting with Olusegun Obasanjo with his military background. He huffed and puffed, with some semblance of nationalistic fervour. On the long run, the wily politicians sabotaged his efforts. It was a big disappointment for all of us who waited for a rejuvenated Obasanjo, with lessons learnt in prison. 

The Umaru Yar’Adua reign was characterised by health challenges. We all knew what happened to Jonathan: the gang up and all of that, coupled with his minority situation with low support base. Those who wanted true democracy are now shouting “had I known” with respect to their decisions on Jonathan. Some are even now shamelessly campaigning for his return; they want a president that they can confront and manipulate; but that opportunity is gone. They ganged up and gave us a strong man, Muhammadu Buhari, who, arguably has run the most inept and nepotistic government this country ever had. Again, he was outwitted by self-serving, crooked politicians. 

Now we have a politician who has seen it all. He had studied and served as a senator under a military regime, served as a civilian and state governor who boldly confronted the Federal Government without budging. He helped to put together a coalition of political parties to bring down a ruling party at the centre for the first time in Nigeria’s history and now he is in power as president. In two years, he has shown us the stuff that he is made of, even his contemporaries and former allies are now running helter-skelter, trying to form a coalition against his government. Their fear is that he is weilding so much influence to the extent that the possibility of a future one-party state exists. But he has gone on to dispel such notion, asking the opposition parties to put their individual houses in order. 

That is how formidable President Tinubu is at present. There is no better time to resolve the national structural issues than now. It is even more so that those who had opposed it in the past are now changing their minds. The structure needs to be rearranged for the centre to devolve power to the different regions and states. The practice of true fiscal federalism should not be by mouthing it or pretending to be operating it, but should be put into real practice. It has been proven that every single part of this country is rich in one natural resources or the other. 

There is also no shortage of human resources; it is just for the states to restrategise, identify their priorities and work towards attainment of their set goals. The time for rental, ethnic, religious politicians are over, everyone must be put into positive use. We must also factor in an upgrade of our educational and cultural curricula to fit the diverse nature of our country. They should ensure that every ethnic group is properly structured in and represented. 

These days it is not always about population, we should be looking at proper synergies, with the economies of scale at the back of our mind. Such orientations should make it possible for the youths to be properly schooled in ethical foundations, which they will build upon in future. All of these will be better and faster achieved if they are done at regional, states and local government levels. It is the only way to a shared prosperity for the whole country with minimal hate and envy. It is what will bring pride to citizens as they go about with the green passport. 

But like I noted earlier, it is only a strong President with people-oriented leadership who can command the loyalty of the citizens that can make this happen. Can President Bola Tinubu do it? That is the question.

  *Ikhioya wrote via: http://www.southsouthecho.com