By Adisa Adeleye
HAPPILY, Nigerians at home and abroad did celebrate the 50 years of political independence from Britain without any vestige of bitterness against our colonial masters.

The unfortunate bomb blast at Abuja was an unwelcome distraction by some evil agents who chose the ignoble path of bloodshed instead of the common sense approach.

That Nigerians of many different shades of opinion and background have expressed their feelings in writing and speeches; their understanding of what had happened in the past fifty years, without molestation or arrests shows the political maturity of this nation over the years.

Having agreed that bad leadership of the past deserved the necessary bashing, the emerging pattern of appreciating the qualities of some past leaders gives room for the hope of a future great nation.  Who could expect that the Sadauna‘s stand of staying at home (in Kaduna) could now be recognized as political sagacity necessary during the moments of immaturity or Chief Awolowo‘s regionalism or tribalism could now be hailed as true federalism?

The firm foundation laid by the three past leaders _ Sir Ahmadu Bello (North), Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (East) and Chief Obafemi Awolowo (West) could now be reassessed in the pursuit of a new nation.  Under these noble but grossly misunderstood past leaders, the North with arable land and energetic and dedicated peasant farmers could manage itself and feed well, while having the groundnut pyramids as surplus for export earning huge foreign exchange.

The East, with its palm oil estates was able to exert its financial viability and the West with its vast cocoa production managed free primary education and other social services with little problem.  The Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, University of Nigeria Nsukka and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile_Ife were products of regional initiative financed through agricultural exploits.

While lamenting the death of regionalism through the participation of the military in governance during the civil war and after, many recollected vividly the ABURI DECLARATION before the civil war_ a loose form of confederation and the 1953 EIGHT POINTS PROGRAMME of the past Northern leaders.  If these proposals are reviewed with the YORUBA AGENDA of the seventies and eighties, perhaps and probably but surely some of the present catastrophes could have been avoided.

Nigeria of today is on the top of a molten mountain, viewing the deep and dangerous valleys of disintegration and death.  The religious killings are there at the slightest provocation; ethnic slaughtering in non_homogenous states occur with surprising regularity; thuggery and homocide are the weapons of politicians and kidnappings of indigenes and foreigners have been unwholesome economic palliatives in some states of the Country.

Throughout the country, unfortunate suspects are subjected to instant and raw justice (often by burning) by irate crowd.  The pity is that the country and its people are supposed to be living under the Rule of Law.
Nigeria of today is neither politically stable nor economically resilient.  Unemployment is rife and poses real danger to economic stability.  Some agree and many argue conveniently that the continuous mismanagement of the economic resources of the country is the bane of economic underdevelopment.

The abundance of idle hands has bred the culture of armed robberies (day and night) and violence by youths at any time.  Some Ijaw youths have demonstrated the evil of idleness by their overt military actions, until recently.

Generally, unemployment for any length of time could be sad and soul destroying; prolonged unemployment, especially among graduates could be a sure invitation to chaos and general but dangerous instability in the country.

It is now clear that a nice agenda could be fixed for a conglomeration of nations named and called NIGERIA (Naija for sure) since the amalgamation of Northern and Southern provinces in 1914.  First to understand the AGENDA, there must be that awareness that Nigeria is not a single State but then, a geographical expression or now, an historical necessity brought together by oil and the intrigue of sharing it.

The Federal concept adopted by the founding fathers and nurtured for a period had been decimated by the boots of the ravaging past military government.  The present successor, the Federal Governor is almost absolute in its power.  The first assignment for the next fifty years (for generations born after the Second World War 1939_1945 and Nigerian Independence 1960) is to look for an alternative to all powerful Federal Government which will be federal in its structures and operations.

This is where the Eight Point Programme of these visionary Northern leaders, the Aburi Declaration favoured by the vanishing ‘Biafrans‘ and the Yoruba Agenda of separate development under a United Nigeria and a similar proposals by other ethnic groups could serve as reference points for a serious dialogue in a serious nation of diverse cultures and tongues.

This is where the Council of States and the President Advisory Council (PAC) should show intense interest in view of the glaring inconsistencies of the present shaky arrangement.  There seems no other name than the reconstruction of the country into smaller but economically prosperous and politically stable entities.

Having accepted the fact that we must regroup to remain united, stable and prosperous, it becomes necessary to formulate the necessary economic policies to ensure that stability over a long period, fifty years and beyond.

One of the most fundamental problems, as it has been noted, is mass unemployment throughout the country.  Any serious future government would have to pursue a policy of full employment.  No government in the western developed nations would be tolerated with unemployment of over 3 percent of the working population.  In Nigeria, unemployment is estimated to be about 20 percent.

Therefore, any serious government should ensure that there is enough reflective demand in the economy through a suitable monetary policy that stimulates more investments into the real sector and the complementary fiscal policy that encourages more spending by the households on consumption.  Thus, to eradicate high unemployment, government firms and households have to be spend thrifts as much as possible, because other things being equal ‘as the economist would say, the more prodigal these agencies, the higher would be the level of national income and employment.

A policy of budget deficit (property managed) should create a higher rate of real income and higher rate of employment.  The duty of the serious government is to manage the problems in the economy when the state of full employment is reached.   In the pursuit of lasting economic stability, it is necessary to revisit and re_evaluate past and present economic policies.  Modern economic thoughts in the developing countries favour a flourishing manufacturing industry backed by a solid agricultural base (supported by a progressive incentives).

According to Professor J. Pen, ‘a national economy that has lost its balance socially and politically cannot have that balance restored by a purely economic Neo_Keynesian policy.  More radical measures are needed‘.

The needed reform should be provided within a short time period because in the long run, as Lord Keynes noted, ‘we are all dead’

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